Canning Applesauce with Kids in 4 Easy Steps
After getting a huge box of apples this weekend, I was anxious to preserve them! After doing some investigating, I found out my mom had an attachment for my Kitchen Aid that makes applesauce (The fruit/vegetable Strainer). You do not need this to make applesauce, but it was very helpful! Here is how it worked:
| Step 1: Steam Apples (with an inch of water at the bottom of a pot, we put in 17 apples, sliced into quarters. With boiling water, I cooked the apples for 30 minutes. | 
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| Step 2: We pushed the apples through the top of a fruit strainer. If you don’t have a strainer, start with cored and peeled apples, and blend them up in a blender. | 
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| Step 3: Fill clean and sterilized jars with the pureed or strained apples. | 
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| Step 4: Boil jars, covered in water for 20-25 minutes. Take them out and put them on a dry towel overnight or until the jars seal properly. | 
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That’s all!! We are so excited to have some applesauce that we canned ourselves. To re-cap, we had 17 apples and got 8, 8 ounce jars.
Make sure the jars seal by pushing on the center. They shouldn’t pop in or out.
Applesauce makes the perfect snack for kids! We love it. There is never a reason to buy applesauce with sugar in it. It’s sweet enough as it is. Either can your own without sugar, or read the label and make sure you are purchasing natural applesauce, with no sugar added.
Other applesauce posts:
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
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Love this!! I purchase the natural applesauce (without any added stuff) and tasted applesauce with sugar in it the other day and didn’t like it at all. It is all about what you get used to, I think. Love that you all made your own and it seemed pretty simple. Great idea!!
The Kitchen Aid attachment sounds great. You don’t have to peel or core the apples when you use the strainer?
We prefer chunky applesauce at or home, so we peel, core, cook, and mash. No matter how you like it, homemade applesauce is wonderful.
[…] baby food, so I decided to start making some. Yesterday, I broke out the fresh avocados and my homemade applesauce for some baby food experimenting. My token neighbor baby taste tester was napping when I made […]
once the apple sauce is jarred, how long is it good for? an can ya freeze glass jars? :S.. recipe sounds great 🙂
If the seal is good, it will last for years! You have to be sure it is completely sealed however.
Hi! I was wondering what the point of sealing would be – to last longer? I remember when my son was 6 months I would steam apples and then blend them and put them in jars and freeze some but I never sealed the jars. Should I have?
Hi Julie,
The only reason to seal the jars is if you want to store the applesauce on a shelf for long term. It’s a great idea if you don’t have storage space in your fridge or freezer.
I canned 70 qts this year! I will continue to make all winter if needed as well! I replace all the butter in my baking recipes with applesauce to lower the calories! 🙂
Also if you want to try a new type of homemade applesauce – use three different types of apples: macs, johnnygolds and courtlands. The apple sauce will come out pink!!! So much fun for my little girls 🙂 The skins of the courtland apples turn it pink 🙂 Best apple sauce around, according to my kids 🙂 Also you can add cinnamon to your apples as they cook down for a cinnamon applesauce.
Holy Cow Denise! You are going to have applesauce forever! Good job! 🙂
so excited. I made 2 stock pots of apple sauce with free apples i got from work (we run events and had leftovers). I wasn’t sure how to can! going to buy mason jars tomorrow. Had a ton of bananas too and made 3 batches of banana muffins. the last one with carrot in it was the best. https://sites.google.com/site/thefruitandveggieproject/recipe-blog/super-moist-banana-carrot-quick-bread
Thank you for this!
Awesome Gwen- and thanks for the recipe! Looks delicious!
hi thank u for all pls can we make spinach muffin with out use eggs……tell me if u have recipe
No need for an apple sauce for my 6 year-old daughter!she likes apples,but eating with her teeth…it is healthier than eating a sauce for her teeth:)
I made my apples in my instant pot using about 15 apples and
1-1/4 cups of water. I used 4 types of apples and added 1/4 c. Sugar. Processed for 11 minutes. Added cinnamon to taste. I processed for 25 minutes in pint jars. Much less mess to clean up and it was perfect.