This easy raspberry applesauce recipe adds the sweet flavor of raspberry to homemade applesauce, with no sugar added. A delicious snack or dessert that the whole family will love!
Ah, this raspberry applesauce! It was born out of the fact that the Southern husband and I made our usual trip to Vermont this past week, and as usual we visited the wonderful Champlain Orchards, and as usual we picked waaaaaaay too many apples for two people to reasonably eat, and for good measure I picked two pints of sweet little raspberries.
After we unpacked the car and realized we had about 384,485 apples, I realized something had to be done. And the first something is this easy and scrumptious recipe for raspberry applesauce. Ready to cook up some berry good (sorry!) applesauce? Let’s make it!
You need 6 cups of apple chunks, which translates into about 8 reasonably sized apples, 1 cup of raspberries and one cup of apple cider or apple juice. You can add sugar or honey if you want to, but wait until the applesauce is cooked and you’ve had a chance to taste it, because the Southern husband and I are here to tell you that we love it just fine with the natural sweetness of the apples and the berries.
Speaking of the apples, pretty much any variety will make super applesauce and if you you are the proud owner of a Foley food mill (raises hand) all you need to do is cut your apples into chunks – peel, seeds, core and all. I cut them in quarters and cut the quarters in half. When they are cooked, the food mill will magically filter out all of the seeds and peels.
If you don’t have a food mill, you do have to peel and core your apples, but I promise that this applesauce is worth it.
One way or the other, put those apple chunks into a nice big heavy pot with the apple juice and simmer them up until they are falling apart tender. Take them off the heat and stir in a cup of these babies while the apples cool a bit.
I know, so tempting! I won’t tell if you pop a few in your mouth before they go into the pot. Stir them around with the cooked apples, let everything cool a bit, and then run them through your food mill, or if you don’t have a food mill, blend it up in your blender, making it as smooth (or chunky!) as you like.
One way or the other, this raspberry applesauce is going to taste amazing, and make sure you try at least a little while it is still warm. HEAVEN. Meantime, any ideas for I should make out of the rest of my apples? Tell me in the comments!
PrintRaspberry Applesauce
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: About 5 cups 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 6 cups of apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (see note for a way to escape the peeling and coring!)
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup apple juice or apple cider
- Sugar or honey to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Add apples and apple juice to a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat to a simmer, and cook until the apples are falling apart tender, about 30-40 minutes.
- Stir in raspberries, remove from stove and cool for about a half hour or so.
- If you have peeled and cored the apples, pour the apple raspberry mixture into a blender and process until smooth (you may have to do this in batches). If you have a food mill (see note below) you can scoop the apple raspberry mixture from the pot to the food mill and turn the handle – the mill will catch all the peel and seeds for you.
- This makes a nice tart applesauce. If you like yours sweeter, add some sugar or honey.
- This applesauce is scrumptious at any temperature – cool, room temperature or warm. I highly recommend trying some while it is warm! I like to garnish with a little mint when serving.
Notes
If you have a food mill, you can just cut the apples into quarters (peel, seeds and all) – the food mill will strain those out for you after the apples are cooked. Here’s a link to the one I have!
Lyle Hough says
I just tasted some applesauce made based on your recipe. Had 5 apples in the fridge for a while, 3 red delicious and 2 granny smith. Had a pint of raspberries that were about to go. Cooked apples in unsweetened apple juice until mushy. Stirred in the raspberries. Ran through a blender. Refridgerated overnight. Taste was extraordinary, with sweetness of apples tempered by tartness of raspberries. A little grit from the raspberry seeds, but that may end up being a positive for me.
Hi Lyle! I’m so glad you liked this recipe, and this reminded me that I have both apples and raspberries on hand right now so I will be making this myself today! :)
Maura Cooper says
I love to add sliced (but not peeled) apples to roasted vegetables. I put them in after half an hour in the bottom of the roasting pan where there’s a chicken or small turkey on top. That punch of sweetness along with sweet potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery & onions is wonderful! I also like to saute them in a little bit of sweet butter with a sprinkle of cinnamon and dried ginger. Just let them get a little brown on both sides. Serve either along a protein or as dessert…and I won’t tell if you eat a little good vanilla ice cream with them.
Maura! I love love love this idea – setting aside some of my apples to cook with some chicken! Thank you!
Maura Cooper says
Oh Kate you’re sooooooo welcome! I hope you like the roasted apple slices with chicken as much as we do. Peaches work well too, or nectarines if you have ’em.
Maura Cooper says
Kate, did you see Elise Bauer’s recipe for Apple Cobbler on her site, Simply Recipes? That would be a fabulous use of your apples.
No! But I’m going to look right this minute – thank you! :)