This homemade strawberry applesauce recipe is not difficult to make. It is perfect for canning or making a small batch for the refrigerator!
When we went apple picking I ended up with twenty pounds of sweet apples begging to be turned into applesauce. I specifically saved my garden's strawberry harvest this summer in preparation for this event because I wanted to up my applesauce game this year. Plain ol' applesauce is good, but the entire family agrees strawberry applesauce is the best!
I love this homemade applesauce recipe because I have complete control over what goes in it. Using only simple ingredients, my easy recipe is free from excess processed sugar and uses only lemon juice as a preservative. I can feel good about serving this to my family!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fresh Apples - You can always use your favorite varieties of apples, but if you want guidance on which apples make the best applesauce, McIntosh, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious would each be a great type of apple to use.
- Fresh Strawberries - Fresh strawberries have the best flavor, but frozen can also work.
- Lemon - You can use bottled lemon juice as well. The juice of a lemon is important to use for canning because it raises the pH to safe levels for storage.
How to make it
This particular recipe for Strawberry applesauce is no harder to make than traditional applesauce. You simply throw the tart apple slices and sweet strawberries in a large pot (or large saucepan) with lemon juice and water, then cook everything down on the stove top over medium heat until softened. You can even use a slow cooker for this step, it works well, but it will take longer.
Once softened, it is ready to turn into applesauce! Run it through a Food Mill to remove the apple skins and create an even consistency. Alternatively, you can also use a food processor, immersion blender, or traditional blender instead.
Pour your strawberry applesauce into canning jars and place them in the refrigerator for storage, or process them in a water bath for 25 minutes, if canning.
How to store applesauce
You have a few different options for storing your fresh batch of strawberry applesauce. This is able to be used as a canning recipe if processing in a water bath for long-term storage. Alternatively, the jars can be placed in the refrigerator if you don't want to mess around with canning. If stored in the refrigerator, you can use any appropriate airtight container.
Another option is to freeze your applesauce. It is important not to freeze applesauce in the glass jars, or they could shatter in your freezer. Instead, placed it in an appropriate freezer container and store for up to three months.
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Strawberry Applesauce
Equipment
- Food mill
Ingredients
- 6 pounds apples
- 1 ½ pounds Strawberries Leaves removed
- 1 Lemon Juiced
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- Cut apples into eighths and place the slices into a large pot, discarding stems.
- Add strawberries, lemon juice, and water to ensure fruit does not burn on the bottom of the pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Stir occasionally as it simmers to prevent burning.
- Mash with a potato masher as apples soften and add additional water, if needed, to get desired consistency.
- Placing food mill over a large bowl, work in batches to scoop all sauce out of the pot and run through mill. This will remove apple skins and seeds.
- Place in sanitary quart jars and process in water bath for 25 minutes if canning, following all normal canning procedures, or place directly in refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on FoxValleyFoodie.com on September 19, 2015.
Tami
Would you be able to make this with frozen strawberries?
Fox Valley Foodie
Yes that should work too.
Gerie Lombell
I live in Mexico, grew up here too so I am not sure what a food mill is. I have a lot of strawberries in the fridge and was wondering what to do with them. This seems like a good answer and healthy too!
Fox Valley Foodie
Here is a (affiliate) link to the food mill I own, and highly recommend: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I0MGKE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=foxvalfoo-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B000I0MGKE&linkId=223489c71a05fb70db8dffbd501e5d7e
frances Van den Bergh
Hi a Food Mill sounds like my Food Processor. I have an apple core remover which will take care of the seeds. Using my Food Processor will pulverize the mixture into a smoothie texture. Did I miss the heat that we need to boil the applesauce on?
Regards Frances from Sunny South Africa
Fox Valley Foodie
Whatever temperature is needed to bring it to a simmer would be fine. The higher you go the greater chance you have to scorch it.
Sina @ Vegan Heaven
This sounds so delicious! 🙂 Too bad strawberry season is already over where I live. Can't wait for next year!
frances Van den Bergh
Hi Sina. We have strawberries at present but very expensive. What I would like to experiment with is using peaches or apricots instead of strawberries.
That would be Peach Applesauce and Apricot Applesauce. I may even venture into Paw-Paw, Sharon Fruit and what ever other fruit that catches my attention.
Regards Frances from Sunny and Hot South Africa
Fox Valley Foodie
I have made applesauce with peaches numerous times and I really enjoy it. Keep the ratio of apples to peaches near 3:1, just like the strawberry recipe and you should have good results. Peaches give the sauce a nice silky texture.