We taste-tested 14 manufacturers of applesauce you are prone to discover at your native grocery store. To discover the easiest one, we sampled every with out understanding which model was which. Our winner is Wegman’s Organic Applesauce, however we additionally topped one runner-up.
Applesauce is crucial in any kitchen. A spoonful, scorching or chilly, tastes like fall in a bowl. It’s gentle, candy, and soothing, and makes sick days way more bearable. I take pleasure in cooking with it, too: It’s scrumptious in oatmeal, sorbets, baked items, as an accompaniment to latkes and pierogies, and, in fact, simply plain. Sure, you may make your personal applesauce, however that requires seasoning, simmering, and puréeing kilos of apples. Fortunately, applesauce is available at many grocery shops. The query is: Which model is price shopping for?
To discover the easiest store-bought applesauce, our editors sampled 14 totally different manufacturers that you just’re prone to discover in your native grocery retailer. We opted for unsweetened applesauce with none added sugars. We positioned every in an unmarked bowl, then sampled them in random order with out understanding which was which. After snacking our means by many, many applesauces, we tabulated the outcomes and topped an total winner we might be completely happy to eat with yogurt, ice cream, or just plain. We additionally discovered an admirable runner-up.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Criteria
Great applesauce needs to be pomaceous: Like do-it-yourself applesauce, store-bought variations ought to style like contemporary apples which have been cooked and damaged down right into a purée. It needs to be clean and thick, not watery or overly chunky. It needs to be gently candy, by no means cloying, and may (clearly) not style rancid, bitter, or bitter. Its shade needs to be someplace inside the vary of sunshine yellow and reddish-brown, relying on the apple selection used, and may by no means be inexperienced, purple, or blue, which might point out spoilage or contamination. (It does occur—I discovered certainly one of these in my native retailer!)
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Overall Winner
Wegman’s Organic Applesauce
“This is fairly good, simply lacks somewhat little bit of depth,” wrote our editorial director, Daniel. “Tastes like applesauce!” wrote our senior editor, Genevieve, who thought the feel was a bit mushy however preferred that it wasn’t too candy. Our affiliate visuals director, Amanda, thought it was “positive,” however discovered the flavour a contact too candy. Our senior social media editor, Kelli, discovered the feel “first rate” and likewise loved the extra well-rounded flavors. Though I believed it was a bit watery, I did take pleasure in its nice apple taste in comparison with the remainder.
Runner-Up
365 by Whole Foods Market Organic Unsweetened Applesauce
“Good apple taste, however tastes somewhat oxidized,” wrote Daniel. Both Amanda and I loved the pleasantly candy apple taste and thought the sauce was properly puréed. Meanwhile, Kelli thought the feel was a bit fibrous and grainy, however loved the “positive” taste however. Genevieve felt equally OK concerning the taste: “Don’t love, do not hate.”
The Contenders
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Organic Unsweetened Applesauce
- Annie’s Fruit Friends Organic Apple Fruit Sauce
- Eden Organic Applesauce
- GoGo squeeZ Apple-Apple (Unsweetened)
- Good & Gather Applesauce
- Kirkland Organic Applesauce
- Mott’s Original Applesauce
- Musselman’s Unsweetened Applesauce
- Nature’s Promise, Unsweetened
- North Coast Organic Applesauce
- Santa Cruz Organic Applesauce (No Sugar Added)
- Stop & Shop Applesauce, Unsweetened
- Trader Joe’s All-Natural Unsweetened Applesauce
- Wegmans Organic Applesauce
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
Most applesauce is made with apples and water. Some manufacturers incorporate ascorbic acid, a preservative that stops oxidation and browning and can provide meals a tart taste, whereas others have just one ingredient:apples. But ascorbic acid does not make or break applesauce; manufacturers made with it scored each excessive and low in our exams. Our winner, Wegmans Organic Applesauce, is constituted of apples, water, and ascorbic acid. Meanwhile, our runner-up comprises solely natural apples.
Applesauce is usually offered in jars, plastic cups, and squeezable pouches. Curious to see if applesauce offered in a pouch would style totally different from applesauce in a cup, we performed a side-by-side comparability from one model. Overall, our editors most well-liked the pouch and famous its well-rounded taste with a nice sweetness and clean texture. Unlike applesauce offered in jars or cups, the pouches typically omit water, leading to a product with a extra concentrated taste.
Our Testing Methodology
All style exams are performed with manufacturers fully hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. This is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets, rating the samples based on varied standards. All information is tabulated, and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter to supply probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes potential.
