Instant Pot Apple Butter

You won't believe how easy it is to make this homemade Instant Pot Apple Butter Recipe. This healthy pressure cooker apple butter is sugar free, and can be made from applesauce - in fact, you can get unsweetened applesauce from the same batch. And of course, there are stovetop instructions for this unsweetened apple butter too!

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If there's one recipe that screams fall more than anything else it has got to be apple butter. Sooooooo good. Soooooo apple-y and delicious and cozy and comforting. 

If you haven't made homemade apple butter before, boy oh boy are you in for a treat. If you *have* made homemade apple butter before you're still in for a treat because THIS apple butter recipe is hands down my favourite.

Why? Because it doesn't have anything in it other than apples, a bit of water, and a pinch of totally optional cinnamon. Also? You can call your Instant Pot into action and get your apple butter made in around about an hour, rather than standing and stirring apple butter on the stove pot for hours and hours. 

Have you ever seen a recipe for old fashioned apple butter? So much sugar! I saw one recipe that called for one cup of sugar per pound of apples. This recipe has four pounds of apples, so that'd be four cups of sugar. Thanks, but no thanks. 

What we have here today is what I call No Frills Apple Butter. Just a handful of ingredients, a bit of time, and the magic of cooking apples down into sweet, sweet apple butter. 

What's the difference between applesauce and apple butter?

Great question! Apple butter follows the same process to make apple sauce to start with, but once we've reached apple sauce consistency we keep cooking it down to a) evaporate the liquid and b) caramelize the naturally-occurring sugars.

The end result is a thick, buttery preserve. So thick you can stand a spoon up in it (see the photo at the end of this post). 

For reference, the above picture has Unsweetened Applesauce on the top and Instant Pot Apple Butter on the bottom. See the difference? And you guys, those two bowls come from the same batch.

I simply scooped out a few cups of apple sauce when it had reached the right consistency, and then kept cooking down the remainder into apple butter. So this is kinda like two recipes in one!

How to use apple butter

First of all, you can straight up eat that apple butter goodness with a spoon. But here are a few other ideas for ya:

• Use it on Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt Cups
• Spread unsweetened apple butters on top of waffles
• Swirl it into Apple Pie Overnight Oats
• Spread it onto Whole Wheat Muffins
• Use it to make these delicious Apple Crumble Bars

WHAT Are the best apples for instant pot apple butter?

Truly, you can use any apples you like, although some varieties are better than others. 

Since you're essentially making applesauce and then cooking it down into apple butter, you'll want to choose what's referred to as "saucing apples" by people in the know about that sort of thing.

The best “saucing apples” include Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, and Golden delicious. Remember that sweeter apples will produce sweeter apple butter, so since we’re making sugar free apple butter you’ll want to avoid tart apples such as Granny Smith, or do a mix of sweet and tart apples. 

I’m going to include instructions for making both Pressure Cooker Apple Butter and homemade apple butter on the stove top. If you do have an Instant Pot or other type of electric pressure cooker, I really recommend you use it for this recipe, as it’s fast, easy, and there’s very little mess. 

Should you peel the apples?

Nope! So long as I’m using organic, unwaxed apples, I prefer to leave the skin on for three reasons. First, because I’m lazy and would prefer not to waste my time peeling all those apples. 

Second, because there are a ton of nutrients concentrated in the peel, and leaving the skin on also ups the dietary fiber content in our healthy applesauce. 

And lastly, there is also a good amount of pectin in apple peels, so leaving the skin on will help to thicken the apple butter. Note that the thickness of your apple butter also depends on how long you cook it for. 

How to make this recipe

Super easy, my friends! 

Step 1: Core and slice your apples. 

Step 2: Place your sliced apples into the Instant Pot with ¼ cup of water. 

Step 3: Set your Instant Pot to manual high pressure for 10 minutes. When the pressure cooking cycle is done, let it release naturally for 10 minutes, then flip to venting. 

Step 4: Purée the cooked apples! I used an immersion blender right in the Instant Pot. If you'd like to take any unsweetened applesauce out of the batch, now is the time to do it.

Step 4 is also when I add any seasonings, like ground cinnamon or any other spices. 

Step 5: Turn your Instant Pot off, then turn it back on using the sauté setting on "normal". Using a silicon spatula, stir the apple sauce every minute or so as it cooks down into apple butter.  

Note! As the apple butter thickens, it splatters a LOT as it cooks. You'll want to use a splatter guard, or, if you have one, the slow cooker lid for your Instant Pot left ajar (this is what I did).

I got a "hot" warning several times as my instant pot apple butter cooked down, and this was generally when it started to stick to the bottom. A minute of vigorous stirring took care of it every time. 

The amount of time it takes to cook down your apple butter depends on how thick you'd like it to be in the end. Know that it will continue to thicken as it cools, so you can stop cooking a bit ahead of your desired thickness.

I cooked this particular batch of pressure cooker apple butter for one hour on the sauté setting, so I think that's a good estimate. 

Step 6: Turn off the Instant Pot and allow your apple butter to cool completely. 

How long will unsweetened apple butter last?

Since there’s no added sugar or preservatives in this instant pot apple butter, it’s got a pretty short lifespan. Kept in the fridge in an airtight container this applesauce will last you 7-14 days.

You can also freeze your apple butter! I like to freeze it in these reusable silicon freezer bags, but you can also use wide-mouthed mason jars – just remember to leave enough head space for the apple butter to expand in the freezer.

Frozen apple butter is good for up to 3 months (although I’ll admit to keeping it for much longer, and it’s always been perfectly fine).

ARE APPLES GOOD FOR YOU?

Does an Apple a day keep the doctor away? Well, they’re definitely good for your heart. Apples boast well-documented cardiovascular benefits. These benefits are associated with the water-soluble fiber (pectin) content, and the polyphenol mixture in most apples.

Both total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol are decreased through regular intake of apples. Another health benefit of apples is blood sugar regulation. This occurs in a number of ways, including slowing down of carbohydrate digestion, stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin, and stimulating insulin receptors so that more sugar flows out of our bloodstream and into our cells.

Apples also appear to have anti-cancer benefits when it comes to breast, colon, and lung cancer. Apples are a good source of fiber (both soluble in the form of pectin, and insoluble), and vitamin C. The nutrients in apples are concentrated skin, so buy organic, give them a good wash, and keep the skin on whenever possible.

Other recipes you might enjoy:

Pumpkin Seed Butter
Unsweetened Applesauce
Strawberry Chia Jam
Cinnamon Roasted Apples
Healthy Apple Cake
Maple Apple Granola

Originally posted on October 21, 2011. This recipe was re-tested, re-photographed, and updated on September 14, 2019. Last edited and updated September 23, 2021.