Apple sauce recipe

With its tangy, yet sweet flavour this classic apple sauce recipe is the perfect partner for rich roasts such as pork, turkey or goose. Choose tart cooking apples for the best flavour - the British variety Bramley has a soft flesh which will cook down beautifully to a smooth puree.

If you have a glut of apples, make double the quantity and freeze in small batches for up to three months. Add a few whole cloves or a cinnamon stick to the simmering apples for a spiced sauce.

This easy and quick apple sauce recipe will only take 40 minutes to prepare and cook. Just make sure its cooled down fully before popping into an airtight container to store.

Love a good sauce? We've got loads more delicious sauce recipes right here.

Ingredients

• 350g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 25-40g caster sugar
• 15g butter

Method

1. Place the chopped apples in a large pan with the lemon juice, 25g of the sugar and 2 tbsp water. Cover and simmer very gently for 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally until the apples are very soft.
2. Remove the lid and simmer for a further few minutes to allow any excess water to evaporate and the sauce to thicken. Stir in the butter and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Taste and add a little more sugar for a sweeter sauce. Serve warm or cold.

If you’ve portioned your apple sauce into small jars or you’re storing it in an airtight container, you can store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Of course like most foods, its best to make and serve this recipe on the same day for the freshest flavour but if you’ve made ahead of time the fridge is the perfect place to preserve it. Make sure you add a dash or two of lemon juice so the apple sauce doesn’t discolour.

If you’ve made more apple sauce than you thought or you want to keep your apple sauce in portions for another day, you can freeze apple sauce. Apple sauce can be kept in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. You’ll want to defrost the apple sauce in the fridge overnight. If you let your sauce thaw in the refrigerator it should last for another 3-4 days.