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This homemade applesauce with cinnamon is simple, quick, and makes your kitchen smell like fall in under 30 minutes! Made with simple ingredients, it’s the perfect side dish, snack, or sweet topping for pancakes, waffles, or a bowl of warm oatmeal.
There’s nothing quite like the cozy aroma of apples simmering on the stove with a hint of cinnamon and spice. If you’re like me and start thinking about apple recipes during apple season, you might also enjoy my Homemade Apple Cider, Slow Cooker Apple Butter, Instant Pot Apple Butter, and Instant Pot Applesauce. Each apple recipe captures the warm, comforting flavors of apples in a different way — perfect for filling your home with those warm autumn scents.
Why You’ll Love Homemade Applesauce With Cinnamon
- Quick and easy: You only need about 20 minutes and a handful of pantry staples to enjoy the delicious taste of homemade applesauce.
- Naturally comforting: The blend of apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg gives it that cozy, homemade flavor no store-bought jar can match.
- Perfectly customizable: Make it chunky or smooth, extra sweet or tart — it’s easy to adjust to your taste.
Ingredients
Find the full list of ingredients, amounts, and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Apples: I love using Honeycrisp apples for their natural sweetness, but Gala, Fuji, or Granny Smith work beautifully too.
- Water: Helps the apples soften and simmer evenly without sticking to the pan.
- Lemon juice: Adds a touch of brightness and keeps the applesauce from turning brown (optional but nice!).
- Sugar: Adds sweetness — you can adjust the amount to your liking.
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger are the cozy trio that brings warmth and depth to the sauce.
How to Make Homemade Applesauce With Cinnamon
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making this homemade applesauce recipe:
Step 1: Peel the apples, then chop/dice into small cubes using a sharp knife. The smaller you dice, the faster they will cook. Add the diced apples to a medium/large saucepan.
Step 2: Then pour in the water, sugar, optional lemon juice, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger and mix together.
Step 3: Place a lid on the saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Allow the apple mixture to simmer for 15-30 minutes, or until the apples can be mashed with a fork or potato masher.
Step 4: Use a fork or potato masher to mash the apples to the desired consistency you prefer. If you want a smooth applesauce, you can use an immersion blender or food processor to blend until smooth.
Step 5: Serve the applesauce immediately or allow it to cool in the refrigerator and serve cold.
How to Store
Allow hot applesauce to cool, then store in an airtight container or Mason jars in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe yields 4 servings, so if you’d like to make a big batch, double the recipe and simmer over medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
- You can add more or less sugar to sweeten to your taste. You can also substitute brown sugar, coconut sugar or unrefined cane sugar.
- Instead of nutmeg and ginger, you can substitute apple pie spice.
Recipe FAQs
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger are classic — they give applesauce that warm, comforting flavor. You can also try adding a pinch of cloves, allspice, or even a bit of cardamom for a unique twist.
A sweeter apple like Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Macintosh, and Golden Delicious are great choices. If you like a tangy flavor, mix in a tart apple like a Granny Smith or two for balance.
Absolutely! Many apples (like Honeycrisp or Fuji) are naturally sweet. Just skip the sugar or use a touch of maple syrup or honey instead.
Yes! Simply add all ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on low for 4–5 hours (or high for 2–3 hours). For the Instant Pot, cook on high pressure for 8 minutes, then quick release and mash or blend as desired. I also have a recipe for Instant Pot Applesauce.
More Apple Recipes
- Apple Fritters Recipe
- Apple Crumb Cake
- Apple Crisp Easy Recipe
- Chocolate Covered Apple Slices
- Apple Dip Recipe with Cream Cheese
If you make this recipe and enjoy it, please leave a comment with a 5-star recipe rating and let me know! Thank you so much!
Homemade Applesauce With Cinnamon
Equipment
- Apple peeler optional
- Potato Masher optional
Ingredients
- 4 large apples, peeled, cored, and diced
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup white sugar, optional
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Peel the apples, then chop/dice into small cubes using a sharp knife. The smaller you dice, the faster they will cook. Add the diced apples to a medium to large saucepan.
- Then pour in the water, sugar, optional lemon juice, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger and mix together.
- Place a lid on the saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Allow the apple mixture to simmer for 15-30 minutes, or until the apples can be mashed with a fork or potato masher.
- Use a fork or potato masher to mash the apples to the desired consistency you prefer. If you want a smooth applesauce, you can use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
- Serve the applesauce immediately or allow it to cool in the refrigerator and serve cold.
Notes
- This recipe yields 4 servings, so if you’d like to make a big batch, double the recipe and simmer over medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
- You can add more or less sugar to sweeten to your taste. You can also substitute brown sugar, coconut sugar or unrefined cane sugar.
- Instead of nutmeg and ginger, you can substitute apple pie spice.
- You can use Honeycrisp, Gala, Macintosh, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, or whatever type of apple you have available.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
