Apple picking season is here and while it may look a little bit different this year our family had tons of fun (socially distancing) picking lots of apples. It’s a tradition we’ve done now for the past three years. But… the question always remains, what are we going to do with all these apples now? I can’t wait to share the simplest Instant Pot applesauce recipe with you!
It hit me. I have a one year old. We should make homemade instant pot applesauce! He would absolutely LOVE that! So in my quest to find a simple homemade applesauce recipe (I had never made it from scratch before, but it seemed easy enough) I kept hearing other people sharing how easy it was to make it in the Instant Pot.
So I thought I’d share exactly what I did. And let me tell you, it actually is as easy as everyone says it is! And I’m excited to share with you some great storage options on Amazon for easy access throughout the week.
This recipe actually makes quite a bit and I quickly realized there’s no way we’ll eat all of this right away. And then I remembered that I had these great silicone baby food storage containers that I used to use when I was making baby purees for Emmett when he was just starting out on baby food. I whipped up every combination you could think of!
I was excited that I could save some of the batch for later and easily have them pre-individually portioned out for when I wanted to grab one.
I also found these great reusable, easy to fill, 10 pack of food storage pouches on Amazon that worked perfectly for storing the applesauce batch for grab and go purposes. These are great for making homemade purees and putting them in your kiddos lunch bags or throwing them in your diaper bag for a quick snack on the go. And I love that they are washable/reusable and that I am creating less waste by making my own pouches.
Ok, let’s get started! So here’s what you’re going to need:
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 apples – Depending on what’s in season you can use different sized apples. I did 2 large, 6 small (Honeycrisp, Fiji & Empire is what was in season when we went apple picking)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Halve and core your apples and then cut them into large chunks. Some people prefer to skin their apples first but I left the skins on. Go ahead and place your apple chunks into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Add 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the Instant Pot and stir to coat evenly.
- Lock and seal the lid on the Instant Pot and set to cook for 5 minutes on HIGH pressure.
- When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for about 20 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to purée the applesauce directly in the pot until smooth for 30 seconds – 1 minute. If you prefer a chunkier applesauce you can use a potato masher.
- Add 1/3 cup packed brown sugar if desired.
Hope you get a chance to try out this simple instant pot applesauce recipe with your family. Let me know in the comments if you try it and how you like it!
And if you’re looking for some other great simple recipes that are definite kiddo pleasers and pack a lot of great (hidden) veggies in them you’ll love this post – 8 Ways to Sneak More Veggies Into Your Toddler’s Meals
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