Homemade Applesauce From Scratch | Easy Canning Recipe

It’s apple season here in Michigan, and we’re putting those fresh-picked apples to good use! 🍏 Today, I’ll show you how to make and can homemade applesauce; a cozy fall staple that’s simple, delicious, and shelf-stable for years.

Learn how to:
🍎 Pick the best apples for making applesauce
🔥 Easily cook down your apples for the perfect texture (chunky or smooth!)
🫙 Safely can and preserve your applesauce for long-term storage
🌿 Add your own twist with cinnamon or sugar

Whether you’re new to homesteading, love DIY food preservation, or just want to fill your pantry with homemade food, this video will guide you step-by-step through the process. It’s the perfect way to celebrate the harvest season while building a more self-sufficient, natural lifestyle.

💚 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell for more recipes, canning tutorials, and homestead life videos from The Homestead Fam!

Silicone Oven Gloves: https://thehomesteadfam.com/products/food-grade-silicone-cotton-oven-gloves-wrapped-edge

#Homesteading #CanningApplesauce #HomemadeApplesauce #FoodPreservation #FallHarvest #FromScratchCooking #SelfSufficientLiving #TheHomesteadFam #CanningSeason #HomesteadKitchen #AppleRecipes

Today I’m going to show you how to make applesauce. We make this one time every single year during apple season. It is October here in Michigan. So we went and got some apples. We picked all of our own apples a couple weeks ago when we made apple cider. So I went and got these from a local Menanite store and they are still Michigan apples. So that is great. And I’m going to show you how easy it is to make apple sauce and then can it up so it stays years on your shelf. Before we get into it, make sure to subscribe, like, hit that little bell icon so you don’t miss our next videos. And let’s get right into it. [Music] Before we get started, let’s talk about the apples and everything else you’re going to need. So, these are a Macintosh apple that I bought. I specifically bought these because I wanted them to go along with these apples that we picked at our family’s cabin that we just found a random apple tree and we picked. But these are very tart and very hard apples. So, I wanted the softer Macintosh apples that are a little sweeter, too, to kind of complent each other. Applesauce in general is just going to be good with any apple you use in my opinion. But if you do like a tarter apple and a sweeter apple, you get a nice blend. Also, I like the taste of a softer apple and an applesauce. So, just keep that in mind when you are picking out your apples. The only other thing you need ingredients-wise is some cinnamon if you want to add that. And then some people also add some sugar. I like to do mine unsweetened with a lot of cinnamon. That’s just my preference. But you will find that this applesauce recipe is less of a strict recipe and just doing what tastes good to you. So, I like to add a lot of cinnamon. And then you might want some water to put in the bottom of your pan. I am using a roaster for today. You can also do this in a stock pot on the stove or a small crock pot, but I am doing a large batch at once and I’m just going to let it kind of simmer all day. So, I’m using a big roster pan. This handy dandy gadget is a musthave if you do a lot of things with apples or you’re making a huge batch. This peels and cores the apples and I’ll show you how to use that later. If you don’t have that, of course, just a knife to peel it in a cutting board is great, too. And then at the very end, if you want a really, really smooth applesauce, you can put it in the blender or use an immersion blender. But I actually like a chunky applesauce. So, I’m just going to kind of finely chop them up, put them in there, and let them cook down. If you don’t have my back to the basics book already, this is a book that I put together that has all of our household staples in it. Things like breads and condiments and other things like some simple meals like mac and cheese and soups and go-to desserts. And we even have like our cranberry juice in here. Lots of different options. But this is going to be where our whole applesauce recipe is. And if you want to take a look at that, especially if you’re doing it in a stock pot, it goes through how to do that here. And if you don’t have that, go grab it. And let’s dive right into making some applesauce. So, the main star of the show today is going to be this apple peeler and corer. If you do a lot of apples, you’re going to want to get this. It will attach and suction cup right to your countertop. It has a nice little guard here. And then it is as easy as adjusting the bottom here. Let’s get this core out of there or the stem. Attaching your apple to it and giving it a turn. As it goes around, it will peel and then this little end here will core and slice at the same time. So, in the end, you can pop this off and you have a nice cord and peeled apple. We’ll set this aside and then these will be going to the chickens. You can also make apple cider vinegar with this. I’ve done this I did this two years ago and I made so much that I still have like gallons of it today. So, I’m not going to be making anymore. So, you can make apple cider vinegar or you can throw it in your compost or give it to your animals. So, let’s just keep repeating this process until all of our apples are peeled and corn. It’s also okay if you have little bits of peel on here. They’re going to be blended up, especially if you like a smooth applesauce. So, don’t worry about being super super particular on all the skins being off because they’ll soften up and be just fine in your applesauce. All right, let’s try some of the ones we handpicked ourselves. They are We tried to pick the ones that were in the best shape, but they’re definitely harder and a little smaller. So, let’s see how these hold up in the apple peeler, too. Perfect. Actually, a lot better than I was expecting. Um, these were definitely wild, not treated whatsoever apples. And this has no like wormholes or any like soft spots or anything in it. So, I am very happy with that. [Music] Like I said earlier, I like a chunkier applesauce. So, instead of blending mine smooth, I am going to actually pre-dice them, throw them in my stock pot, and then let the heat in the stock pot break them down just a little bit. And then if at the very end I want it any smoother, I’ll take my immersion blender and blend it up just a little bit. But I like a like a chunkier cubed up applesauce. So that’s what I’m going to do today. So, I’m just going to take these and dice them up just a little bit more before I fit them inside my stock pot here. Again, if you like a smooth applesauce, you can skip this step and you’ll just blend it at the very end. But the great thing about applesauce, it’s all towards your preference. So, just make it how you and your family like it. [Music] All right, I now have a whole roster pan full of all of my apples. It took me about 45 minutes. So now I’m going to head over here to the roster and put them on for about 200° is what I’m going to do. I want them to be long and low. I’m going to head out and do some chores and work on our fixer upper house for a little bit today. And then I’m going to come back and check on them and see how they’re doing. And then at that point, we’ll add our cinnamon, sugar, and we will can them up. Before I put the lid on, I am going to add a little bit of water just to create some moisture in there. For this amount, I’ll probably put about two cups. It’s been a couple hours, so I decided to come back and see how they are doing. So, let’s open them up. The ones on the bottom are starting to get soft for sure, and they’re starting to kind of look shiny, which is what we want to see. And so, I’m just going to give them a little stir and let them sit through the remainder of the day. And we’ll come back when they’re done. We are finally back from the fixer upper house. So, let’s check on our applesauce and see how it is doing. This is looking perfect. It is still chunky how we like it, but it is definitely in a more saucy form. You can see that moisture kind of coming in there. This is at the point where if you want this to be smooth, you would take your immersion blender and blend it up. or you can put it into a blender and make it nice and smooth. But now we’re going to go ahead and we can add our cinnamon or if you want to add any sugar at this point, you can do that, too. I’m just going to measure this with looks and I’ll taste it after a little bit. I don’t have a specific ratio that I use, just enough. I know what I like it to look like. So, I’m going to add a good generous portion here. Probably 2 or 3 tablespoons. Just give it a good mix and then I’ll taste it. If I want any more then I’ll add some we will go from there. All right, let’s give this a little taste. Perfect. All right, now we can get into the canning. To can this applesauce, it is hot, so you’re going to want your jars to be warmed up every time you can. You want hot contents to go into hot jars and cold contents to go into cold jars, or else you risk your jars breaking. So, right now, I’m just filling this up with some hot water. And then I’m going to put it on the stove and let them sit for just a little bit till they’re warm and then start filling my jars with the applesauce. [Music] Now, I’m just going to let this warm up just a little bit while I prepare all of the other tools I need, and then we will start putting our applesauce in the jars and canning. Here’s a look at everything else I’m going to be using. Of course, we have our new lids and bands here. You always want to have new for canning. Um, save the ones that you want to reuse for things like dry canning or just storage. And then you’re going to want a funnel to make things a little cleaner when you’re putting your applesauce in your jars. A ladle to ladle them into your jars. These are my oven gloves. I prefer using these for canning. You can also use a jar lifter, but you’ll see when I get into this how much easier it is with these. And then a cloth just to put any hot jars on or to set the applesauce on when they are all done and ready to cool. Okay, our jars are now warm enough. So, I’m going to start filling these. First, I’m going to grab my jar out of here one at a time, dumping out any water. And this is why these oven mitts or oven gloves are super nice. So, I’m going to take that out and I’m going to come over here, fill up my jar. I need my funnel. We’re going to fill these up to a half inch head space. And these are quart jars. Now that I have my jar, I’m going to take it, wipe the rim just to make sure there’s nothing on there that’s going to prevent a good seal. Place on my lid and my band. And I can stick this right back in the caner. And now we will keep filling just like that our next one. All [Music] right. Fingertip tight. And this is the last one going in. My water is about an inch above my jars in there. And it is on high heat. So, I’m going to put the lid on. And then I’m going to let this come up to a rolling boil. It’s already starting to bubble a little bit. But once it’s a rolling boil, I’m going to set my time for 20 minutes processing time. Now, you might have to adjust this depending on your elevation, but here we are between the 0 and 1,000 ft elevation. So, we are good. And we will come back when they’re done. Okay, it is now done. So, we are going to turn this off. Remove the lid. And then we’re just going to let this sit for another like 10 minutes to let it cool down a little bit. And that helps your jars not siphon so much. You want them to kind of slowly come to the room temperature that you’re going to set them here. So, I’m going to leave them about 10 minutes and then we’ll come and grab them out. All right, we let this rest. So, now we can use our oven gloves to remove each jar. Again, you can use a lifter, but I’ve been using these all day. And you can wash them under the sink. Use them for hot and cold. I’ll put these in the description below if you want a pair. And as I do this, it’ll probably only take like 5 to 10 minutes and I’ll start hearing them pop and seal. I’m going to let them sit here until the morning. They’re going to completely cool and then I’ll come back to check all of their seals. And if they all seal, I’m going to label them, put them in my pantry, and if one doesn’t seal, you can try to recan it. But I usually just stick it in the fridge and use it right away. [Music] And that is it for making this applesauce. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments. Like and subscribe and hit that little bell icon so you don’t miss any of the next videos. And we will see you next week. [Music]