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Blackberry applesauce is a simple way to turn a big bramble harvest into something the whole family will ask for by name, with the deep purple color and sweet, slightly wild flavor of blackberries folded right into a soft, homemade applesauce. It cans up shelf stable for winter, freezes just as well, and comes together in a single pot on the stove.
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
If you have made plain applesauce before, blackberry applesauce will feel familiar, since it is put up in exactly the same way. You cook the fruit down soft, puree it, and process it in a boiling water bath, following the same tested approach as a basic applesauce canning recipe. It is based on the fruit puree method from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, canned on the applesauce processing times, and because apples and blackberries are both high-acid fruits, there is nothing to add for safety. No lemon juice, no extra acid, just fruit.
This recipe makes a small batch of about 3 to 4 pints, which is a manageable amount for most kitchens, and it doubles easily if you are working through a bumper crop of berries. If you would rather skip the canner altogether, it freezes beautifully, so you can put up a few jars for the shelf and tuck the rest in the freezer. And if you like the seeds, you can leave them right in, which is exactly what I do.
Notes from My Kitchen
Blackberry applesauce is what happens here when the wild brambles along our fence line come in all at once. We have more blackberry canes than any sensible person would let grow, and every August I come in from picking with purple fingers and a few fresh scratches, carrying more berries than we could ever eat before they turn. After the pies and the freezer jam, applesauce is where the last of them land.
I leave the seeds in mine, since I do not mind them and it saves me a step, but I know that is a personal thing, so I have written up the quick way to strain them out down below for anyone who would rather have it smooth. Either way, I keep it apple forward, because the apples give the sauce its body while the blackberries still come through loud and clear.
It goes fastest stirred into morning oatmeal at our house, though it does not last long straight off the spoon either.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Blackberry Applesauce
- Recipe Type: Fruit Applesauce
- Canning Method: Water Bath Canning or Steam Canning
- Prep Time: About 20 minutes
- Cook Time: About 30 minutes
- Canning Time: 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- Yield: About 3 to 4 pints
- Jar Sizes: Quarter pint, half pint, pint, or quart
- Headspace: 1/2 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Apples, blackberries, a little water or juice, and optional sugar
- Safe Canning Recipe Source: NCHFP fruit puree method, canned on applesauce processing times
- Difficulty: Easy
- Similar Recipes: Blackberry applesauce is made much like other fruit applesauces and simple fruit sauces, such as cranberry applesauce, strawberry applesauce, and pear sauce. If you love blackberries, try other blackberry canning recipes like blackberry jam or blackberry syrup.
Ingredients
Blackberry applesauce needs only a few things, and the amounts are forgiving. This is a good landing spot for apples and berries that are a little past their prime for eating out of hand.
- Apples: These are the base of the sauce and what gives it body, so it does not cook down thin. Sweet varieties that soften quickly work well, like McIntosh, Cortland, Gala, or Golden Delicious, and a mix of whatever you have on hand makes for a rounder flavor. You can peel and core them, or leave the peels on if you plan to run the sauce through a food mill later.
- Blackberries: These bring the color and that deep, slightly wild berry flavor. Wild and cultivated berries both work, as do marionberries and other bramble berries, and fresh or frozen is fine with no need to thaw. Blackberries are naturally seedy, so if a little crunch is not for you, see the note in the instructions on straining them out the way I do in my seedless blackberry jam.
- Water or juice: A little liquid gets the fruit simmering before it releases its own juices. Water keeps the blackberry flavor front and center, while unsweetened apple juice or apple cider adds a touch of sweetness. Either way, use a plain juice with no added preservatives.
- Sugar: Completely optional and there for flavor, not for safe canning. Ripe blackberries and sweet apples are usually sweet enough on their own, so taste the sauce before you decide, then add a little sugar, honey, or maple syrup if your berries lean tart.
A little cinnamon or a scrape of lemon zest is nice if you want a dressed up sauce, and dry spices in reasonable amounts are fine for canning. This recipe scales easily, so use about 1 cup of blackberries for every pound of apples, and lean heavier on the berries if you want a stronger blackberry flavor. You can also stir in a handful of other high acid fruit, like raspberries or blueberries, but leave out anything low acid such as bananas or any vegetable, since that would change how the sauce needs to be canned.
Step by Step Instructions
Blackberry applesauce comes together in one pot, and the only real choice to make is whether to keep the seeds or strain them out. Everything else is just cooking the fruit down and pureeing it to the texture you like.
Prep the Fruit
Wash the apples, then peel, core, and slice them into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. If you are planning to use a food mill at the end, you can skip the peeling and let the mill catch the skins. Rinse the blackberries and pick out any stems or soft, spoiled berries.
Cook It Down
Add the blackberries and the water or juice to the pot with the apples, cover, and bring up to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often so nothing catches on the bottom, until the apples are completely soft and the blackberries have collapsed. This usually takes 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your apples, and you can add a splash more liquid if the pot looks dry.
A slow cooker works well here too, especially for a bigger batch, since it cooks the fruit down gently without much risk of scorching. Give it 3 to 4 hours on high or 6 to 8 hours on low, stirring now and then.
Puree It Smooth, or Strain for Seedless
If you are keeping the seeds like I do, an immersion blender or a quick mash right in the pot is all you need. For a seedless sauce, you have two easy options. The simplest is to run the whole thing through a food mill, which takes out the blackberry seeds and any apple peels in one pass. Or you can strain just the berries ahead of time, the way I do in my seedless jam: cook the blackberries on their own with a splash of water for about 5 minutes until soft, then press them through a fine mesh sieve with the back of a spatula to leave the seeds behind, and stir that puree in with the apples.
However you handle the seeds, make sure the finished sauce is a smooth, even puree with no large chunks, since that is what lets the heat move through the jar during canning. Taste it once it is blended and stir in a little sugar if you want, then bring the sauce back up to a full boil before you fill your jars.
Fill the Jars
Ladle the hot sauce into hot, clean jars using a canning funnel, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Run a bubble tool or a chopstick around the inside of each jar to release any trapped air, then wipe the rims clean, set on the lids, and thread the bands to fingertip tight.
Canning Blackberry Applesauce
Without canning, blackberry applesauce will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer for up to a year if you leave a little headspace in the containers for expansion. For jars you can store on the shelf, process them in a boiling water bath.
Prepare your water bath canner before you start cooking, so it is hot and ready when the jars are filled. Lower the filled jars into the canner, making sure they are covered by at least an inch of water, and process for 15 minutes for pints and half pints, or 20 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude as noted below.
When the time is up, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes before lifting them out. Set them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, then check the seals before storing. Refrigerate any jar that did not seal and use it first. Sealed jars keep at room temperature for 12 to 18 months.
Altitude Adjustments
For water bath canning, processing times increase at higher elevations:
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts
- Above 6,000 feet: 25 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts
The pint time holds at 20 minutes through the middle two elevation bands while the quart time keeps climbing, which looks odd at a glance but is correct.
Serving Ideas
We eat blackberry applesauce most often at breakfast, stirred into oatmeal or a bowl of plain yogurt, or spooned over pancakes and waffles. The deep purple color makes it feel like a treat even when it is doing the humble work of getting fruit into the kids, and it is soft and gentle enough to serve to the littlest ones straight from the jar.
It also earns its keep in the kitchen. Use it in place of plain applesauce in muffins, quick breads, and cakes for a little extra moisture and berry flavor, or warm a bowl and top it with granola for a quick dessert. A spoonful is lovely next to roast pork or chicken, and a jar tied with a ribbon alongside a few other apple canning recipes makes a welcome gift come fall.
Yield Notes
This recipe starts with about 4 pounds of apples as purchased, which comes to roughly 2 1/2 pounds once peeled and cored, plus about 4 cups of blackberries (around 1 to 1 1/4 pounds). Cooked down and canned, that fills about 3 to 4 pints. Blackberries are light for their volume, so the berry weight here is lower than it would be for a denser fruit at the same 4 cups.
The exact yield always shifts a little with how juicy your fruit is and how far you cook it down, so plan for a jar or two of variation. You can double the batch as long as your pot is big enough to cook everything evenly, and a slow cooker helps with larger amounts. To make just a single pint, use about 4 cups of sliced apples with a generous cup of blackberries and a splash of water, then sweeten to taste.
Blackberry Applesauce FAQs
Yes. It is a hot-packed fruit puree, so it cans the same way as plain applesauce: a boiling water bath, 1/2-inch headspace, and applesauce processing times adjusted for your altitude. The things that keep it safe are a true, smooth puree, hot sauce going into hot jars, and processing for the full time.
You have two easy options. Run the finished sauce through a food mill, which removes the seeds and apple peels at once, or strain the berries ahead of time by cooking them with a splash of water for about 5 minutes and pressing them through a fine mesh sieve before adding them to the apples. If the seeds do not bother you, skip both and just blend everything smooth.
Yes, as long as you stick with high acid fruit. Raspberries, blueberries, and cherries all fold into this the same way, and you can adjust the ratio to taste. Keep out low acid ingredients like bananas, melon, or any vegetable, since those would change the acidity and the sauce would no longer be safe for water bath canning.
Absolutely, and there is no need to thaw them first. Add them to the pot straight from the freezer along with the apples and liquid. If anything, freezing helps break the berries down, so they collapse into the sauce a little faster.
No. Sugar is optional here and only affects flavor, not safety, so you can leave it out entirely. Ripe blackberries and sweet apples usually carry the sauce on their own. Taste after cooking and add a little sweetener only if your fruit came out tart.
If your brambles gave you more than you can keep up with, here are more ways to put blackberries up for the pantry.
Blackberry Canning Recipes
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Blackberry Applesauce
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
- 4 lbs apples, as purchased, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 4 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup water, or unsweetened apple juice or cider
- Sugar to taste, optional
Instructions
- Prepare a water bath canner, jars, and lids. Keep everything hot.
- Peel, core, and slice the apples into a large, heavy-bottomed pot (or leave the peels on if you’ll use a food mill). Rinse the blackberries and pick out any stems or soft berries.
- Add the blackberries and water or juice, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the apples are very soft and the blackberries have collapsed, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Puree to your preferred texture. Keep the seeds with an immersion blender, or run it through a food mill for a smooth, seedless sauce. Keep it a true, even puree with no chunks.
- Taste and add sugar if desired, then return the sauce to a full boil.
- Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and apply lids and rings to fingertip tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes for pints and half pints, or 20 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude.
- Let jars rest in the canner 5 minutes, then cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking seals.
Notes
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts
- Above 6,000 feet: 25 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Blackberry applesauce is just one of the fruit sauces you can put up with an apple base, and the same method carries across a whole shelf of them.
Apple Canning Recipes
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