Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Applesauce

This easy homemade pressure cooker applesauce recipe is a great healthy snack for kids and adults. Sprinkled with cinnamon and some oats, or with other fruits like Instant Pot cranberry applesauce with fresh apples transforms this into a healthy dessert everyone will love. Make it in your Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi tonight.

How to Make Instant Pot Applesauce

I first attempted to make my Instant Pot apple crisp but I left it in too long and it turned out as a new recipe, this!! It was not my intention to make a healthy snack really but I got a two for one essentially so that was a win win. Then I went on, with less time, and kept the apples more firm and OH MY was it the most amazing thing ever too!!

Super versatile you might say, so I decided to share them both. I mean this isn’t just for babies, though they do sure love it when they are starting to eat solids huh? Of course if you’re making this for Instant Pot baby food you’d want to omit the oats I included to make it nice and smooth but turns out great for that purpose. 😉

Ninja Foodi Applesauce

Now you can use whatever brand of pot you have at home to use, it doesn’t matter. With this one you use the lid that is not attached. As long as yours is electric with high pressure it will work. Enjoyed as one of our top Ninja Foodi recipes for kids, or in a Crockpot Express it will come out the same I promise.

You can also choose whichever type of apples you like and each variety definitely brings a different taste to this Instant Pot applesauce. Green apples are going to be a bit tart, fuji are great if you want it as naturally sweet as possible.

If you want just the natural sweetness you can omit the brown sugar entirely and it will still have a sweetness to it. Just the little bit I added was great for our tastebuds. If you’re looking for a homemade treat/snack that is ready in no time at all this is a great choice.

How to Make Chunky Pressure Cooker Applesauce

Deciding what texture you want it to be is easy. Want it chunky? Make slices larger and decrease timing by 1 minute. You can adjust the texture easily from there. Lift the lid and think it is a bit too much? Use an immersion blender quickly OR set to saute and cook down a bit more to your liking.

After you enjoy this, you can add other fruit in it too like we did with fresh cranberries linked above! It was a tweak on the original I made after Thanksgiving was over and I had leftover sauce I didn’t want to throw away. Added a bit of chunkiness to the dish, tartness and great for the holidays.

Homemade Applesauce Ingredients

1. 7 apples – any variety, peeled, cored, and sliced (the thicker you slice them the chunkier it will be)
2. Apple corer and apple peeler are handy
3. Brown sugar
4. Maple syrup – I used real syrup
5. Apple cider – you could use apple juice but this brings more flavor
6. Cinnamon
7. Butter
8. Immersion blender if you want it really smooth
   1. or use traditional blender once apples are room temperature to reach desired consistency

I added some old fashioned rolled oats in this batch, I didn’t use instant oats. Those are totally optional. If you want to make slow cooker homemade applesauce we’ve done that too. It just takes longer. Pressure cooking takes a fraction of the time.

How long to cook apples in pressure cooker?

8 minutes is just right with thick slices, less if you want it chunky. This is how simple it is to make. It’s a great cooking activity to do with your kids in the kitchen too! Remove skins from apples, or leave just a bit on if you want a little texture, slice about 1/4 of an inch thick. Put sliced apples in pressure cooker. Pour apple cider and maple syrup on top.

How to Make Homemade Applesauce in Pressure Cooker

This is literally a throw it all in and cook down to the texture you want recipe.

1. Add sliced apples
2. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of that, sprinkle cinnamon on top.
3. Pour melted butter on top of everything.
4. Put lid on and close steam valve.
5. Set to pressure high for 8 minutes (times vary a bit depending on type of apple, and thickness you have cut your apple slices). Picture shows 8 minutes.

Do a quick release. Apples should be so soft that they don’t even have to be blended, just stir and you have perfect homemade applesauce. Or use an immersion blender to make very smooth.

What can I add to applesauce to make it taste better?

Start with the bunch of apples you choose, each has a different flavor. We like green because they are a bit more firm and tart. Golden delicious will be softer which is great if you prefer it to be very smooth. Maple syrup or agave adds sweetness, cinnamon is popular, nutmeg adds a Fall flavor or vanilla extract is a fun add in.

• Once you’ve followed the directions below to make Instant Pot applesauce and do a quick release you’re going to blend the apples. That is IF you don’t just want it super chunky like we do.
  • add cinnamon if you like
  • you can make this sugar free as well if you want
  • buy a few more to make Air fryer apple crisp later on too 😉
• Really it comes out so soft that many times I just give it a firm stir and it’s broken up enough for us. Keep in mind my kids are much older though.

If you want to blend it smooth then use your immersion blender right in your pot. Or allow it to cool down and pour it into your “regular” blender like this. Your Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi will work too.

What can you make with homemade applesauce?

When we are done we always enjoy some as is with breakfast, then we will make applesauce spice cake with it. I like to blend it a bit more for this so it is nice and smooth before measuring it out. For smaller bites our zucchini applesauce muffins are kid favorites, and some homemade apple butter is a yummy choice too!