Instant Pot Homemade Applesauce (Pressure Cooker Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

How much liquid do you need in the Instant Pot pressure cooker? ›

Your Instant Pot needs liquid to work. If there's not enough, your pot won't be able to create enough steam to build pressure. About 1 cup is the minimum amount of liquid, so if you're cooking a recipe that will absorb water, like rice or beans, you'll need even more.

Adjust lids and process as listed below: Boiling water canner: pints - 15 minutes, quarts - 20 minutes. Dial gauge pressure canner at 6 pounds of pressure: pints - 8 minutes, quarts - 10 minutes. Weighted gauge pressure canner at 5 pounds pressure: pints - 8 minutes, quarts - 10 minutes.

The mellow sweetness of toasted sugar adds complexity. Apple cider vinegar helps brighten cooked fruit. Using skin-on fruit improves both flavor and color in the finished product. Aromatics like cinnamon, orange peel, and rose water intensify the flavor of the apples.

The best apples for applesauce are whatever apples you have on hand and need to use up. However, if you have a choice, we recommend using a combination of sweet and tangy varieties for the best flavor. Popular sweet varieties include Honeycrisp and Fuji, while popular tangy varieties include Granny Smith and Braeburn.

It cannot cook your food properly without water, and the pressure will build to such an extent that the lid, pressure valve, plugs, and hot food could be thrown all over the kitchen. This can seriously harm you, your kids, and your pets, not to mention property damage that comes from flying projectiles.

Using too much liquid.

Adding too much liquid can leave you with a finished dish that lacks flavor, or a sauce that's too thin. Follow this tip: While at least 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid is essential to well-cooked food in the pressure cooker, too much liquid will pull the flavor out of foods.

Lemon juice might seem like an odd ingredient, but we highly recommend adding it. We love the combination of lemon and apples and use it in other apple recipes. Lemon juice preserves the color of the apples and balances their sweetness. The best spoonful of applesauce tastes sweet and tart at the same time.

Homemade applesauce can be refrigerated for a week to ten days; it can also be frozen or canned for longer-term storage. Mott's recommends its applesauce to be used within ten days of opening. First let me introduce our panel.

There are two potential explanations for this: One, you've added a bit too much water when you made the applesauce, or, two, the apples you used had a high water content, like early season fruits or especially juicy varieties like Granny Smith apples.

Digestive Health

The soluble fiber in applesauce, in the form of pectin, can be helpful in treating digestive issues, such as diarrhea and constipation. It can help to neutralize the effects of irritable bowel syndrome. Pectin also acts as a prebiotic, which feeds good gut bacteria and promotes good digestive health.

Can you cook applesauce too long? ›

Making applesauce is not an all-day project. If it's cooking for much longer than 30-40 minutes, your apple pieces are too big, says Martinez. Aim for pieces that are 1"-2", and simmer at medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so the sauce doesn't scorch.

Many people report that the top of the jar of applesauce gradually turns brown. What is happening is the sauce has not been heated adequately to stop all enzymatic reactions and there is enough oxygen in the headspace to react with the enzymes.

The pectin in the apple skin and seeds makes it thick and glistening even before any sweetener is added. (Sometimes the skins can even add a lovely rosy hue.) It tastes even more richly of apple than the usual stuff you make with peeled, cored and diced fruit. And…it's easier on the cook.

Mix well, pop the lid on the pot, and bake at 350F for 1.5 hours. The apples begin to break down and more importantly, they release pectin. The pectin will help thicken the applesauce once it cools.

Making your own applesauce is quite easy and doesn't take much time if you choose to freeze it. Canning applesauce takes about twice as long but if you're limited on room in the freezer- it's the better option.

Follow this tip: Unless otherwise specified in the recipe, use just enough liquid (usually water or broth) to bring the cooker to pressure. Amounts will vary between recipes, but in general, 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid is needed to get cooking.

Cover bottom of the pot with 1 cup cold water for a 3 or 6-quart instant pot and 1.5 cups of cold water for an 8-quart instant pot. Add in trivet and place frozen or fresh ground meat directly on trivet.

In theory: 2.5 cups in a 3-quart Instant Pot. 5 cups in a 6 quart Instant Pot. 6.5 cups in an 8-quart Instant Pot.

Pour a 1/2 cup (125 ml) of water in the bottom of the pressure cooker if the vegetable's cooking time is less than 5 minutes. If the cooking time of the vegetable is between 5 and 10 minutes, use 1 cup (250 ml) of water. If the cooking time is between 10 and 20 minutes, use 2 cups (500 ml) of water.