Simple Living With Nature

Grow Forage Cook Ferment logo
  • Grow
  • Forage
  • Cook
  • Ferment
  • Herbalism
  • Homestead
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Books
    • Healing Herbal Infusions
    • Wildcrafting Weeds
    • Simple Mead Making
    • Healing Kitchen Herbs
    • The Backyard Forest Garden
  • About
    • About Me
    • Contact
  • Foraging Course
  • Subscribe!
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home » Cook » Preserving » 12 Ways to Preserve Apples: Canning, Freezing, Drying + More!

12 Ways to Preserve Apples: Canning, Freezing, Drying + More!

May contain affiliate links or sponsored content. Please see my privacy policy and affiliate disclosure.

Originally published on September 29, 2020. Last updated on September 9, 2022

12.4K shares
  • 2.8K
  • 4

When it’s fall and you have an apple tree, you may be wondering how to preserve apples for the rest of the year. Here are 12 methods for preserving apples!

A bucket of apples to preserve.

12 Ways to Preserve Apples

If you have an apple tree in your yard, then you probably have a whole lot of apples that you don’t know what to do with every fall. If you have several apple trees, then you are swimming in apples!

We had an amazing apple season this year, and our tree was absolutely loaded. It was hard to keep up with at times, and many ended up going in the compost pile.

Some were eaten fresh of course, and the rest we were able to preserve by using several of the methods that I talk about here.

These 12 ways to preserve apples will keep you busy during apple season, and you’ll be reaping the rewards all year long!

a large wooden crate full of green apples

Canning Apples

One of the first things that might come to mind is canning apples.

You can either can apple slices as they are, or make up an apple pie filling to can. This will make apple pie making super easy when the time comes.

If you have small and tart crab apples, you can even try canning them whole.

three jars of canned apple pie filling

Canned Apple Pie Filling from Practical Self Reliance

Applesauce

Turning your apples into applesauce is one of the more common ways of preserving apples. You can make homemade applesauce for canning or fresh eating.

This easy-to-make chunky applesauce recipe sounds delicious, or you can try this caramel applesauce recipe that uses coconut sugar for that caramel taste.

There is also this crockpot applesauce recipe if you just want to set it and forget it.

Apple Jelly or Jam

My favorite apple jelly is my no sugar apple jelly! It can also be made with low sugar or honey if you prefer.

I also love hard cider jelly, it is perfect for an appetizer platter with cheese.

This spiced apple jelly with no added pectin sounds right up my alley, as does this apple pie chai jelly.

If you have access to crabapples, you can make this homemade crabapple jelly.

Then there is this apple jam recipe, which I think I might have to try!

For something just a little different, this apple curd recipe looks like a perfect comforting treat.

stacks of no sugar apple jelly jars

No Sugar Apple Jelly

Apple Butter

Apple butter is one of my favorite ways to preserve apples. My Mom made apple and pear butter when I was a kid, and boy was it delicious!

The recipe that I like to make is my homemade spiced apple butter, but this maple apple butter also sounds wonderful.

Apple butter in a jar surrounded by apples and fall leaves.

Spiced Apple Butter

Apple Pectin

Apples are very high in natural pectin. This makes it possible to process them into a concentrated homemade natural pectin that you can use in your canning. How cool is that?

Apple Salsa or Chutney

I’ve never made apple salsa, but I like the idea of it! This apple salsa verde is made with tomatillos, or you can make a regular tomato-based apple salsa.

Apples are a natural ingredient for chutneys, and this apple and caramelized onion chutney sounds delicious!

bucket of apples

Fermented Apples

There are many ways of fermenting apples, and they all sound like something I would like to try!

These probiotic rich fermented apples are a good place to start, as well as these sweet and sour cinnamon apples.

These Russian brined apples sound like an interesting traditional recipe. You can even make fermented applesauce!

Freezing Apples

I love freezing apples because it is so simple. It’s so nice to be able to use apples from my tree for apple pies during the holiday season!

To freeze apples, it’s best to put them in a lemon juice or salt water bath first, which will keep them from browning.

soaking apple slices in lemon water

I like to leave the skins on, but peel them if you wish. Then strain the slices, put them into a freezer bag, and pop them into the freezer. Super easy!

You can even freeze apple pie filling, and if you freeze it into the shape of your pie pan then you can have an apple pie ready to bake in no time!

frozen apple slices in a bag

Dehydrating Apples

Using a dehydrator (Excalibur brand is my favorite) is a great way to preserve produce for long-term food storage. Besides that, dehydrated apple chips are super tasty!

These dehydrated cinnamon apple rings sound amazing, and so do these simply dehydrated apples, perfect for snacking!

You can make apple fruit leather in your dehydrator for a healthy snack, or try making dehydrated apple sugar!

Just a bit different from dehydrating, these crispy and delicious air fryer apple chips are another great option.

dried apple rings in a bowl

Apple Juice or Cider

Making your own apple juice or cider is a bit more work than most of these other recipes, but it’s so worth it! It’s a great way to use up a whole lot of apples, too.

We made about five gallons of juice using apples from our tree this year with our DIY apple press. It is absolutely the best apple cider I’ve ever had!

You can also can apple cider for later use!

a hand holding apple juice in a jar jar

Hard Apple Cider

Of course, if you have five gallons of apple cider sitting around, you might as well turn it into hard cider!

If you’ve pressed your own juice, you can try my wild hard cider method, which uses no added yeast.

Or, I also have a regular recipe for how to make hard cider that uses brewing yeast.

For a lower alcohol content, you can also give fermented apple ginger beer a try, it’s delicious!

Hard cider fermenting in a jug with an airlock.

Homebrewed hard apple cider

Either way, it will be delicious for the holiday season!

Hard apple cider is a wonderful way to preserve apples as apple cider jelly or you can make mulled hard cider as a special treat!

Hard cider in a pot with mulling spices.

Mulled hard cider

Apple Cider Vinegar

Another great way to use up apples is to turn them into apple cider vinegar. This is taking hard cider fermentation one step further, and it creates a product that is very healthy for you.

It can be used just like any other vinegar around the house. There are several methods for doing this, but probably the easiest is to make vinegar from apple scraps.

You can also leave hard cider open to the air to make true apple cider vinegar.

apples in a colander

Tell Me Your Ways to Preserve Apples!

These are some great ways to preserve apples, but I’m sure that I’m missing something! If you have a tried and true ways of preserving apples, please let me know. I’d love to hear about it!

Save

Save

  • Join My Free Foraging & Herbalism Email Course!

  • This will also subscribe you to the Grow Forage Cook Ferment newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please see my Privacy Policy.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Previous Post: « How to Make Hard Cider: Homebrew it!
Next Post: How to Bottle One Gallon of Hard Cider (or Mead) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Red says

    November 1, 2022 at 11:33 am

    Great post!

    Reply
  2. Sue in Oregon says

    September 10, 2022 at 8:50 am

    Here on the OR coast in 22, we are having an extremely poor apple year. We have lots of apple trees on our property and none of them have but a handful of apples. Usually we are overwhelmed with apples. I am feeling sorry for the deer. They usually fatten up for winter on apples, but they are looking forlorn and also eating everything in site to make up for the loss of apples. I took apples for granite until this year. We always make tons of applesauce, apple jelly, etc, and most of all, I love to make apple scrap vinegar. Now I will be lucky to get one canner full of applesauce. Moral is…Love you apples. LOL

    Reply
  3. Linda Jensrud says

    August 31, 2021 at 6:26 am

    I’m searching for a recipe for canned apple crisp. I know the crisp would be moist, unless you took it out of the jar and baked it for a bit, but is it possible to can apple crisp like Christmas pudding?

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      September 5, 2021 at 11:50 am

      Hi Linda, I’m sure it is possible, but I haven’t seen a canning recipe for apple crisp.

      Reply
  4. Pauline Bingham says

    August 15, 2021 at 8:49 am

    Hi Colleen, I just found your site while searching for something to do with all of the apples on our trees. Every year most of them go to waste but this year, thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions, I have a lot of options and will feel good knowing they won’t be going to waste this year. Thanks.

    Pauline

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      August 16, 2021 at 7:56 am

      You’re welcome, Pauline! Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Pamikins Arte says

    December 8, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    Colleen, thank you for this awesome post, just found it while looking for ways to use up my apple peels and cores. I am going to make the no sugar apple jelly by adding a few extra whole apples to the cores and peels, so thank you. While looking through all the ways you had listed, I noticed that you linked everyone else’s recipes, but not your awesome recipe for No Sugar Apple Jelly. I did find it, but someone who is not as comfortable with computers might never find yours. You might link your recipe into this post in the Jelly/Jams section. When I finish the Apple jelly (only my 3rd canning event) I will post a photo. Thanks a million. Hugs, Pamikins

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      December 9, 2020 at 7:15 pm

      Hi Pamikins! Thanks so much for letting me know, that must have been an oversight on my part. I’ve added the link now. The apple jelly is easy to make and I’m sure that you will love it!

      Reply
  6. Marie says

    October 15, 2020 at 10:13 pm

    Hey! After you freeze your apple slices with the skins on them, what do you like to use them for when you pull them out of the freezer?
    And how long are they okay to freeze for?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      October 19, 2020 at 10:30 am

      You can use them in any recipe that calls for apple. Breakfast hash, apple pie, etc.

      Reply
  7. Amy says

    March 31, 2019 at 4:55 am

    Hi! Just wondering what kind of apples your green ones are?

    Reply
  8. Domo says

    September 1, 2018 at 12:09 am

    I grew up in Germany. After the war we had little to eat. Luckily we had a large yard with many fruit trees, vegetables, hundreds of chickens and other animals. All this just outside of Wiesbaden on a piece of land of about 5 acres. We had a two story house, with a cold cellar under the house used for storage of food. We had no refrigerator at that time. In the yard we had several apple trees and upon harvesting my father stored them fresh on wooden grates about 5 feet high off the ground in the cellar. He placed them side by side so that they were easy to check in case they got rotten. As I mentioned above the cellar was cool. We had fresh apples throughout the winter until spring this way. They stored well. Of course we went down into the cellar about once a week to pick out some of the apples which started to become bad. Those we cut up and cooked into various dishes. We also made Apple Cider and Wine.

    Reply
    • Gypsea says

      July 5, 2019 at 10:26 am

      That’s a beautiful story… thanks for sharing

      Reply
    • Anna says

      September 29, 2020 at 10:38 pm

      Thank you for sharing this lovely memory.

      Reply
    • Kate Soper says

      May 1, 2022 at 6:40 am

      I grew up doing PYO. Starting the year with strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, cherries and then as Autumn approached, varieties of apples. My parents either preserved or made in to jam the summer fruit, whilst the apples were put in the garage. Each was wrapped in a piece of newspaper and carefully placed in a cardboard box. I can still remember the delight of running to the garage and having a cold apple in the winter.

      Reply
  9. Jenny says

    August 18, 2018 at 5:06 am

    Thank you for this list!! I just moved onto a property with 16 apple trees. I’m going to be super busy this fall!

    Reply
  10. Lorena says

    March 18, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    I just made the Sweet Apple Relish recipe from the So Easy to Preserve book from University of Georgia. I’m taking the Master Food Preserver certificate course through UC Cooperative Extension, so I selected this recipe for my demonstration assignment.The spices include whole clove, whole allspice, and cinnamon stick.
    Once the apples are pickled, they are jarred and processed in a water-bath caner so they can be stored on the shelf. The appearance is now like that of pickled apple slices than a relish or chutney in their consistency. Delicious!

    Reply
  11. Debbie Riomondo says

    October 27, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    I make dried candy apples! Just sprinkle red or green jello powder over the apple slices after putting them on the drying trays. They are great Christmas gifts and so good!

    Reply
  12. vicki says

    September 25, 2017 at 9:25 am

    I love your spiced apple butter recipe, but I don’t do the boiling the jar thing. how could I make by crock pot or simply cooking longer?

    Reply
  13. Torri says

    September 6, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    You have so many great recipes, eye opening ideas on food I didn’t even know was out there. I love your posts and wished I was your neighbor so I could learn how to forage for these new foods like juniper berries. I’m so greatful for this apple article!

    Reply
  14. Dottie says

    November 5, 2016 at 6:24 pm

    Spiced apple butter is a great way to preserve apples too. I first made it at our county extension office and am so hooked. I love giving a pint of spiced apple butter, a loaf of home made bread and fresh butter for gifts.

    Reply
  15. aqvangela says

    October 14, 2016 at 3:49 am

    I’m dehydrating apples (I use my airing cupboard – a thing we have over here in the UK where our hot water tank is housed in a cupboard that can then be used for drying or keeping linens aired!). I just cut the apples into chunks, briefly brine them and then spread them on linen-lined cake-cooling racks and pop them in the cupboard until they’re just right. They’ll go in my home-made granola and muesli, or in cakes. I use the peels and cores to make cider vinegar and never have to buy a drop! (That also does well in my airing cupboard!).

    Reply
  16. Robin Jozovich says

    October 10, 2016 at 6:28 am

    Love this post, Colleen! It is time for me to make applesauce and apple butter! Thanks for all of the great ideas!

    Reply
  17. Sheri Cline says

    October 9, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    You rock Colleen! Love your site! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  18. maxxpax9 says

    October 9, 2016 at 2:08 pm

    A very nice post on preserving apples. I have followed GFCF on my RSS reader for about six months. Posts that help people eat healthy food while saving money are important. I shared your link on my usual social media of Tumblr, FaceBook and +Google so my followers could also benefit. I am a personal fan of fermenting and that is what initially drew my attention to GFCF.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hello there! I’m Colleen.

I want to inspire you to live seasonally, become more self sufficient, and protect your health. I share information on foraging and wildcrafting, fermenting and preserving, cooking whole foods from scratch, permaculture gardening, and making herbal products. And that’s just the beginning! Learn more.

CBD

Browse my homemade CBD recipes & how-tos

My Books

Spring Favorites

purple dead nettle uses benefits look alike

Foraging for Purple Dead Nettle: an edible backyard weed

50+ Dandelion Recipes: Drinks, Sweets, Soap, Remedies + More!

Lilac Flower Infused Honey

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey)

Popular Posts

How to Make Soap For Beginners + Calendula Soap Recipe

5 Easy to Identify Edible Mushrooms

10 Reasons to Grow Mint (Without Fear)

How to Make and Use Dandelion Salve

What to Forage in Spring: 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants and Fungi

how to make mead

How to Make a Gallon of Mead: A Simple Mead Recipe

How to Make Hard Cider: Homebrew it!

Fermented Honey Garlic

Mountain Rose Herbs
×

Join list.

More info

Footer

Explore

  • Grow
  • Forage
  • Cook
  • Ferment
  • Herbalism
  • Homestead

Learn To Forage

The gather + root online foraging course will help you to safely identify, harvest, and use common edible and medicinal plants with confidence.

Enroll Now

As Featured On

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Amazon Affiliate

Copyright © 2023 Grow Forage Cook Ferment & Cocos Creations LLC.

12.4K shares
  • 2.8K
  • 4