Naturally sweetened, with a handful of pantry ingredients, this vegan apple butter made in the instant pot is a simple recipe to make when you have a lot of apples that need to be used! Package and give as gifts, or enjoy throughout the autumn and winter seasons.

Jump to:
- 💗 Why You’ll Love This Vegan Apple Butter
- 🥣 Ingredients and Notes
- 🛠 Tools and Equipment
- 👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Apple Butter in the Instant Pot
- ♨ Making Apple Butter on the Stovetop
- ⏲ How to Make Apple Butter in a Slow Cooker
- ❓ FAQS
- 📝 Expert Tips
- 🍽 How to Serve
- 🫙 How to Store and Keep
- ⚖️ Serving Size
- 🍎 More Vegan Apple Recipes!
- Recipe
One of my favorite fall activities is taking the kids to the apple orchard to pick apples off the tree. We always end up with a bushel and sometimes two because the kids enjoy searching for the perfect apples!
With all those apples, it’s time for me to start cooking! I start by preparing my simple sugar-free applesauce and my vegan apple cake. Then I make this easy, homemade vegan apple butter. I pass some jars to my neighbors and friends, and they are always happy to take them off my hands.
You only need a handful of pantry ingredients and about 10 minutes of hands-on time! It’s easier than baking an apple pie and has fewer calories and fat! It’s delicately sweet and pairs nicely with warm toast, stirred in oatmeal, topped on pancakes, or as an oil substitute in baking!
💗 Why You’ll Love This Vegan Apple Butter
Quick: Making apple butter on the stovetop or in the slow cooker takes hours of time for the apples to cook down and thicken. Using the Instant Pot cuts the total time to under an hour.
Naturally Sweet Taste: Most apple butter recipes use a lot of sugar! Not this one, and don’t worry, it’s still lovely. It does include a small amount of coconut sugar. Feel free to sub the coconut sugar for brown sugar, or even maple syrup.
Vegan and Gluten-Free: This recipe is naturally vegan and gluten-free.
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
5 Pounds of Apples: Core and peel apples. There are many types of apples you can use. Any kind you have will work just fine. When choosing your apples, I recommend opting for a softer texture because it will break down more quickly in the Instant Pot. Soft apples include Gala, Fuji, Golden Delicious, and McIntosh. Using a combination of apples will also work well. Granny Smith apples, which are tart and firm, will also work but may need a longer cooking time.
Spices: A combination of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg gives the apple butter a full autumn flavor.
Coconut Sugar: This is an unrefined natural sugar made from coconut palm sap. It can be found in the baking section of most grocery stores.
Water: You need just a bit of water to help break the apples down and keep them from burning in the instant pot. You can use apple cider or apple juice instead of water for a sweeter finish.
🛠 Tools and Equipment
Instant Pot: I highly recommend using an instant pot for this recipe. However, you could also make this on the stovetop or in a slow cooker. See the directions in the recipe card for details.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Apple Butter in the Instant Pot
- Place apples in the Instant Pot and stir in the lemon juice.
- Add coconut sugar, water, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla extract to the apples. Stir to combine.
- Secure the lid. Set the valve to sealing. Set the pressure cooker on high for 8 minutes.
- When cooking time is up, allow to naturally release the pressure for 15 minutes. Manually release any remaining pressure. Remove the lid.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the apple mixture until smooth.
- Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté. Bring the apple blend to a simmer. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until thickened to your desired consistency.
- Turn the Instant Pot off. Allow the apple butter to cool completely inside the Instant Pot. Once cooled, spoon the apple butter into an airtight container. At this time, you can can the jars in a water bath, freeze them, or keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
♨ Making Apple Butter on the Stovetop
- Place a large pot over medium heat and bring the apples, sugar, and spices mixture to a simmer. Once it’s simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and let it cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. The apples will soften, and the mixture will darken and thicken.
- Continue cooking until the apple butter reaches your desired consistency. It should be thick and spreadable.
- Once the apple butter is done, please remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until it’s smooth and free of chunks.
- Transfer the apple butter to an airtight container of jars.
⏲ How to Make Apple Butter in a Slow Cooker
- Place the chopped apples in the slow cooker.
- In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour the spice mixture over the apples in the slow cooker. Stir well to coat the apples evenly.
- Cover the slow cooker with its lid and set it to cook on the LOW heat setting. Let it cook for about 8-10 hours.
- Stir the apple mixture occasionally during the cooking process to ensure even cooking and prevent sticking to the sides.
- After 8-10 hours, the apples should be very soft and caramelized, and the mixture should have thickened significantly.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until it’s smooth and free of chunks.
- Continue cooking on the LOW setting, with the lid slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. This will help further thicken the apple butter for 1-2 more hours or until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Once the apple butter is done, allow it to cool slightly.
- Transfer the apple butter to an airtight container or jars.
❓ FAQS
Applesauce is a simple puree of cooked and mashed apples with little to no added ingredients, resulting in a chunky or smooth texture, depending on how it’s prepared. Apple butter, on the other hand, is a more concentrated and spiced spread, where apples are slow-cooked with sugar and spices (like cinnamon and cloves) until they caramelize and develop a rich, dark brown color. It has a thicker, smoother consistency and a deeper, sweeter flavor due to the caramelization process and added ingredients.
Yes, apple butter and apple jelly are different spreads. Apple butter is a thick, smooth spread. Apple jelly, on the other hand, is a clear, translucent preserve made from apple juice or cider, sugar, and pectin. It has a gel-like consistency and a sweet, fruity taste without the spices and caramelization found in apple butter.
Apple butter is typically thickened through a combination of prolonged cooking and the natural pectin content in apples. As apples break down during cooking, their sugars caramelize and reduce, resulting in a thicker consistency. Additionally, apples contain pectin, a natural thickening agent, which is activated and helps thicken the mixture as it simmers and reduces. This combination of prolonged cooking and pectin makes apple butter thick and spreadable.
📝 Expert Tips
- When sauteing the apple butter, you will know it is done and thick enough to cool when it coats the back of a wooden spoon. It should be thick enough that when you run your finger across the spoon it leaves a trail.
- Use apples that have a softer texture. This will reduce the cooking time needed.
- Don’t add too much water. The apples themselves contain quite a bit of water and will break down. Adding too much liquid will keep the apples from thickening.
- Don’t leave out the lemon juice. This adds needed acidity and helps the apples keep for longer.
🍽 How to Serve
Apple butter is a sweet spread enjoyable on biscuits, toasted bread, and sandwiches in place of jam. You can also add it to oatmeal, on top of pancakes or waffles, or add it to baked goods instead of oil. You can also use it for more savory recipes. For example, add some to your baked sweet potato or butternut squash or on top of your vegan potato pancakes. There are so many creative ways to use it!
🫙 How to Store and Keep
Refrigerator: This vegan apple butter recipe needs to be kept refrigerated if it is opened and you have not canned it in a water bath. It will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
Canned: If you can it in a water bath, it can be kept at room temperature for up to one year.
Frozen: Place it in an airtight freezer-safe container. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
⚖️ Serving Size
This recipe will make about 3 cups of apple butter. Each serving size is two tablespoons. There are about 48 servings in total. If you place the apple butter in half cup jars, you will get 6 jars, with 8 servings in each jar.
🍎 More Vegan Apple Recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Apple Butter (Instant Pot)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 lbs apples peeled and cored
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place apples into the Instant Pot and stir in the lemon juice.
- Add coconut sugar, water, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla extract to the apples. Stir to combine.
- Secure the lid. Set the valve to sealing. Set to Pressure Cook on HIGH for 8 minutes.
- When cooking time is up, allow to naturally resease the pressure for 15 minutes. Manually release any remaining pressure. Remove the lid.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the apple mixture until smooth.
- Turn Instant Pot to Sauté. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Continue to cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or until thickened to desired consistency.
- Turn the Instant Pot off. Allow the apple butter to completely cool inside the Instant Pot. Once cooled, spoon the apple butter into an airtight container and keep refrigerated for 3 weeks.
Notes
- Use apples that have a softer texture. This will reduce the cooking time needed.
- Don’t add too much water. The apples themselves contain quite a bit of water and will break down. Adding too much liquid will keep the apples from thickening.
- Don’t leave out the lemon juice. This adds needed acidity and helps the apples keep for longer.
- Keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
- Canned apple butter can be kept at room temperature for up to 1 year.
- If you would like to can the apple butter, read these instructions.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
- See the recipe post for directions on how to make this on the stovetop or in the slow cooker.
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats
So delicious and so easy! What a great way to make a healthy treat for the kiddos!
Tavo
So simple! I am making this recipe tomorrow! I love the idea of apple butter!
Shadi Hasanzade
Just got a few pounds of apples and now I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Heidy
This instant pot apple butter was so delicious and easy to make. I was really impressed with the flavor and texture. I will be making this again! Happy Holidays.