Today’s recipe for Slow Cooker Applesauce with Cranberries is about as simple as a recipe can get! And, it’s also a delicious way to enjoy some of the quintessential flavors and foods of Fall – fresh apples and cranberries!
Just add apple chunks, fresh cranberries, apple cider and some sugar to a slow cooker, along with two cinnamon sticks that add a perfect amount of spice without being too over powering. Give everything a quick stir, turn your crock-pot on for about four hours, and – that’s it!
Once the cooking time has passed, remove the cinnamon sticks and mash the apples and cranberries into the consistency that you want – you can leave the sauce chunkier if you’d like or make it completely smooth. You can also add more sweetness to the applesauce – as written, our recipe is lightly sweet with a touch of tartness from the cranberries, but you can increase the sugar if you prefer a sweeter applesauce.
This slow cooker applesauce with cranberries is a delicious alternative to a traditional apple sauce or cranberry sauce – the best of both worlds! We used a mix of Granny Smith, Cortland and Gala apples in our version (because we had a drawer full of apples that we needed to use up) – but pretty much any variety of apples will work in this recipe!
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Slow Cooker Applesauce with Cranberries
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups
Ingredients
- 3 to 3½ pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 cup apple cider
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (plus more sugar if you prefer more sweetness)
- 2 whole cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a slow cooker (a medium to large sized slow cooker will work best). Cover and cook on high heat for 4 hours.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks from the cooked mixture. Mash the apples and cranberries with a potato masher
until you’ve reached the desired consistency. Stir to thoroughly mix. Taste and add more sugar if desired. - Pour the applesauce with cranberries out of the slow cooker and into a food storage container with a lid. Allow to cool slightly, then refrigerate to cool completely before serving.
until you’ve reached the desired consistency. Stir to thoroughly mix. Taste and add more sugar if desired.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
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This can make a great edible gift!
Great idea Meseidy – definitely!
I like the combination of sweet and tart! It must smell heavenly cooking all day!
I love cranberries- awesome idea to add them to applsauce!
Homemade applesauce is the best. Love the addition of the cranberries!!
This is fantastic! Looks absolutely amazing!
This looks beyond amazing, I only wish my family loved applesauce as much as I do!
I make something similar to this each year and, let me tell you, my family can not get enough of it. This reminds me that I need to make another batch.
I’ll have to check out your version too Dara!
Love apples and cranberry sauce!
Oh how I love fresh applesauce in any form. Adding fresh cranberries sounds like perfection!
Yum! Never thought of adding cranberies — I’m taking this to Thanksgiving dinner! Thanks! 🙂
Hope you love it Jennifer! 🙂
I make a cranberry chutney with chunks of apple, but I haven’t done the reverse—-made applesauce with cranberries. Duh! Great combo for texture, color and flavors.
Thanks Carol! Apples and cranberries (no matter which way you combine them!) are great together!
I do love applesauce from the slow cooker but the addition of cranberries makes it so much more festive. I bet it tastes great!
I can practically smell it now! Looks amazing!
Love this time of year because of all the lovely apple recipes
What a fun idea to add cranberries, this sounds delicious! Homemade applesauce is a must-have on my Thanksgiving table.
Wow!!! This is so DREAMY.
I enjoy using my crockpot this time of year! Love that you added cranberries to this!
Thanks Nancy – the cranberries are a great tart contrast of flavors to the sweet of the apples!
I love the texture you achieved on this applesauce. Plus the tart of the cranberries and sweet of the apples sounds wonderful!
Thanks Renee – It really is the perfect texture!
This is the total fall applesauce package! Love the addition of cranberries, yum!
Thanks Brandy!
I love how simple this looks! And awesome that it’s done in a slow cooker. When I make it on the stovetop, I obsess over checking it to make sure it’s not starting to stick to the bottom.
I think you’ll love how easy this recipe is to make Erin! Thanks!