Homemade applesauce is an easy way to preserve fresh apples while creating a naturally sweet pantry staple for snacks, side dishes, baking, and everyday meals. This water bath canning recipe takes traditional applesauce a step further with four naturally flavored variations: blueberry, strawberry, peach, and pear. Each fruit adds its own flavor, color, and natural sweetness, giving you several ways to preserve apples while creating shelf-stable applesauce your family can enjoy throughout the year.

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By Diane Devereaux | The Canning Diva®
Last updated: October 2, 2026

Key Takeaways

• Four naturally flavored variations: Make traditional applesauce more interesting with blueberry, strawberry, peach, or pear.
• Fresh fruit adds natural sweetness: Combining apples with other fruits creates distinctive flavors and colors without relying on artificial flavorings.
• An excellent way to preserve an abundant apple harvest: Turn fresh seasonal apples into a versatile pantry staple you can enjoy throughout the year.
• More than a snack or side dish: Use home-canned applesauce for baking, breakfast, desserts, or as an easy addition to everyday meals.
• Water bath canning makes it shelf stable: Proper processing allows you to preserve jars of homemade fruit-flavored applesauce for convenient pantry storage.

Jump to Recipe

Choosing the Best Apples for Homemade Applesauce

The apple variety you choose will influence the natural sweetness and flavor of your finished applesauce. For a naturally sweeter sauce, Golden Delicious and Fuji apples work especially well and may reduce the amount of additional sweetener you want to add.

If you prefer applesauce with a brighter, tarter flavor, try Jonathan or Granny Smith apples. You can also combine sweet and tart varieties to create a more balanced flavor and greater depth.

After tasting the cooked apples and fruit together, decide whether the sauce needs additional sweetness. If desired, add the natural sugar or sweetener listed in the recipe ingredients to suit your taste.

[Click here to read more about How to Select the Best Apple for Applesauce]

How to Naturally Flavor Homemade Applesauce with Fruit and Berries

One of the easiest ways to give homemade applesauce more flavor is to combine apples with other fresh fruits and berries. Instead of adding artificial flavorings, the fruit itself contributes natural sweetness, color, aroma, and its own distinctive flavor to the finished applesauce.

Apples make an excellent base because their mild sweetness pairs beautifully with many other fruits. Berries such as blueberries and strawberries add brighter color and a slightly tart flavor, while peaches contribute a soft summer sweetness. Pears blend especially well with apples because the two fruits have similar textures while offering subtly different flavors.

The type of apple you choose also influences the finished applesauce. Naturally sweet apple varieties can reduce the amount of additional sweetener you may want to use, while tart apples create a brighter flavor that can balance sweeter fruits. You can also combine several apple varieties to develop a more complex flavor.

Creating the Right Fruit Combination

The key is to maintain the apple as the foundation of the applesauce while using the additional fruit to create the desired flavor. My recipes below provide specific combinations for Blueberry Applesauce, Strawberry Applesauce, Peach Applesauce, and Pear Applesauce, taking the guesswork out of determining how much fruit to use.

Each combination produces a different flavor and color while following the same basic idea: cook the apples and complementary fruit together until tender, then blend or process them to achieve your preferred applesauce consistency.

You can make your applesauce completely smooth or leave a little texture if you prefer a chunkier sauce. Once you find a fruit combination you love, home-canned flavored applesauce becomes much more than a simple side dish. Serve it with breakfast, pack it into lunches, spoon it over oatmeal or yogurt, use it in baking, or enjoy it straight from the jar.

Start with These Four Naturally Flavored Applesauce Recipes

The recipes below give you four distinctly different ways to preserve apples with complementary fruits:

• Blueberry Applesauce for a colorful berry flavor with a slightly tart finish.
• Strawberry Applesauce for a bright, familiar berry sweetness.
• Peach Applesauce for a mellow, naturally sweet summer flavor.
• Pear Applesauce for a smooth, delicate combination that allows both fruits to shine.

Canning Applesauce with Fresh Fruit Recipe

Naturally flavored applesauce combines fresh apples with blueberries, strawberries, peaches, or pears to create four delicious fruit-filled variations. Each combination adds its own natural sweetness, color, and flavor, giving you an easy way to turn a traditional home-canned favorite into a versatile pantry staple the whole family can enjoy.

Yield: 4 to 6 quarts or 8 to 10 pints

Ingredients

Blueberry Applesauce

12 pounds Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, cored, quartered (skins on)
5 cups blueberries
4 cups water
5 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
1-3 cups granulated sugar, to taste

Cinnamon Applesauce

12 pounds Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, cored, quartered (skins on)
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 cups water
5 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
1-3 cups granulated sugar, to taste

Pear Applesauce

12 pounds Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, cored, quartered (skins on)
5 pounds pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
4 cups water
5 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
1-3 cups granulated sugar, to taste

Strawberry Applesauce

12 pounds Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, cored, quartered (skins on)
7 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
4 cups water
5 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
1-3 cups granulated sugar, to taste

Instructions

1. For each option, in a large stockpot combine quartered apples, fruit or cinnamon, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently while stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Continue boiling for 20 minutes or until the apple mixture is tender. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Working in batches, transfer apple mixture into a food mill or food processor and purée until smooth. You may also press apple mixture through a chinois.
3. Return purée to a large thick-bottomed saucepan and add lemon juice and sugar. Mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat.
4. Using a funnel, ladle applesauce into hot jars, leaving a ½-inch of headspace. Remove any air pockets and add additional applesauce if necessary to maintain the ½-inch headspace.
5. Wipe the rim of each jar with a clean washcloth dipped in vinegar. Place a lid and ring on each jar and hand-tighten.
6. Place the jars in the water bather filled with 3 quarts of water, ensuring each jar is covered by at least 1-inch of water. Bring the canner to a boil on high heat and process quarts and pints for 20 minutes. Do not start your timer until the water is at a full rolling boil. After processing, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars from the canner.

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About the Author:
Diane Devereaux, The Canning Diva®, is an internationally recognized food preservation expert, author, and educator with over 30 years of home canning experience. She’s the author of multiple top-selling canning books and teaches workshops across the U.S. Learn more at TheCanningDiva.com.