Crabapple Sauce

Crabapple sauce is a tangy, naturally pink preserve that’s easy to make from backyard fruit. It’s perfect for canning or freezing and has a bold, tart flavor that sets it apart from regular applesauce.

If you’ve got a crabapple tree heavy with fruit, this simple crabapple sauce is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to preserve the harvest. It’s tart, smooth, and perfect for canning or freezing. While plain applesauce is sweet and mellow, crabapple sauce has a bit more bite—something I love alongside savory meals or as a not-too-sweet snack for the kids.

I usually make this in early fall, right when the crabapples are at their peak and before the frost gets them. You don’t need to peel them, and the process is a lot like making regular applesauce—just simmer, mash, strain, and sweeten to taste. It’s naturally pink from the skins and has a bright flavor that pairs beautifully with cinnamon or a splash of lemon juice.

This small batch starts with 5 pounds of fruit to yield about 2 pints, which is just right if you’re working with a backyard tree or foraged fruit. If you’ve got more crabapples on hand, it’s easy to double or triple the recipe.

And yes, it’s safe for canning, just like traditional applesauce—so you can stock your pantry for winter.

Best Crabapples for Sauce

Not all crabapples are created equal when it comes to making sauce. Some are mouth-puckeringly tart, while others offer a sweet-tart balance that’s perfect for preserving. The best crabapples for sauce tend to be those that are juicy, flavorful, and have a good balance of sweetness and acidity. Look for varieties that are more apple-like in texture and flavor, rather than those bred purely as ornamental trees.

Dolgo crabapples are a favorite for sauce—they’re larger than most crabapples, easy to work with, and have a pleasantly tart flavor that mellows beautifully when cooked. Chestnut crabapples are sweeter and yield a golden sauce with rich apple notes, ideal if you prefer a less tangy result. Centennial and Wickson crabapples also work well, offering a good balance of sugar and acid along with juicy flesh.

If you’re foraging wild crabapples or harvesting from an unknown tree, taste a few first. Even very tart crabapples can make excellent sauce, but you may want to adjust the sugar level to match their intensity. As long as the fruit is firm, juicy, and free from insect damage or disease, it should be suitable for sauce—just know that flavor, color, and yield will vary based on the variety you use.

And watch our for tannic crabapples. While they are edible, they’re not pleasant. Those are best saved for crabapple wine!

Making Crabapple Sauce

Start by thoroughly washing about 5 pounds of fresh crabapples to remove any dirt or debris. Remove the stems and inspect each fruit, trimming away any blemished or bruised spots.

There’s no need to peel or core them—those will be strained out later.

Place the cleaned crabapples into a large saucepan or stockpot along with 1 cup of water or apple juice. The liquid helps prevent scorching and gets the fruit cooking evenly.

Cover the pot and bring it to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit softens and begins to fall apart.

Once the crabapples are soft, mash them with a potato masher to break them down into a thick pulp. Since crabapples will still have cores and seeds, it’s important to run them through a food mill or chiniois sieve to remove the seeds, cores and skins.

If you don’t have a food mill, you can use a fine mesh strainer, but it’s much more time consuming.

This will leave you with a silky, rosy-hued crabapple purée.

Return the strained pulp to the pot and place it over low heat.

Stir in sugar to taste—anywhere from 1/4 to 1 cup depending on how tart your crabapples are—and add a splash of lemon juice or a pinch of cinnamon if you’d like to enhance the flavor. (I don’t do this, as I like to add cinnamon at serving so that the sauce is more versatile, and I think crabapples are tart enough without added lemon juice. It’s not a bad idea is you have very sweet crabapples though.)

Simmer the sauce gently for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking, until the sugar has fully dissolved and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Canning Crabapple Sauce

If you plan to can the sauce, ladle the hot crabapple sauce into sterilized jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply two-piece canning lids, and process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes (adjusting for altitude—see below).

If you’re not canning, simply let the sauce cool and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze in containers for up to 6 months.

Altitude Adjustments for Canning

High elevation altitude adjustments for canning crabapple sauce are as follows:

• 0–1,000 ft: Process jars 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts
• 1,001–3,000 ft: Process jars 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts
• 3,001–6,000 ft: Process jars 20 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts
• Above 6,000 ft: Process jars 25 minutes for pints and 35 minutes for quarts

Yield Notes

Five pounds of whole crabapples yields roughly 4 cups of finished sauce, or about 2 pints, after cooking and straining. Actual yield will depend on how juicy your fruit is and how thoroughly you strain it. If you use a food mill and keep more of the pulp, you’ll get a bit more sauce. For a thinner, more strained sauce (or jelly-like texture), expect a slightly lower yield. You can scale this recipe up or down depending on how many crabapples you have, using about 1 pound of fruit per half pint of finished sauce.

FAQ

Using Crabapple Sauce

Crabapple sauce is incredibly versatile and can be used anywhere you’d normally reach for applesauce—but with an extra tart kick. The natural acidity of crabapples gives the sauce a bright, complex flavor that pairs beautifully with both sweet and savory dishes.

Try serving it alongside roasted pork or chicken as a tangy contrast, or spoon it over oatmeal or yogurt for a naturally sweet breakfast. It also works well in baking—use it as a substitute for oil or eggs in muffins, quick breads, and spice cakes to add moisture and a subtle tartness. You can even blend it into smoothies or use it as a base for homemade fruit leather.

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