Homemade Strawberry Applesauce (Extra Easy!)
This Homemade Strawberry Applesauce is made with lots of strawberries (2 heaping cups), apples, a drizzle of vanilla extract, and a pinch of cinnamon. No added sugar! It’s very easy to make on the stovetop, and is full of bold fruit flavor!
Medically reviewed and co-written by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Applesauce with Strawberries
Looking for a super easy applesauce recipe that has a fun flavor twist?
Then this delicious Strawberry Applesauce is going to be your new favorite recipe!
Made in less than 30 minutes, with only 4 simple ingredients – apples, strawberries, vanilla extract and cinnamon – this easy to make Strawberry Applesauce delivers big on flavor. And because we simmer the naturally sweet apples down there isn’t any need for any added sugar!
If you are looking for more easy and healthy applesauce recipes for your family, then be sure to check out my Carrot Applesauce, Beet Applesauce, or these delicious 8 5-Minute Applesauce Combos for Kids. You can also find more recipes and information in my best-selling cookbook Little Foodies: Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with Taste.
Strawberry Applesauce Video
Watch this video to see how easy it is to make homemade strawberry applesauce!
Reasons to Love Strawberry Applesauce
- packed with fresh strawberry flavor
- healthy, simple ingredients
- great with breakfast, lunch, or snack
- easy to make a double batch and freeze extra as needed
- the perfect recipe to make with your little ones
- endless flavor combinations – you can also use blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or even cherries in place of the strawberries
Ingredients
Make sure to read the recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions!
- Apples: the base of the recipe is fresh apples. Make sure to use apples that are ripe and sweet, such as Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Pink Lady or Golden Delicious.
- Strawberries: the star of the show! We will be using 2 heaping cups of strawberries, which is almost an entire pound of strawberries, so buy accordingly. You can also use frozen strawberries if you prefer.
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon
- Water
Health Benefits of Strawberries for Babies
Strawberries are full of important vitamins and minerals that benefit our health, making them a healthy food for both kids and adults.
They are high in vitamin C to help support immune health and iron absorption; in fact, one cup contains about 180% of the recommended Daily Value for kids, making it an excellent source of this vitamin.
They’re also a good source of fiber and contain potassium, folate, and numerous antioxidants. Strawberries are made up of a majority of water, so they are a great food to keep your baby hydrated.
What Type of Apples to Use
Applesauce can be made out of any apples. But if you are able to choose, pick a sweeter variety of apples, as they will make this applesauce have more natural sweetness (without adding in sugar). If you really want to bump up the flavor, go for a mix of apple varieties. Here are a few examples:
- Sweet and Mildly Sweet: Fuji, Kiku, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Gala, Jazz Ambrosia
- Tart (with a little sweetness): Pink Lady, Jonagold, McIntosh, Jonathan, Empire, Granny Smith
- Crispy, Tangy and Sharp: Braeburn, Liberty, Ida Red, Rome, Pacific Rose, Opal
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a large stockpot, bring the apples, water, cinnamon, and vanilla to a boil. Reduce to a simmer over medium-low heat, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the strawberries and stir. Cover and then cook for another 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- For a chunky sauce, mash the apples and strawberries with the back of a wooden spoon. For a smoother sauce, transfer all ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree for 30-60 seconds or until you achieve your desired consistency. I pureed mine for 45 seconds. If pureeing for baby, puree for 1-2 minutes or until very smooth.
- Transfer to an air-tight container and serve.
Feeding Tips for Baby & Toddler
- You can feed this Strawberry Applesauce to your baby or toddler as is, or as a mix-in with plain yogurt, stirred into a bowl of oatmeal, or top it with whipped coconut cream for a dessert.
- Chilled Strawberry Applesauce can be a great way to help soothe a teething baby!
- Toddlers love making their own creations, so try setting up an “applesauce buffet” with different toppings to choose from, like granola, cereal, mini chocolate chips, chia seeds, hemp seeds, or ground flaxseeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This applesauce contains vitamin C, potassium, folate and numerous antioxidants. It’s also a good source of fiber.
Yes, you can use frozen strawberries instead of fresh in this applesauce – you may just need to add a few extra minutes of cooking time.
This is totally up to you! You can keep the peels on if you prefer but the applesauce will be thicker with a more earthy taste. Plus you will have to blend the apples for longer to get a smooth textured applesauce. I prefer to peel our apples for this recipe, so that the taste of the strawberries really comes through.
How to Store Strawberry Applesauce
This strawberry applesauce will keep for 1 week in the fridge (if it lasts that long!) or for 3 months in the freezer.
Other Berries You Can Use
The great thing about homemade applesauce is that it offers a solid base to get creative with many other kinds of fruit. You can include many kinds of fruits in your fridge or freezer that need to be used up, like these:
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Mangos
How to Serve this Applesauce with Strawberries
Besides eating this straight out of the container after your kids go to bed, there are so many fun ways to enjoy this applesauce.
- Easy Dessert: warmed with a dollop of coconut whipped cream.
- Yogurt Parfait: Spooned over yogurt and sprinked with granola.
- School Lunch: add this delicious applesauce to your kids air-tight lunch box (or container) and send it for school lunch.
- Oatmeal: spoon into a bowl of warm oats and top with some chopped pecans, sprinkle of hemp seeds and a little brown sugar.
- Reusuable Pouch: spoon into a reusable food pouch for an easy on-the-go toddler or kid snack.
Cooking with Kids
You can easily have your kids help you make this applesauce.
Toddlers
- They can help pick out and measure the ingredients.
- Toddlers can help chop the apples and strawberries into small chunks, with a child-safe knife.
- With assistance, they can add the strawberries to the cooking apples.
Kids
- They can pick out and measure all of the ingredients.
- Kids can help cut the fruits with a child-safe knife.
- They can help spoon the cooled sauce into a container.
Recipe Tips
- You can use any apples you have on hand or prefer, though the sweeter apples will give you naturally sweeter applesauce.
- Feel free to use fresh or frozen strawberries in this recipe.
- This recipe will thicken up once it cools down in the fridge for a few hours.
- You can store this applesauce in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To make this applesauce into a baby puree – simply blend for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
- You can add this applesauce to reusable pouches for an on-the-go toddler snack.
Or watch the shortened video here.
Get the recipe: Homemade Strawberry Applesauce (Extra Easy!)
Ingredients
- 6 large apples peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 heaping cups strawberries, hulled and chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Simmer Apples: In a large stockpot, bring the apples, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer over medium-low heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add Strawberries: Add in the strawberries, stir, cover and then cook for another 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Blend: For a chunky sauce, mash the apples and strawberries with the back of a wooden spoon. For a smoother sauce, transfer all ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree for 30-60 seconds or until you achieve your desired consistency. I pureed mine for 45 seconds using an immersion blender. If pureeing for baby, puree for 1-2 minutes or until very smooth.
- Eat: Serve or transfer to an air-tight container.
Notes
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8 Comments on “Homemade Strawberry Applesauce (Extra Easy!)”
This was a hit at my house. I got my 5yr old to finally like applesauce. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Love hearing this!
What are your favorite apples to use?
You can use any sweet apples – gala, fuji, honeycrisp, etc. I usually get whichever looks good at the time.
Would frozen strawberries work?
Yes! You can use frozen strawberries in this recipe.
If strawberries are on the dirty dozen list too, shouldn’t we use organic frozen strawberries?
Yes, you can use organic strawberries as well as organic apples for this recipe.