Strawberries, apples and 45 minutes are all you need for this healthy strawberry applesauce! Naturally vegan, gluten-free, paleo, dairy-free and free of added sugar.
Before I knew how easy homemade strawberry applesauce was to make, I tried different brands of store-bought applesauce but they just weren’t very good.
I posted another recipe for strawberry applesauce a few years ago but I broke my slow cooker and so I had to find a new way to prepare the applesauce. This recipe is different enough that I figured it warranted another post!
When I posted my first strawberry applesauce recipe, I thought applesauce needed to cook for a long time so I used a slow cooker. That’s totally unnecessary! You seriously just need 30 minutes on the stove top.
It’s so absurdly simple to make. You don’t even need to peel the apples as they break down during cooking and if you use an apple corer, this is really quick to prepare. Apple slices and hulled strawberries – you just put them in a large pot, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool and puree!
I also left out the apple juice, which I had previously used as a sweetener. We went strawberry picking recently and came back with some almost candy-like strawberries.
This resulted in strawberry applesauce that was so sweet that I can’t even eat all that much at a time. However, if you’re using some less than stellar off-season strawberries, this applesauce likely won’t be all that delicious. You might want to add a bit of apple juice (at the beginning of the cooking process) for sweetness.
And make sure to use sweet apples and nothing tart! I honestly just use whatever cheap apples I have around. This isn’t an apple pie or a fruit dessert where you need to worry about the texture so just go with whatever you have – except Red Delicious! Your apples should have at least a little taste to them. 😉
Whenever I find myself with too many strawberries, I make up a big batch of this strawberry applesauce, fully intending to eat it all by myself within 5 days, but then I get nervous and freeze whatever I have left after 4 days. If it sits in there for too long, you’ll know by the smell.
If it smells funky, you’ll of course need to throw it out, which is as sad as it sounds. I recommend measuring out a cup per day or whatever you think you’ll eat over the next 4 days, and immediately freeze the rest.
Sometimes it keeps well for a full week, sometimes not, so I just err on the side of caution and stick to 4 days.
If you want to make a different sized batch, the proportions are approximately 1/3 strawberries and 2/3 apples by weight. So 1 pound strawberries and 3 pounds apples. Simmer until soft, puree and enjoy. 🙂
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Healthy 2-Ingredient Strawberry Applesauce (naturally vegan, gluten-free, paleo)
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Ready in: 45 min
- Yield: 6-8 cups
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds (1587 grams or about 7 large apples) unpeeled sweet apples
- 18 ounces (510 grams or about 4 cups) sweet and ripe strawberries, rinsed and hulled
Directions
- Core each apple (do not peel!) and cut into about 6 pieces. Add the apples and strawberries to a large pot. Add about 1/2″ of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Check about halfway through to make sure there’s a little liquid on the bottom of the pot (to ensure that they don’t stick). The apples should be very soft now. If they aren’t, simmer in 5-minute increments until they are.
- Remove from the heat and let cool for about 20 minutes and then use an immersion blender to puree the applesauce. You can also use a blender or food processor but an immersion blender is quickest, easiest and the least messy.
- Cool completely and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Freeze any remaining applesauce after that.
Recipe by Texanerin Baking | www.texanerin.com
