The Best Applesauce No Sugar Added Recipe for Canning

I really enjoy a bowl of cold applesauce on a hot day… Especially this homemade applesauce NO SUGAR ADDED recipe! It’s a refreshing treat without the guilt! I love getting big boxes of apples from the local orchards in apple season for the freshest ingredients… Or apple picking, and preserving the harvest! Don’t forget to print your free recipe card below!

This post is in collaboration with my friend Dusty over at Linen and Wildflowers!

My family loves this great recipe on it’s own, as a side dish, on pancakes, in applesauce cake, on pork chops and other apple recipes.

This recipe follows the national center for home food preparations guidelines for safety.

How To Make Applesauce No Added Sugar Recipe For Canning

Gather your tools and ingredients when you have several hours to do canning and start by sanitizing your jars, lids and tools.

Tools For This Easy Recipe

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There are a few tools you’ll need, to make canning large batches easier, and to safely can applesauce, including:

• Large Pot or Water bath canner with canner rack. If you are buying equipment a canning rack with handles makes loading the water bath canner much easier!
• Quart or Pint size mason jars and new canning lids.
• Jar Lifter for lifting hot jars out of water.
• Magnetic Lid Lifter to remove hot lids from the simmering water.
• Apple Peeler
• Knife (or apple peeler, slicer corer machine.
• Cutting Board
• Immersion Blender or Potato Masher
• Large Cooking Pot
• A large Bowl
• Damp Cloth
• Plastic or Rubber Gloves for protection while cutting peppers.
• I love to use the Berky water filter to eliminate any pest or herbicides chlorine and other bad things that can be in our water…

Simple Ingredients For The Best Applesauce No Sugar Added:

1. 14-21 Pounds of third tart apples, like Granny Smith Apples, and two-thirds sweet apples like HoneyCrisp Apples. (It takes about 21 pounds of apples to fill a 7-quart canner, and 14 pounds to can a load of 9 pints.) I use granny smith apples and golden delicious, use your favorite apple variety for the best flavor.
2. Lemon Juice
3. 1-2 cups Water or Apple Juice!

How To Make Applesauce No Sugar Added Recipe

Making your own applesauce to enjoy on its own or in delicious recipes is a simple process!

1. First, Wash, peel, and core apples.
2. Place sliced apples into a large bowl of water with a cup of bottled lemon juice to prevent browning.
3. After all apples have been peeled, cored and sliced into an ascorbic acid bath, drain apple slices and put them into a large (8-10-quart) cooking pot.
4. Add 1/2 cup of water (or Apple Juice) for 14 pounds apples or 1 cup of water for 21 pounds apples. Adding enough water keeps apples from burning.
5. Heat quickly until tender (5 to 20 minutes, depending on maturity and variety) Stirring occasionally to prevent burning. This recipe does not use a slow cooker or instant pot.
6. For smooth applesauce, use an immersion blender, or potato masher or food processor to blend cooked apples. *****Skip the pressing step if you prefer chunky applesauce.****
7. Add seasoning if desired now.
8. Reheat sauce to boiling.
9. Fill jars with hot applesauce, leaving ½-inch headspace.
10. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to each quart jar, or half a tablespoon for each pint jar.
11. Remove air bubbles with a butter knife.
12. Wipe Rim with a damp cloth.
13. Place & adjust lids.
14. Process in a waterbath canner.

Lemon Juice For Home-Canned Applesauce

Some recipes do not call for adding lemon juice to jars, however, newer ball recipes do require lemon juice. The Best Applesauce No Sugar Added Recipe includes the addition of lemon juice for safety precautions. However, there are other benefits to adding lemon juice!

lemon juice will keep the applesauce in the jar from discoloring!

And Lemon juice will add a nice tart flavor to enhance your applesauce! If you want sweeter applesauce, omit tart apples and just use a sweet variety!

Do I Have To Use Lemon Juice In Applesauce for Canning?

Varying opinions among the most reputable sources, makes lemon juice seem to be optional. If you want to be extra safe, like me, add the bottled lemon juice (not fresh lemon juice).

The 2015 edition of the USDA Complete Guide does not require lemon juice in applesauce. However, the Ball Complete Book (2015) does require lemon juice, for reasons of safety do call for a tablespoon per quart jar.. They say

lemon juice is not an optional addition. Lemon juice is added to help preserve the apples’ natural colour and to assure the acidity of the finished product, since different varieties and harvesting conditions can produce apples of lower acidity.” (Note, though, that they don’t call for lemon juice when canning apple slices on their own. Perhaps it was density issues about the mashed apple that concerned them. )

Ball / Bernardin Complete Book (2015)

The Ball Blue Book didn’t call for lemon juice in the 36th edition. However, in the 37th edition on page 18, 3 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice appeared in the ingredient list for making 3 quarts of applesauce.

WATER BATH CANNING INSTRUCTIONS for Unsweetened Applesauce:

There are two different kinds of water bath canning, hotpack, and raw pack. This recipe uses the HOT packing method of canning for superior color and flavor of preserved applesauce!

1. Turn the heat up to high heat on the water bath canner, and get the water to a hard boil.
2. Using a canning rack or jar lifter, lower jars into boiling water. Keep jars upright so applesauce does not get into the rim area and cause the seal to fail.
3. If the water is not 1-2 inches above the jar lids, add more boiling water to get it up to the right level.
4. Put the lid on the water bath canner, and set your timer:
5. Process time: If you live between 1000 and 3000 ft elevation process PINT JARS at a high boil for 15 (Quart jars 25 minutes) minutes. If you live 3000- 6000 ft process PINT at a hard boil for 20 minutes (30 minutes for QUART jars). If you live above 6000 ft elevation process PINT for 25 minutes at a hard boil (35 minutes for quart jars).
6. . Check the canner every so often to make sure water is still 1-2 inches above jar lids, add more boiling water if needed.
7. When the time is up, turn off the burner, and remove the lid.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove jars KEEPING THEM IN THE UPRIGHT position so applesauce does not get between seal.
9. Set each hot jar at least an inch apart on a towel or wire rack to cool.
10. Let jars cool to room temperature for 12-24 hours.
11. DO NOT TIGHTEN LIDS OR PRESS ON LIDS! Jars must seal on their own to be safe.
12. After 12-24 hours, remove rings and wash jars.
13. Store sealed jars in a cool dry place (50-70 degrees) dark place for best results.
14. If you have a jar that does not seal, put it in the refrigerator and use it within a week.

Tips

If you want to add seasoning to homemade applesauce no sugar added recipe (like cinnamon) add it last before bringing it back to a boil and hot packing jars. Add 1 tablespoon seasoning at a time to taste.

Applesauce will taste different depending on the variety of apples you use. Fuji apples and gala apples are better enjoyed fresh in my opinion, but use your favorite!

Save your apple skins and add live vinegar to make your own apple cider vinegar!

Hotpacking Sugar Free Applesauce

Hot-packing is the best way to remove air and is the preferred pack style for foods processed in a boiling-water canner. At first, the color of hot-packed foods may appear no better than that of raw-packed foods, but within a short storage period, both color and flavor of hot-packed foods will be superior.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE01_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf

How Long Is Canned Unsweetened Applesauce Recipe Good For?

Choose the freshest apples from the grocery store, or from your tree in apple season, for canning applesauce. Use home canned applesauce within one year for the best nutritional value.

Many vegetables begin losing some of their vitamins when harvested. Nearly half the vitamins may be lost within a few days unless the fresh produce is cooled or preserved. Within 1 to 2 weeks, even refrigerated produce loses half or more of some of its vitamins. The heating process during canning destroys from one-third to one-half of vitamins A and C, thiamin, and riboflavin. Once canned, additional losses of these sensitive vitamins are from 5 to 20 percent each year.

The amounts of other vitamins, however, are only slightly lower in canned compared with fresh food. If vegetables are handled properly and canned promptly after harvest, they can be more nutritious than fresh produce sold in local stores. The advantages of home canning are lost when you start with poor quality fresh foods; when jars fail to seal properly; when food spoils; and when flavors, texture, color, and nutrients deteriorate during prolonged storage. – National Center For Home Food Preservation

https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE01_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf

How To Use Homemade Applesauce!

My family loves applesauce on our sweet cream pancakes or sourdough pancakes! We also love it on waffles, or just in a bowl for a healthy alternative to ice cream for dessert!

Recipe Card

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