Is it my favorite cranberry sauce or my favorite applesauce?

No Thanksgiving on the homestead is complete without the side dish of cranberry sauce. I grew up with Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and I pretty much kept up that tradition when I started my own family. I loved the creamy tartness of that dish! But now that I’m a homesteading mom, I like to make my own from scratch. And it couldn’t be easier, especially if you own an Instant Pot.

This fall, we found a delightful farmer’s market in Lapeer, Michigan that was well stocked with apples, a huge variety grown in nearby orchards. We bought 5 kinds–Jonagold, MacIntosh, Paula Reds, Galas, and Pink Ladies. I started cooking them up, one bag at a time, to preserve homemade applesauce. I don’t think we could have stored enough to last through the winter. It seemed as soon as I made it, we gobbled it up (I still have some in the freezer though).

But around Thanksgiving, I thought I’d try making a cranberry sauce with some frozen cranberries and our apples. So, I coarsely chopped up the apples, enough to fill my 6-quart Instant Pot (leaving a couple of inches for headspace). Then I added 2 cups of cranberries (I always stock up on cranberries when they come out in the fall–if I don’t buy them in season, there’s no way to find them til next Thanksgiving). Then I added about 1/2 cup of water and stirred it up (in place of the water, you might use orange juice instead for a little zest). But either way, it’s going to be the best applesauce or cranberry sauce you ever had.

You only need to cook the fruit for 5 minutes, using the manual setting on the Instant Pot. Let the mixture vent on its own, which will take about 6 minutes. Then allow the sauce to cool a little before storing it in a container. You can enjoy it warm or chill it for later (my husband says the chilled sauce tastes like pie filling and my son quite agrees).

It’s always a winner whenever I make some or when I bring some out from the freezer. It freezes well and loses none of its flavor by being frozen. I love how easy it is to have such a delicious sauce on our table. And it’s especially great at Thanksgiving time because I don’t have to use the oven which is usually busy on Thanksgiving or the day before. 

I hope you’ll enjoy making your own and trying out different apple varieties. When apples are in-season, you’ll want this applesauce on your table!