Apples and peaches come together in this delicious applesauce that is better than anything you will buy at the grocery store.
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When you go to the grocery store and are walking down the aisle (usually the canned fruit aisle) that contains the applesauce, you will see an array of flavors.
Today the shelves are stocked with cinnamon, wild berry, strawberry, peach, chunky, just to name a few.
But why buy that stuff when making it at home is so easy and taste so much better.
I mean a MILLION times better!!!!
You can use whatever fresh fruit is in season.
When are fresh peaches are in season, that is what I use.
Peach applesauce is a household favorite. I make it with the best in season fruit. Here is how.
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🍎 What Apples to Use
Here in Michigan, apple season and peach season overlap. There are several good early season apples available during the height of peach season. These apples make the best applesauce in my opinion.
A few of my favorite varieties for peach applesauce include:
All of these varieties ripen in either July or August, before the end of peach season.
Lodi and Transparent make an applesauce with a smooth almost velvety texture. Gravenstein makes the most flavorful applesauce. Paula Red depending on when you buy them will either be tart and firm or soft and sweeter. The soft and sweeter will be best for sauce.
Really you can use any apple to make applesauce. Don't be limited to my list.
🍑 What Peaches to Use
Large freestone varieties are the best choice for the sauce. A free stone peach is a peach that has a pit that is easily is removed. They are easy to work with. Fortunately when summer apples are in season, the peaches at the same time areusually freestones.
Pick a flavorful peach. If you don't like eating it then don't make sauce with it. These you will find at your local farmer's market or orchard. Here are some varieties that work well if you can find them.
- Red Haven
- Crest Haven
- Elberta
- O'Henry
These are all yellow flesh varieties, but you can also make the sauce with a white flesh peach. Those tend to be sweeter so you may need to add less or no sugar to the finished sauce.
I made some amazing peach applesauce with O'Henry peaches that I got from Pearson Farm (Fort Valley, Georgia). O'Henry is a much beloved peach, one that your grandparents will tell you about. Great flavor and a beautiful red color.
Pearson Farm did a Summer Classic subscription series in 2019, where for 4 weeks I got a different classic variety. O'Henry was the last one but definitely not the least.
🙋 Can You Leave the Skin On?
Before we even get into cooking methods here I want to tell how you can make applesauce without having to peel any fruit.
The secret is an old fashion gadget called a food mill. It looks like a pot with a handle. It has a crank on top that turns a blade that pushes food through a sieve. You place the mill on top of a bowl and run whatever food you wish through it.
When running applesauce through it, all the peels will remain inside the mill, while the rest gets pushed through the sieve.
No only does having a food mill make your life so much easier, you are adding flavor and nutrition by leaving the skins on.
If you don't have a food mill, then just peel and core the peaches and apples and follow the cooking instructions below.
🧊 Frozen Peaches
If you want you can use frozen peaches. The texture isn't going to matter because you are cooking them into mush anyway. If you used canned, you need to completely drain the liquid out. I wouldn't recommend them as I don't think they have enough flavor.
🥭 Add Mango
Peach mango applesauce is a popular flavor in the grocery stores. You can make your own. Cut the one large mango or two small mangoes into cubes and add right to the applesauce along with the other fruit. The sweetness of the mango is a great addition to the sauce, making it sweeter without having to add sugar.
💡 Top Tip
I think applesauce making is not an exact science. Instead of following a recipe, let your tongue do the testing. If it needs more sugar add it, if it needs some spice, add that to. You can also adjust the apples you use based on whether you want it more tart or more sweet.
🐢 Slow Cooker
There are several cooking methods you can employ to make this sauce. You could make it on the stove top. I don't like that method because it's easy to burn the sauce, you have to keep a very close eye on it. (See more on this method in the recipe notes)
Another way is to slow cook the applesauce. Just put the apples and peaches into a slow cooker, and let it do it's thing. It usually takes a couple hours on the highest setting. (See more on this method in the recipe notes)
🐇 Instant Pot
The quickest way to sauce is through pressure cooking it. Got an Instant Pot or similar? Let me go through the steps of making the sauce with the Instant Pot.
Remove the cores from the apples and pits from the peaches. Slice the apples and peaches. Only peel if you don't have a food mill or you actually don't mind the peel in the finished applesauce.
Set your Instant Pot to high pressure for 5 minutes. You will need to add some water to the bottom of the pot. It all depends on how juicy your fruit is. ⅓ cup to ½ cup should do it.
Sometimes I have gotten a burn notice from my Instant Pot. Nothing was actually burned. I just add more water and tried again and it came out perfectly fine.
I don't like adding too much water because then your applesace will be too thin and you will have to cook it more to reduce the water content.
If it does come out too thin, you can see your Instant Pot to saute. Stir regularly until the sauce is as thick as you want it.
If you are using a food mill, just place it over a bowl and run the sauce through it. I like to reverse directions after about 4 turns. It's more efficient that way.
Again if you are sauce is too thin, you can also reduce it by cooking it more without a lid on.
🍯 Do You Need Sugar?
Your tastes and the fruit you use will determine whether you need to add anything more than just fruit. I have a post on how to make applesauce without using sugar.
If you do feel like it needs more sweetness, I like using honey instead of white sugar.
🍽️ Peach Recipes
Want more peach recipes? Give these a try too.
- Peach Ginger Sour Cream Muffins
- Peach Blueberry Buckle Cake
- 3 Ingredient Peach Vinaigrette
- Peach Glazed Pork Cutlets with Hatch Chiles
- Roasted Peach Buttermilk Ice Cream
Homemade Peach Applesauce
Equipment
- Instant Pot or other pressure cooker
- Can also be made with a slow cooker
Ingredients
- 3 pounds apples cored and sliced
- 1 pound fresh peaches pitted and sliced
- honey or white sugar to taste
Instructions
- If have a food mill or want to keep the skins on just core/pit the peaches and apples. Otherwise peel them first before removing the core/pit.
- Quarter the peaches and apples and add to the Instant Pot
- Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pot about ⅓ to ½ of cup.
- Set to high pressure for 5 minutes. Seal the pot.
- Allow the pot to naturally release before opening.
- If using a food mill, run through the food mill now, over top a bowl.
- Once cooled enough to taste, check for sweetness. Add honey or sugar if desired.
- If sauce is too thin, put back in the Instant Pot and hit the saute bottom. Don't walk awake. Stir the sauce regularly until the desired consistency.
Jon Bougher
Looks tasty!! I like the background info as well as the easy to follow recipe at the end