Instant Pot Apple Butter is a quick and easy way to make this delicious spread without the long cooking times that stovetop methods often require. Yet still, this recipe captures the rich, spiced flavor of traditional apple butter. You can adjust the sugar and spices to suit your taste preferences, making it as sweet or as spicy as you like. Enjoy Instant Pot apple butter on your favorite bread, as a condiment or in a variety of fall and holiday recipes.
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You'll love this recipe because it doesn't require peeling the apples! The apple skin becomes so soft when pressure cooked that it blender right into the butter- you'll never know it was there. Plus the skins add great flavor to the overall result.
Instant Pot apple butter adds a lovely taste to this sweet apple bread and pressure cooker pumpkin bread. And it adds a kick of sweetness to this slow cooker mulled apple cider.
What Is Apple Butter?
Apple butter is a type of spread or condiment made from fresh apples. Despite its name, it does not actually contain any butter. Instead, it's a smooth, sweet, and highly concentrated form of applesauce. To make apple butter, apples are slow cooked with sugar and spices until the mixture becomes thick, sweet and dark in color.
Using a pressure cooker to make homemade apple butter is super easy! It means you don't have to slow cook the apples on the stove for hours. The high heat and pressure that an Instant Pot creates when cooking, bypasses the slow process of making apple butter and still yields a wonderful, thick and flavorful spread. But if you'd like to make apple butter in your slow cooker, you can do that too.
How To Use Apple Butter
Apple butter is a versatile condiment that can be used in a variety of ways to add sweetness and a hint of spiced apple flavor to your dishes. Here are some great uses for your Instant Pot apple butter, especially during the fall and holiday season.
- Spread on bread, toast or bagels. It's especially delicious on rye bread, honey wheat bread, pumpkin bread and cinnamon raisin bread.
- As a topping for pancakes and waffles, such as chocolate pancakes, oat milk pancakes, almond milk pancakes and cottage cheese waffles.
- A condiment for sandwiches, especially those with leftover turkey breast, rotisserie chicken or pork.
- Use as a glaze or marinade for roasted chicken, turkey or ham.
- Stir into hot drinks, like warm apple cider or tea.
The Best Apples For Making Apple Butter
The best apples for making homemade apple butter are those with a balance of sweetness and tartness and that break down easily when cooked, such as Granny Smith apples, Cortland, Jonathan, Rome and Golden Delicious. Choose one of these apple varieties or a combination.
Ingredients
This apple butter recipe uses:
- Apples: see above for recommendations.
- White sugar
- Brown sugar: both light brown sugar and dark brown sugar both work.
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground allspice
- Salt
You can use a 6, 8 or 10 quart pressure cooker for this recipe. It yields 3-4 cups of apple butter.
How To Make Apple Butter In A Pressure Cooker
STEP 1: Prepare the apples by coring, peeling (optional) and chopping into quarters. Place the chopped apples in the Instant Pot. Add the water, white sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Stir to combine.
STEP 2: Close the Instant Pot lid, set the vent to "Sealing," and select the "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" function. Set the timer to cook for 15 minutes on high pressure. Once cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Then manually release any remaining pressure.
STEP 3: Use an immersion blender or transfer the apple mixture to a regular blender to blend into a smooth apple butter. Be careful, as it will be hot. For a thicker consistency, return to the Instant Pot and use the "Sauté" function to simmer and reduce it to your desired thickness, about 60-90 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
STEP 4: Allow the apple butter to cool before transferring it to clean, airtight jars or containers. Refrigerate for short-term use or freeze for longer storage.
How To Store Apple Butter
Let your apple butter cool and then transfer to glass mason jars or other airtight containers. Seal the lid tightly and store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
Recipe FAQs
Apple butter is a sweet, spiced, and concentrated fruit spread, while applesauce is a simpler, unsweetened or lightly sweetened apple purée.
You can naturally thicken your apple butter by continuing to cook it over low heat until it reaches your desired thickness. This can be done in the pressure cooker using the "saute" function or on the stovetop. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will become as more moisture evaporates.
If you want to thicken your apple butter quickly, you can mix a slurry of cornstarch or arrowroot with a small amount of cold water and then stir it into the apple butter. Heat it gently to activate the thickening properties. Use about 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot per cup of apple butter.
Homemade apple butter will stay fresh when stored in the refrigerator in airtight sealed jars for 2-3 weeks.
Yes, apple butter can be frozen in air tight containers for 6 to 12 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator when you're ready to use it.
Recipe
Instant Pot Apple Butter
Equipment
- pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 3 lbs apples Granny Smith, Cortland, Johnathan, Rome , Golden Delicious
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare the apples by coring, peeling (optional) and chopping into quarters.
- Place the chopped apples in the Instant Pot. Add the water, white sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Stir to combine.
- Close the Instant Pot lid, set the vent to "Sealing," and select the "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" function. Set the timer to cook for 15 minutes on high pressure.
- Once cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Use an immersion blender or transfer the contents to a regular blender to blend until the apple butter is smooth. Be careful, as it will be hot. For a thicker consistency, return the mixture to the Instant Pot and use the "Sauté" function to simmer and reduce it to your desired thickness, about 60-90 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Allow the apple butter to cool before transferring it to clean, airtight jars or containers. Refrigerate for short-term use or freeze for longer storage.
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