Easy Cranberry Apple Sauce For Canning Or Freezing

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This homemade cranberry apple sauce is a sweet and tangy fruit sauce made with fresh apples, cranberries, and a little sugar. It’s somewhere between applesauce and cranberry sauce, and it’s an easy way to put up a few jars from the fall apple harvest.

Can it for the pantry or freeze it, and you’ll have it ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

Every fall, my counter fills up with apples from our own trees and our favorite pick-your-own farms. And I’m always looking for new ways to use them up. Apples and cranberries are one of my favorite flavor combinations.

I’ve already used them in apple cranberry crisp, apple cranberry bread, and even apple cranberry baked oatmeal for breakfast.

So turning them into a sauce just made sense. The sweet apples mellow out the tart cranberries, and it cooks up into the prettiest pink color.

I used McIntosh apples for this batch, but any apples you love will work. And don’t let all that peeling scare you off. Use a hand-crank apple peeler to peel, core, and slice each apple in one go, so the prep is quicker than you’d think.

Or you can skip all that and run the sauce through a food mill after cooking to remove the skins and seeds.

Don’t have a canner? You can freeze it instead. Either way, it’s ready and waiting for you when the holidays get busy.

Ingredients

• 6 pounds apples
• 6 cups cranberries
• 2 cups water
• 2 3/4 cups sugar

How To Make Cranberry Apple Sauce

Step 1. Prepare The Apples

Peel, core, and slice the apples. I use my hand crank apple peeler for this. It peels, cores, and slices all at once, so it goes quickly even with a big pile of apples. A paring knife works too. It just takes a little longer.

Step 2. Rinse The Cranberries

Sort through the cranberries and remove any soft or damaged berries. Give them a rinse under cool water and drain.

Step 3. Cook The Fruit

Combine the sliced apples, cranberries, water, and sugar in a large pot. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring so nothing sticks.

Reduce the heat so the sauce is simmering. Stir and cook until the apples are soft and the cranberries have burst open and cooked down.

Step 4. Puree The Sauce

Puree the sauce to your preferred smoothness. An immersion blender makes a smooth sauce. For a chunkier sauce, use a potato masher.

Step 5. Taste And Adjust

Taste the sauce and adjust the sweetness. If it’s too tart for you, stir in a little more sugar while it’s hot.

Now you’re ready to can or freeze the sauce.

Substitutions

• Apples: Use any apples you like. McIntosh cook down soft and quickly. A tart apple like Granny Smith gives a tangier sauce, or you can use a mix.
• Water: Use apple cider or apple juice instead of water for more apple flavor.
• Cranberries: Fresh or frozen cranberries both work. There’s no need to thaw frozen berries first.
• Sugar: Use less sugar, or leave it out, for a tarter sauce. You can also use honey or maple syrup.

Variations

• Spiced: Add a pinch of cinnamon or ground ginger while the sauce cooks.
• Pears: Swap a few of the apples for pears. If you love that combination, try my cranberry pear sauce.

How To Can Cranberry Apple Sauce

Step 1. Fill The Jars

Ladle the hot sauce into hot pint or quart jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles with a debubbler or a plastic knife.

Then wipe the rims clean and place the lids and rings on fingertip tight.

Step 2. Process The Jars

Place the jars in your water bath canner. Process pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes. If you live above 1,000 feet, adjust the time for your altitude.

Processing times for pint jars:

• 0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes
• 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes
• 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 20 minutes
• Over 6,000 feet: 25 minutes

Processing times for quart jars:

• 0 to 1,000 feet: 20 minutes
• 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 25 minutes
• 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 30 minutes
• Over 6,000 feet: 35 minutes

Step 3. Let The Jars Rest

When the time is up, turn off the heat. Let the jars sit in the canner for 5 to 10 minutes. Then lift them out with your jar lifter, and set them on a towel to cool.

Step 4. Check The Seals

Let the jars sit undisturbed for 24 hours, then check the seals. Put any jars that didn’t seal in the fridge, and use them first.

Step 5. Label And Store

Remove the rings, wash the jars, and label them. Store them in a cool, dark place, and use them within about a year for the best quality.

Looking for more fruit sauces to put up? Here’s how to freeze or can applesauce.

How To Freeze Cranberry Apple Sauce

No canner? No problem. Let the sauce cool completely, then spoon it into freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. Leave at least 1 inch of headspace in containers, since the sauce expands as it freezes.

Freeze it for up to a year. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before serving.

How To Store

Keep an opened jar or thawed sauce in the fridge in a covered container. Use it within about a week.

Serve With

• Cranberry Glazed Ham
• Easy Roasted Turkey
• Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes

FAQ’s

More Cranberry Recipes

• How To Make Cranberry Sauce And Can It
• Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• Apple Cranberry Crisp
• Apple Cranberry Bread

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