Easy Slow Cooker Unsweetened Applesauce
Craving natural sweetness? Make this easy slow cooker applesauce! A healthy, no-sugar-added recipe the whole family will love.
If you’ve been looking for slow cooker recipes, look no further. I’ve got something good for you. No need to stalk your friend’s Facebook and Pinterest feed, any longer. There’s just something about fall and winter season that makes people want to cozy the day away. And if you’re looking for wholesome snack for the back to school season, I have something for you too.
Unfortunately, most of the applesauce recipes are full of sugar. But, I’ve cooked up the perfect healthy unsweetened applesauce recipe with just a few ingredients.
This unsweetened applesauce recipe is tasty, sugar free and oh so good. As a matter of fact, you won’t even miss the store bought stuff. Trust me on this.
What Apples to Use In Unsweetened Applesauce Recipe
Once you take a bite of this applesauce, you won’t believe that it contains no added sugar. To accomplish this, I used the sweetest and tastiest apples for the job. I previously tried using a combination of gala and golden delicious apples but, it just didn’t give me the sweetness I was looking for.
So I used a combination of gala and fuji, with one granny smith thrown in for some tart interest.
Apples are one of healthiest foods you can eat. So do yourself a favor and use them in recipes like apple pear chutney, einkorn apple cake and baked cinnamon apples.
How Long to Cook Unsweetened Slow Cooker Applesauce>
These apples on the high setting of my slow cooker for about 6 hours. But, they can cooked in four hours.
No Waste, Maximum Nutrition
The only thing wasted in this homemade apple sauce recipe were seeds and stems. If you throw away the skins of the apples to make this recipe, you’re throwing away time, money and lots of health benefits. That’s because the skins of the apples packed with fiber and pectin. So make sure you buy organic apples for this recipe and nix the bad stuff. No one want slow cooked chemicals in their batch.
Tools You’ll Needed
I found a nifty little apple tool that makes it super easy to core and slice apples and the same time.
I also used this trusty slow cooker for this slow cooker sugar free applesauce recipe and it certainly does the trick.
Tips & Tricks
- This stuff is so much better than store bought. Oh and you could use water as the liquid (in this recipe) and swap out the apple juice if you wanted to. But I find that using some apple juice really packs on the flavor.
- To enjoy this applesauce, try serving it up by itself. You can also try stirring into your morning cereal, using it as an accompaniment for waffles, pairing it with pork chops or as a topping for your favorite coconut yogurt as a filling snack.
Boy oh boy let me tell you something, these apples smell so good when they’re cooking down. It’s just the kind of slow cooker healthy recipe you’ll want to try.
What Type of Apple Juice Do you Use?
I use plain organic apple juice. There are no hidden sugars or high fructose corn syrup in the juice. Basically, you’re looking for apple juice that is cloudy on the bottom. This juice also makes delicious lacto-ferment apple cider.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Unsweetened Applesauce
- apples
- apple juice
- lemons
- cinnamon stick
- whole cloves
How to Store the Homemade Applesauce
Allow the applesauce to cool completely. Next, store in air tight containers for up to a week. You can also freeze the applesauce for up to 3 months in silicone ice cube trays.
Do You Like it Chunky or Smooth?
The consistency of the final product will depend on your preference. Do you like it chunky or smooth? Blend or don’t blend at the end. That’s up to you. You can also blend it half way. As you can see in this recipe, I blended the final product to get it nice and smooth.
How Long to Cook Unsweetened Applesauce?
This applesauce will take 4 to cook in the slow cooker if you cook it on the high setting.
Easy Unsweetened Applesauce (Slow Cooker Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 apples mixture of fuji and gala
- 3/4 cup unfiltered apple juice
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 whole cloves
Instructions
- Core apples and remove stems.
- Cut into large chunks.
- Put into slow cooker.
- Add unsweetened apple juice, lemon juice, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon stick.
- Cook on high for 4 hours.
- Remove cinnamon stick and blend in food processor until desired consistency.
- Store in refrigerator in air tight container.
Video
Watch the video
Original November 8, 2018.
Updated 10/17/19. 9/13/20
9/24/21 9/30/22
8/24/25 for content
