Learn how to make your own homemade applesauce made with apples and pears by using your Instant Pot.
Can you add pears to homemade applesauce? Pears and apples have a similar enough texture that it's easy to cook them both together. The pears add depth of flavor and by making it yourself you will be able to taste the pear more than you would if you buy a pre-made pear applesauce from the grocery store.
One of my favorite fall time treats is taking local apples and pears and putting them together in a beautiful sauce. The additional of pears brings a nice added dimension of flavor to applesauce. It's really simple to do.
🛒 Ingredients
- 3 lbs of mix of sweet and tart apples
- 2 lbs of pears
- ¼ cup water
Applesauce should be simple, to allow the fruit to shine. You can add some spices like cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg if you like. You don't need to add sugar as pears are sweet enough and if you choose enough sweet apples you won't need anything else
Picking Apples
You want to find a balance of sweetness and tartness. Gala or Fuji apples mixed with a some McIntosh apples is great option. Most of the time when I am making applesauce I am using up any apples I have that are past their peak or are too soft.
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Picking Pears
Any variety of pear will work in this recipe. I like Bosc pears for the flavor that add to the sauce but you can't go wrong with Bartletts either.
RELATED - What's the Difference Between Bartlett & D'Anjou Pears?
📋 Instructions
Since I got an Instant Pot I have switched to making my applesauce in it. It's so much faster that way.
Start by removing the cores from the pears and apples. I have methods I use that I will talk about so that you can leave the skins on while cooking, so you don't need to pull out a peeler.
⏲️ Set the Instant Pot to sealing and high pressure for 5 minutes. Allow for natural release.
Once the pears and apples are done, you will need to remove the skins. If you have a food mill
, it will make your life easier as well as adding flavor to your sauce.
Don't have a food mill, instead you can use an immersion or stick blender. You blend the sauce to break down the skins until you don't even notice that they are there. I do this right in the Instant Pot. It's works pretty well.
Another option is to use a sieve and push the sauce through it, leaving the skins behind.
Whatever method you choose please give your applesauce time to cool enough. Can still be warm but you don't want to burn yourself if it's pipping hot.
If you find that your applesauce is too thin at this point, what I would do is hit the sauté button on the Instant Pot and bring your sauce to a simmer. Allow it to reduce until you get the right texture you want. This really depends on how much juice was in the apples and pears. I find that I need to do this more often with pear applesauce than I do with making just regular applesauce.
When the sauce is at the perfect texture, the sauce tends to start splattering outside the pot so be careful.
You also can cook your applesauce in a pot on the stovetop or a slow cooker. You can get good results either way, but with a slow cooker your chance of burning the bottom of one of your pans are gone. I add a little bit of liquid to get started. I use ¼ cup of apple juice. The apples and pears will release plenty of liquid on their own. Cook your sauce until it is the consistency you desire. I let mine cook all afternoon for several hours.
🍎 More Applesauce Recipes
Does this recipe sound good or did you already try it out? Leave a comment below and also check out these other applesauce recipes from the blog
Homemade Pear Applesauce in Instant Pot
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Food Mill optional
- Immersion Blender optional
Ingredients
- 3 lbs apples cored and halved
- 2 lbs pears
- ¼-1/3 cup water or apple juice
Instructions
- Remove the core from your apples and pears. Leave the skins if you have a sieve, food mill, or immersion blender.
- Place into the pot of your Instant Pot, making sure to not fill them above the maximum fill line.
- Add ¼ cup to ⅓ cup of water or juice to just cover the very bottom of the pot, so that the apples and pears don't stick to the bottom
- Set your Instant Pot to high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Allow to naturally release.
- Open the lid and allow the sauce to cool for 5 minutes.
- Run the apples and pears through a food mill or sieve over a large mixing bowl. Or you can use an immersion blender to blend up the fruit until smooth.
- After you are done If you think your sauce is too thin, return to the Instant Pot and set to sauté. Reduce some of the moisture in it. Be sure to stay nearby and stir often until desired consistency and be careful as the sauce will splatter more as it thickens.
- The applesauce can be served warm or you can chill it first.
Notes
- Fill the food mill up no more than ¾ of the way up with the cooked applesauce
- Turn it clockwise 3 times.
- Then turn it counter clockwise once. This will help clear anything sticking to the bottom.
- Repeat until it's basically only skins in the mill.
- If you have more applesauce to run through it, dump out the skins and start the process over.
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