Instant Pot Applesauce is a hidden veggie recipe packed with nutrition and made in just a few minutes using your favorite pressure cooker! This recipe includes two vegetables and tastes just like classic cinnamon applesauce. This sugar free homemade applesauce is unsweetened and the perfect easy Whole30 Applesauce that the whole family will love.
Originally published on September 14, 2018. Last updated on April 17, 2021.
Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce
Instant Pot Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce is the easiest way to make applesauce at home! The taste of fresh homemade applesauce is like nothing else. Once you taste this recipe you’ll never want to buy store-bought again!
This Instant Pot Applesauce requires no peeling of the apples and is made in minutes thanks to the combination of the Instant Pot and blender. It’s naturally sweet with no added sugar!
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Whole30 Applesauce
One of the great things about this Whole30 Applesauce recipe is that it includes veggies! This recipe contains both beets and spinach all while tasting just like the Classic Cinnamon Applesauce we all know and love. Best of all it’s perfectly sweet applesauce without sugar.
Veggie Applesauce
I confess, I don’t have a child who’s a “picky” eater. She does have preferences though and STRONGLY prefers fruit to vegetables, especially these days. Fruit is no trouble though and that’s why I created this veggie applesauce recipe. She doesn’t even care there are veggies in it (she knows) because it tastes like fruit! Looking for more ways to get in those veggies? I’ve yet to find a kid who doesn’t gobble up this Bolognese Spaghetti Sauce recipe with hidden veggies!
Hidden Veggie Recipe
This is hands down one of my favorite successful hidden vegetable recipes for toddlers. The two hidden veggies featured in this applesauce are beets (golden) and spinach. The spinach, as you can probably tell, is not completely hidden (even though it mostly is) but my daughter couldn’t care less! If you however have a child who does care about the color I’d recommend a fun incognito device like a reusable squeeze. My favorite are these which are not only convenient and portable but also disguise the color. And if you have a child who lives for all things pink, try out red beets in place of the golden beets which have a little bit stronger flavor but will turn the whole recipe a fun vibrant pink color.
How To Make Instant Pot Applesauce
This recipe is quick and easy to make using the Instant Pot. The first step is to select your apples. You’ll want to choose a naturally sweet apple for this recipe. My favorite is honeycrisp but you can also use others like Gala and Fuji. The most important factor when selecting pears for this recipe is that they are ripe. I tend to use bartlett but any ripe pear will work well here.
Begin preparing your ingredients. After washing and drying the produce, core and deseed your apples and pears leaving the skins on and then cut into 2 inch pieces. Peel the skin off the beet and cut into 1 inch pieces.
You can certainly choose to peel your apples if you like but leaving the skins on not only saves you the work but also adds more nutrition and fiber to your applesauce and I promise you won’t even know the skins were in there after they are cooked and completely blended into the sauce!
Cook your applesauce in the Instant Pot with water and cinnamon sticks and then removing the cinnamon sticks add the fruits and beets to your blender along with the spinach and ground cinnamon. (You can choose to use only cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon if you like but the combination of the two makes for the best cinnamon flavor I’ve found!) Blend and then serve warm or chill to serve cold and enjoy!
How To Store Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce
I highly recommend making a big batch of this homemade unsweetened applesauce! It is SO delicious and can easily be frozen. In the fall when apples are in season you can make several batches to freeze for enjoyment all winter long!
How Long Does Homemade Applesauce Last?
- In the Fridge – Homemade applesauce will last a week in a sealed container in the fridge.
- In the Freezer – For longer storage, in a sealed freezer-safe container (I prefer wide-mouth mason jars with lids) homemade applesauce will last for 3 months. Mark the top of the lids with the date made along with the recipe name.
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Instant Pot Hidden Veggie Pear Applesauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 Quarts 1x
- Category: Appetizers & Snacks
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Description
Instant Pot Applesauce is a hidden veggie recipe packed with nutrition and made in just a few minutes using your favorite pressure cooker! This recipe includes two vegetables and tastes just like classic cinnamon applesauce. This sugar free homemade applesauce is unsweetened and the perfect easy Whole30 Applesauce that the whole family will love.
Ingredients
For the Instant Pot:
- 10 pears (I typically use bartlett but any will work), cored and deseeded with skin on, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 large apples (I use honeycrisp), cored and deseeded with skin on, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 golden beets (yellow beets), use a vegetable peeler to remove skin and cut into 1 inch thick pieces
- 1 cup water (for both the 6qt and 8qt sized Instant Pot)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
Into the Blender:
- 1 cup packed baby spinach leaves
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Once prepared add apples, pears and golden beets to the instant pot or pressure cooker.
- Pour in one cup of water and place 2 cinnamon sticks in.
- Lock lid and set valve to sealing.
- Select High Pressure / Manual on high for 10 minutes.
- Once cooking has finished, quick release steam.
- Carefully remove the two cinnamon sticks and discard.
- To the bottom of the blender add the spinach and ground cinnamon.
- Using a slotted spoon transfer all but the liquid into a blender over the spinach and cinnamon.
- Blend on high several minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Pour Pear Applesauce into mason jars or other freezable containers for storage.
- I recommend allowing the jars to cool on the counter for 30+ minutes if possible to release steam before placing a lid on and transferring to the refrigerator. Allow the jars to chill in the fridge overnight prior to transferring them to the freezer for longer storage.
- Enjoy!
Notes
*Cook time is an “Instant Pot” 10 minutes which means once the machine comes to pressure which is really closer to 15-20 minutes in total.
Keywords: whole30 applesauce, hidden veggie recipe, homemade unsweetened applesauce,
20
Lori says
Brilliant idea to slip in the veggies! Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
Nicole says
Thank you! Yes, this is definitely a “make on repeat” kind of recipe!
Hillary Sonnentag says
Is it essential that they’re golden beets? Will the sauce just be pink if I use regular beets? (I have honestly never cooked either variety, so pardon my niavety if they’re very different)
Nicole says
Hi Hillary! Great question, yes the sauce will be pink if you use red beets instead of golden. If you are really trying to convince a little one that this is just standard applesauce I’d definitely go with the golden beets but the flavor will also be slightly different. It’s a matter of personal preference and although I like both red and golden beets I find red beets usually more “earthy” in flavor which not everyone enjoys. I hope that helps!
★★★★★
Danielle says
Would you be able to make this without a pressure cooker? Just cook the beets, apples, and pears till soft in a standard crock pot?
Nicole says
Hi Danielle,
Yes, absolutely! It will take longer on the stove top but you certainly could! It may also need a bit more water added as more steam will be released unless it’s covered but I haven’t tried it to know for sure how much would be needed. You would just want to keep an eye on it and add more water if needed. I hope you enjoy, we LOVE this recipe in our house!
★★★★★
Courtney says
How long would this stay good in the fridge for after making? If I put it into mason jars for example?
Nicole says
Hi Courtney! Great question, in the fridge the applesauce will last for a week to 10 days and can be frozen for 3 months.
★★★★★