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Learn all the tips and tricks for Freezing Apples to stock your freezer with this delicious fruit. Learning how to freeze apples sets you up for amazing baked goods, smoothies, and desserts all year long.
Apples are peak fall produce, and there is nothing better than fresh apples! But when you have too many in the house at once, freezing apples can help you prevent food waste.
It’s so easy to do, and I’ll show you how.
I assume you’re an apple fan, so you’ll want to make sure you also check out our apple pie egg rolls, tutorial on how to dehydrate apples, and cinnamon apple donuts.
Can I Freeze Apples Without Cooking Them?
Yes, absolutely! There is no need to precook or blanch apples before freezing them. However, we do steam these steamed apples with cinnamon when we make them, and those are also freezer-friendly.
To prevent the apples from browning in the freezer, I love the kitchen hack of tossing them in a little pineapple juice. I always keep a few small cans of 100% pineapple juice in my pantry to use as a sweet and convenient preservative for cut fruit.
In my experience, the juice works better at keeping the apples fresh than any other method.
Can You Freeze Apples With the Skin On?
Yes! Sliced apples with the skin on work great for smoothies, canning applesauce, or apple cinnamon pancakes. You may want to peel and slice apples thinly for things like canning apple butter, canning apple pie filling, or making apple crisp or other apple desserts, but it is totally up to you.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Firmer apples like Fuji, Jazz, and Honeycrisp will freeze better than softer varieties of apples.
- While I prefer pineapple juice to prevent the apples from browning, you can also use lemon juice (dunk the slices in 1/4 cup of lemon juice per 6 cups of cold water), citric acid, or Fruit Fresh. You can also use sugar as a preservative by sprinkling a light dusting of sugar over the apple slices on the baking sheet prior to freezing.
- If you are processing a lot of apples at once, consider investing in an apple corer/peeler. In just a few minutes, you can peel and slice A LOT of apples, saving you a ton of time.
- You can layer parchment/waxed paper over the apples on the baking sheet to freeze a lot of apples at once. This works especially great if you have limited freezer space.
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How to Freeze Apples
Ingredients
- apples {firmer varietes work best}
- 6 oz pineapple juice {or 1/4 cup lemon juice, or citric acid, or Fruit Fresh}
Instructions
- Set up a workstation with peeler, cutting board, sharp knife, a bowl for the sliced apples, and a bowl for the peels and cores.
- Place a piece of parchment, waxed paper, or silpat on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Clean the apples, peel (optional), core, and slice the apples thinly or to your desired sized.apples
- Place the slices in a bowl and sprinkle with a bit of pineapple juice. Sprinkle a bit more anyime you add additional layers of apples.6 oz pineapple juice
- After you've finished cutting all the apples, gently pour them into a fine-mesh strainer to drain the pineapple juice.
- Arrange the slices on the baking sheet so that there is space around each slice, and the slices are not touching.
- Freeze for 3 hours, then transfer to freezer-safe storage.
- Store in the freezer for up to 12 months.
Notes
- Firmer apples like Fuji, Jazz, and Honeycrisp will freeze better over softer varieties of apples.
- You can layer parchment/waxed paper over the apples on the baking sheet to freeze a lot of apples at once. This works especially great if you have limited freezer space.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Sarah, I need recipes using dry powdered eggs. Thanks.
I don’t have any, I’m sorry!