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3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce

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3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce! If you love applesauce, you’ve got to try this method. It’s absolutely delicious and comes out perfect every time.

Bowls full of homemade applesauce next to the Instant Pot with fresh apples, cinnamon and lemon.

3 minute Instant Pot applesauce!

Seriously. It only takes 3 minutes to *cook* it! Homemade applesauce can be made quick!

When I have applesauce it makes me think of two people – my grandma and my mom.

As a young girl I got to visit my grandma {she lived to be 101!} a lot, especially during the summertime. She always had applesauce for me – the kind that comes in the jar, with Cinnamon Sugar {remember that stuff, the McCormick® kind}. I loved it, it was our special snack to eat together.

Applesauce with organic apples, lemon and cinnamon sticks.

My mom on the other hand only made homemade applesauce. She never bought the packaged kind for me and she only made it with one meal … mac n’ cheese. Yes, macaroni and cheese was a staple for my mom and me.

It was cheap, I loved it, and it filled our bellies. She always made delicious chunky homemade applesauce to go with it. And wait for it … she always added 1-3 Red Hots® {aka cinnamon imperials} to it to add cinnamon flavor.

Yikes! I cringe at the thought of the Red Hots® ingredients now and all of that food dye! But I had no idea about it then. Regardless of that, I love how much LOVE my mom put into what she made for me.

I love that she always made that same meal – mac n’ cheese, with Red Hots® stovetop homemade applesauce and petite peas with butter sauce {yes, the packaged kind}. I miss my mom everyday and love that I have these fond memories of her.

Organic halved and peeled apples with cinnamon in an Instant Pot pressure cooker.

But back to this 3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce!

I am blown away by how easy + fast + DELICIOUS this applesauce is! I know, I know, fall is over … but we still have tons of apples here. Honestly, it’s the only fruit my Little Love will eat this time of year, so I buy lots of them.

Applesauce with lemon, cinnamon sticks, organic apples and an Instant Pot pressure cooker.

I try and come up with different ways to use apples so my family doesn’t get bored. I can’t eat apples raw, but I can eat them cooked. That’s why I love this applesauce so much.

Not only does it come out absolutely perfect and delectable every time … but I can also control what goes into it. Mine is loaded with lots of organic apples, cinnamon, fresh lemon juice, some healthy pasture butter {healthy fats are really good to pair with fruit}, a little bit of local raw clover honey, and last but not least, a pinch of Celtic sea salt for trace minerals.

Applesauce with organic apples and cinnamon sticks.

If you love applesauce, you’ve got to try this easy Instant Pot method!

I will never make it another way again. It’s so incredibly delicious! Crazy good! My favorite way to eat it is after it has been chilled in the refrigerator, but it’s delicious warm too.

The Instant Pot cooks this applesauce perfectly! It’s no shocker that this is my favorite way to make applesauce, considering I LOVE the Instant Pot® and I even wrote a nourishing cookbook using it [NOW I actually have 4 Instant Pot cookbooks!! – Mexican Food, Low-Carb and a HUGE book with all kinds of food and 240 recipes!!].

The Instant Pot® cooks everything perfectly – roasts, corned beef, ribs, deviled eggs, soups, pasta dishes, delicious drinks and even sweet treats!

Enjoy this 3 minute Instant Pot applesauce as a snack, a condiment or for a healthy treat.

Bowls full of homemade applesauce next to the Instant Pot with fresh apples, cinnamon and lemon.

 

3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce

3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce

3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce

Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 23 minutes

3 Minute Instant Pot Applesauce! If you love applesauce, you've got to try this method. It's absolutely delicious and comes out perfect every time. The awesome thing about this recipe is it's flexible. If you want to add more apples, go for it. If you like more cinnamon, add more.

Ingredients

  • 12 organic large apples, peeled if preferred and quartered {I use Honey Crisp or Fuji apples}
  • 2 tablespoons pasture butter or ghee - optional
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon light colored raw honey - optional
  • Juice of 1/2 organic lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt - optional
  • 3/4 cup filtered water

Instructions

  1. Wash and prep all of your apples. My family doesn't like the apple skin, so I peel the apples. If you don't mind the skin, by all means leave it on. Quarter all apples and toss them into the Instant Pot stainless steel bowl.
  2. Add butter, cinnamon, honey, lemon juice, sea salt and water into the Instant Pot stainless steel bowl with the apples.
  3. Put the Instant Pot lid on and secure it in the locked position.
  4. Plug in your Instant Pot. Make sure the vent on top of the lid is in the sealed/closed position.
  5. The Instant Pot should be turned on. You'll hear a little sound that it makes.
  6. Press the MANUAL button. The high pressure light should turn red. If not, press manual again to get it to switch from low pressure to high pressure. Then press the "-" sign to decrease the time to say 3.
  7. Walk away from your Instant Pot. Don't worry, it will do it's work. It will end up saying "On" for a while during the "pressure" increasing and heating process. You might see a little steam escape through the top vent area, that's okay. It will only release a little bit. Once it has started to cook, you'll see the number 3 on the screen and it will decrease.
  8. When the Instant Pot is done cooking, it will beep to let you know. At this point you can press the "Keep Warm/Cancel" button and then unplug the Instant Pot.
  9. Again, walk away for about 15 minutes while the Instant Pot releases the pressure. The little silver circle next to the vent will sink back down when it's ready. If you're not sure, using an oven mitt, turn the vent to "venting" - if will release some steam and then the silver circle will drop.
  10. Carefully remove the lid and check out the beauty inside of the pot.
  11. Ladle apples into a high powered blender {my preference} or food processor. If there is a lot of excess liquid leftover in the stainless steel bowl, only use about half of the liquid. Pulse just until fully combined and smooth {you could also use an immersion hand-held blender} - add remaining leftover liquid if needed.
  12. Enjoy warm or cold.

Notes

  • YOU WILL NEED: Instant Pot, High Powered Blender/Food Processor/Immersion Blender
  • STORAGE: Store applesauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • PLEASE NOTE: As with all Instant Pot recipes, the Instant Pot takes time to come to full pressure. The *cook time* for this recipe is 3 minutes, but it will take several minutes to come to full pressure depending on many factors like how cold the apples are, etc. It will also take about 15 minutes after cooking to naturally decompress. 

The photographs of this recipe, recipe and all content above are copyright protected. Please do not use my photos without prior written permission. If you choose to share this recipe, please use proper etiquette and provide a link back to my original recipe on my blog with proper disclosure [the original recipe - "title of recipe" by Recipes to Nourish]. If you make significant changes to the recipe or adapt the recipe in any way, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and provide a link back here with proper disclosure for credit. Thanks for understanding! 

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 299 Total Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 16mg Sodium: 148mg Carbohydrates: 65g Fiber: 10g Sugar: 49g Protein: 1g
This nutritional information was auto-generated based on serving size, number of servings, and typical information for the ingredients listed. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall the this website and the author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
© Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri
Cuisine: American / Category: Instant Pot Recipes
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  12. I just recently got an Instapot and I can’t wait to try out your apple sauce recipe! 3 minutes! I love it!! I also dearly love apples, and eat at least one a day. Thanks for sharing this dreamy & speedy recipe. ♥

    Reply

  14. This is such a wonderful recipe we love it at our house just made a large batch and canned it for the season my son eats Apple sauce in his oatmeal and I always put it in his pancakes as well. I usually always also put carrots in the oatmeal and pancakes I think next batch I am going to try to add carrots to the Applesauce. Thank you for sharing

    Reply

  15. Can you replace the butter with anything? I’d like to make it and don’t currently have the pasture butter or ghee

    Reply

  17. if i want to make applesauce with only half of the apples the recipe calls for (like about 6), are the rest of the measurements the same or should i cut them in half as well?

    Reply

    • Hi Angie, yes if you’re going to half the amount of apples, I would also half the rest of the ingredients – however, this recipe is very forgiving, so if it’s not exact it’s probably still going to taste great. 🙂

      Reply

  18. Hi! I just came across this recipe while looking for recipes for my new Instant Pot. I have a wonderful older recipe for applesauce from a newspaper. It adds a vanilla bean, scraped into the apples along with the bean (removed when you’re done and before you puree) and a little grated nutmeg as well. I love the taste, and now I can have it cooked in 3 minutes! What can be better! Thank you.

    Reply

  20. Just made this, sans cinnamon, and it’s better than any store bought applesauce I’ve ever had. Homerun for sure!

    Reply

  21. I am a single person and 12 apples is too much.
    If i cut it to 6 apples do i cut all the other ingredients and the water in half?
    Is the cook time still 3 minutes? Is NPR still 15 minutes?

    Reply

    • Hi Jennifer – I usualy make this for myself and eat it throughout a few days of the week – it makes about 1 quart. If you still want to half it, that’s fine too. Yes, I would cut everything in half, only using 1/2 cup water. You could even omit the sweetener if you prefer it to be less sweet. The cook time and NPR will still stay the same. Hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply

  22. Love how simple and easy it is to make homemade applesauce in instant pot in 3 minutes ! I am totally going to try this recipe. How neat !

    Reply

  23. I haven’t read all the comments, so I hope I’m not repeating someone’s comment. I have an applesauce recipe that people wax poetic about! The difference is that it adds a vanilla bean to the pot, after scraping the sides of the bean to get it all in the pot. Then drop the vanilla bean, already scraped, into the cooking pot. I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t do this in the Instant Pot as well, just removing it when everything is finished cooking. You won’t be sorry. It is subtle tasting and delicious.

    Reply

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