Homemade Apple Sauce — No Sugar, in 20 Minutes
Yvonne Ammann VeganPeel and dice the apples, cook covered with a little water, lemon juice and a cinnamon stick for 15 minutes until soft, then mash or blend. Sweet varieties need no sugar. Keeps a week in the fridge, six months in the freezer.
In Switzerland apple sauce is more than a dessert — it goes with Chnöpfli, with Ghackets mit Hörnli, with Fotzelschnitten and on every child's plate. Shop-bought usually contains sugar no apple needs. Homemade is apples, a squeeze of lemon and a piece of cinnamon, 20 minutes, and it tastes of what it is.
Ingredients
- 1 kg Apples (e.g. Gala, Golden, Boskoop)
- ½ dl Water
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 piece Cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp Sugar (optional)
Method
- 1
Prepare the apples
Peel and quarter the apples, remove the cores and cut into rough chunks. Toss with the lemon juice at once so they do not brown.
- 2
Cook
Put the apples in a pan with the water and cinnamon stick. Cook covered over medium heat for 15 minutes until the pieces collapse. Stir once so nothing catches.
- 3
Mash
Remove the cinnamon stick. For a rough sauce, mash with a fork or masher; for a smooth one, blend with a stick blender.
- 4
Taste
Taste. Sweet apples need no sugar; with tart varieties stir in 1 tbsp sugar or honey. Serve warm or cold.
Tips
- Mix two varieties — a sweet one like Gala and a tart one like Boskoop. The sauce gets more flavour than from one variety alone.
- The best use for apples nobody wants to eat any more: soft, wrinkled or bruised. For sauce they are perfect.
- Cook with the skins on and pass through a food mill afterwards — that gives a pink sauce with more flavour and saves the peeling.
What can I substitute?
Stir ground cinnamon in at the end. Vanilla makes a finer sauce for dessert.
Pears make it sweeter, plums in autumn pink and tangy. Same cooking time.
More intense apple flavour, slightly sweeter. With tart varieties it replaces the sugar.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Which apples for apple sauce?
Any that collapse: Boskoop, Gala, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Gravensteiner. Boskoop gives the most aromatic sauce, Gala the sweetest. Granny Smith stays firm and tart — only use mixed.
How long does homemade apple sauce keep?
A week in the fridge, six months in the freezer — in portions or as ice cubes for child-sized helpings. Filled hot into clean jars and sealed at once, it keeps unopened for several months.
Does apple sauce need sugar?
No. Ripe apples have enough sweetness of their own. Shop-bought sauce often contains 10 to 15 g sugar per 100 g — homemade has only the 10 g fruit sugar that is in the apple. For babies and toddlers that is the whole point of making it yourself.
What is apple sauce eaten with in Switzerland?
With Chäschnöpfli, Ghackets mit Hörnli, Älplermagronen, Fotzelschnitten and pancakes — wherever something sweet suits something savoury. And on its own with yoghurt or semolina pudding as dessert.
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