Applesauce in the Instant Pot is Simple & Easy

Food Boxes

The Office for The Aging recently contacted the manager of the apartment building I live in to offer food boxes for the senior citizens living here. The boxes came yesterday. Two boxes for each apartment. It was a good assortment of healthy food, produce and other items. One of the produce items was a bag of local apples. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep these apples fresh as long as it would take me to eat them all. So I decided to make them into applesauce.

Preparing Apples

I have not made applesauce since I was cooking it all day on a wood stove. I thought it would be a good thing to do here. I researched some recipes and decided on doing it in the Instant Pot. In the end I didn't really follow a recipe. You will find many recipes if you search for "applesauce recipes." Include "no sugar" and/or "unpeeled" if that is how you want to make it. I wanted a simple recipe with no sugar added. Apples don't really need sugar added. 

Two bags of apples

For many people my age, peeling apples can be hard on your hands and fingers. So not peeling them is a big step in making this easier to do. Standing in one place for a long period of time isn't good either. I take breaks. My break is longer than the standing time! lol  This was an easy to do recipe due to much of the prep work being eliminated. I washed the apples and then cut the core out and sliced them into chunks. Leaving the peel on. I put 1 cup of water into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. 

Apples Prepped

When I was slicing them, I put them right into the inner pot, up to the max line. I sprinkled 1 tsp. of cinnamon on the apples and mixed it into the apples. Next I made sure the gasket was on the lid, then fastened the lid on. Turned the knob to sealing (NOT VENTING) and closed the lid. Press the manual button (on my model, your model may be different, manual is the same as high pressure). Set the time for 6 minutes. Now you are done for now. 

Apples are cooked and are soft!

When it is done cooking, wait for the natural release. The apples will be very soft but need to be made into sauce which doesn't take much work. Using an immersion blender I blended it for a few minutes until it was smooth. 

Applesauce is smooth and no sign of the peels!

I finished with two 1 quart canning jars of applesauce. I am storing them in the refrigerator but it can also be canned. Use the search engine for the recipes and I also found it could be canned using the water bath method (for fruit) in the Instant Pot (not using pressure). I might try that sometime in the future. To be honest, as much as I loved canning, at this time in my life, I do not want to do it. I don't need more work. Less work but good food is my new motto! My apartment is small and I really don't have the room needed to store canning jars of food. Not now or ever again. 

Mmmm!

 

Copyright © 2021 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2021  Kathleen G. Lupole