Canning apples is an easy way to preserve the crisp, delicious flavors of this beloved fruit to enjoy all year long. Canned apples are a versatile, preserved fruit you can quickly turn into your favorite apple recipes.

Canned apple slices are a great way to preserve apples to use in a variety of ways. Instead of canning apple pie filling, canning apple butter, or making apple crisp from scratch, the fruit can be canned and then used to make these things, and more, in a dash.

Best Apples for Canning

While any type of apple can be canned, the best apples will be fresh, crisp varieties that hold up well to cooking. Any baking apple will work such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp will can well and remain crisp.

Softer varieties such as Red Delicious, Jonathan, and Golden Delicious should be reserved for eating or canning applesauce. Whereas multipurpose apples such as Cortland can be used for canning, but will not remain quite as crisp as cooking types.

Using a variety of apples that are sweet and tart results in an amazing finished product so feel free to mix and match varieties so you don’t have just one type of apple.

Choose fresh, juicy, crispy, firm apples for canning. You will need approximately 2-3/4 pounds of apples per quart or 1-3/4 pounds of apples per pint.

If you plan to can a full canner load, you’ll need approximately 19 pounds for a 7 quart load or 16 pounds for a 9 pint load depending on the size of the apple slices.

A bushel of apples weighs 48 pounds and would yield approximately 16-18 quart jars or 26-28 pint jars.

Note that the processing time for both quarts and pints is the same, so feel free to mix up jar sizes to suit your needs.

Syrup for Canning Apples

The nice thing about canning fruit at home is the ability to choose how much sugar is added. While apples can be canned in plain water, it is best to use a little bit of sweetness through either sugar, honey, maple syrup, or juice in order to preserve the flavor best as water will wash the flavor out of the fruit.

• Very Light Syrup – results in the most natural flavor, uses the least amount of sugar, and is what I prefer for canning apples. For a 7 quart load you’ll need 10-1/2 cups of water and 1-1/4 cups of sugar. A 9 pint load will require 6-1/2 cups of water and 3/4 cups of sugar.
• Light Syrup – this concentration will still leave plenty of natural flavor and is often preferred for a lot of fruit canning recipes. A 7 quart load needs 9 cups of water and 2-1/4 cups of sugar. A 9 pint load needs 5-3/4 cups of water and 1-1/2 cups of sugar.
• Medium Syrup – results in a very sweet finished product and is the highest sugar concentration I would recommend for canning apples. A 7 quart load requires 8-1/4 cups of water and 3-3/4 cups of sugar. A 9 pint load will require 5-1/4 cups of water and 2-1/4 cups of sugar.
• Juice – Commercially purchased juice can be used in place of water or syrup. Apple juice is the most common, of course, but you can also use white grape juice or pineapple juice.
• Honey or Maple Syrup – refined sugar is not required to sweeten the syrup the apples are canned in. Honey or maple syrup-derived syrup is also delicious, both in their own ways. To use either of these, simply substitute about 2/3rds honey or maple syrup in place of the sugar measurements in any of the recipes above.

Supplies Needed for Canning Apples

• Water Bath Canner, Steam Canner, or Pressure Canner
• Pint jars with two-piece lids or quart jars with two-piece lids
• Canning tools: jar lifter, bubble remover, funnel, and ladle.
• Kitchen tools: large bowl, large stockpot, peeler, kitchen knife, cutting board, slotted spoon, and measuring cups.

Canning Apples Step-by-Step

Apples can be canned in a water bath canner, steam canned, or even pressure canned depending on your preference. None are safer than the other, just the equivalent, and can be utilized based on whatever is more convenient for you.

Apples must be peeled, cored, sliced, and hot packed into hot jars.

While they can be canned raw, it results in an inferior product so that process will not be mentioned here.

Note that liquid is required to disburse the heat throughout the jar, resulting in a safely preserved product and peels need to be removed to reduce bacterial load.

Step 1: Prepare Jars and Canner

Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water. Fill jars 2/3rds full of water, and place in full water bath canner, or properly prepared steam or pressure canner. Bring everything to a 180°F simmer and hold.

Step 2: Prepare Apples

Fill a large bowl with 2 quarts of water with 1/2 cup of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Peel, core, and slice apples. As they’re sliced, place them in the bowl of lemon water. Alternatively, you can treat them with ascorbic acid, but lemon juice is readily available. Once finished, set it to the side.

Reserve the apple peels and apple cores to make homemade apple cider vinegar so they don’t go to waste!

Step 3: Make Syrup

Choose the syrup of your liking and place the ingredients in a large pot. Dissolve the sugar and bring the syrup to a boil over medium-high heat.

Step 4: Simmer the Apples

Once boiling, reduce temperature to low heat, add the apple slices, and simmer them for 5 minutes. This helps pull air out of the apples which reduces their propensity to float and absorb too much liquid during processing.

Step 5: Pack Jars

Carefully pack each jar with hot apple slices by removing one jar at a time to a towel-lined counter, pouring out the hot water, and packing jars with hot apples using a canning funnel and slotted spoon to within 1/2″ headspace.

Use a canning funnel to ladle the hot syrup on top of the apples, maintaining 1/2″ of headspace.

Remove air bubbles and adjust for proper headspace, if necessary. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp cloth, center lid, and finger tighten screw band. Repeat for remaining jars.

Step 6: Process Jars

Water Bath Canning. Be sure the tops of jars are covered by at least 1″ of water. Place the lid on the canner and bring it to a full-rolling boil. Process both pints and quarts for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

Remove the lid from the canner and allow the jars to sit for 5 minutes before removing to a towel-lined counter.

Steam Canning. Place the dome over the canner, turn stove burner up and wait for a steady stream of steam to escape the vent hole. Process both pints and quarts for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude if necessary.

Remove the lid from the canner and allow the jars to sit for 5 minutes before removing to a towel-lined counter.

Pressure Canning. Fill the canner with 2-3″ of water depending on the manufacturer’s instructions. Lock the lid and heat over medium heat until a steady stream of steam escapes the vent hole. Vent for 10 minutes.

After venting, place the weight on the canner, 5 pounds of pressure at 1,000 feet and below. 10 pounds of pressure 1,001 feet and above. Once the canner comes to pressure, process both pint jars and quart jars for 8 minutes.

Allow the canner to come down to 0 pressure naturally after the canning process and let it sit for an additional 2 minutes before removing the lid. Then, carefully remove the lid. Allow the jars to sit in the canner for an additional ten minutes before removing to a towel-lined counter.

Leave jars undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking for proper seals. Remove the rings, wash the jars, and store them in a cool, dark place.

Jars will keep for a minimum of 18 months, or as long as the seal is maintained.

Fruit Canning Recipes to Try Next:

• Canning Oranges | Water Bath Canned Orange Slices
• Canning Peaches (how to easily can peaches at home)
• Canning Blackberries (homemade blackberries in syrup)

If you try this simple canning apple slices recipe tutorial, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below! Also, I’d love if you could leave me a five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ recipe review on the recipe card below. If you want more recipe inspiration, make sure to follow me on Facebook or Pinterest!