This Slow Cooker apple cider recipe is perfect for autumn! You’ll love the cozy and comforting aroma that will fill your home as apples and spices cook for hours.
It’s made with a combination of Gallic apples and granny smith for the perfect balance between sweet and sour flavors, and seasoned with whole cinnamon and cloves for the perfect taste.
This simmered apple cider recipe is not only super easy to make, but it’s also prepared ahead of time and freezer-friendly. We love it!
Making slow-cooked apple cider at home is a great way to use the apple abundance from this year’s fall harvest.
To make it more inviting, make this recipe along with other baked apple treats, such as apple and cinnamon muffins, puff pastry apple pies, fresh apple pie, or a classic apple pie to serve along with it.
There really is nothing better than the aroma of cooked apples, cinnamon and cloves in your kitchen during a cozy autumn afternoon. I love the smell of autumn and apples!
This is a super easy recipe that requires very little active time. It’s a great recipe to make to receive guests too! Super easy and convenient.
Why we love making slow-cooking apple cider at home:
- Super easy to make! Great for welcoming a large crowd.
- Cozy and aromatic: fragrant apples with whole aromatic spices, such as cinnamon and cloves. The perfect combination!
- Freezer ready and friendly!
We love serving this slow-cooked apple cider straight into the slow cooker, garnished with tons of sliced apples, oranges, fresh blueberries, and spices. You can even use the leftovers to make my pan apple pork chops!
Skip to:Choosing
- apples Use whole spices
- Ingredient notes
- Step by step instructions What
- size slow cooker
- Prepare in advance and freeze Instructions
- decorating and decorating
- Recipe FAQs
- Tips for Success
- Slow cooker Apple cider
- Choice of
to use
Tips for
apples
The types of apples you use to make this recipe depend entirely on your taste preferences, whether on the sweeter side or on the sour side. Or both!
The best apples to use for a sweet flavor profile are gala, honeycrisp, fuji, or even red delicious. For a more sour flavor profile, granny smith will be your best bet.
I highly recommend using a blend of both types of apples for a sweet and sour flavor profile. I use about 8 gala apples and 2 granny smith apples, so an 80/20 ratio. It’s the perfect balance between sweet and sour!
The
key to making a fragrant slow-cooking apple cider is to use whole spices. In particular, we use whole cinnamon sticks and whole cloves here in this recipe.
Whole spices will flavor cider in a subtle way, adding a subtle and cozy flavor and an aroma that is pleasant. Spices are also easy to pick or remove to make it smooth.
On the other hand, using ground spices will add a very strong spicy flavor, rather than a mild, subtle aromatic flavor. In addition, it will affect the texture – ground spices are difficult to strain even if you use a fine-mesh strainer.
I think using cinnamon and cloves are more than enough for this slow-cooking apple cider. However, if you want a stronger, spicier flavor, you can add whole allspice berries or a small nutmeg. If you want to spice up this slow-cooked apple cider even more, try adding some fresh ginger or whole cardamom.
Ingredient Notes
Below are some helpful notes about ingredients from recipe testing. As always, the full list of ingredients and quantities can be found on the recipe card below.
- Assorted apples: Use a combination of sweet and sour apples, such as gala and granny smith
- Orange: An orange will balance the sweetness and add aromatic tones to the cider
- Cinnamon sticks and whole cloves: To infuse subtly with aromatic spices. For stronger, spicier flavors, try adding allspice berries as well.
- Brown sugar: 1/2 cup is all you need for this recipe, as apples are also sweet. If necessary, you can always add more sugar at the end.
- Water as needed.
.
.
This
recipe is not only straightforward and very easy to make, but it is also prepared in advance and freezer-friendly. Below is an overview of the process.
Step 1 | Add the
ingredients in the slow cooker and cook
Add all the ingredients in a large 7- or 8-quart slow cooker. Stir to combine.
Step 2 | Cook
slowly for 4 hours
Cover and cook slowly in HIGH for 4 hours until apples are completely softened.
Step 3 | Crush the apples and return to the slow cooker Remove the apples and
crush them. Then return the applesauce to the slow cooker and continue cooking in HIGH for 1 more hour.
Step 4 | Strain and
serve
Using a fine-mesh strainer or gauze, strain slowly cooked apple cider into a large pot or serving container. After this, you can return it to the slow cooker or serve.
I like to return it to the slow cooker and keep it warm (switch to HOT setting). For the presentation, garnish with sliced apples, oranges, fresh blueberries and whole spices.
To
fit about 10
medium apples and about 10 cups of water, you’ll need a 7- or 8-quart slow cooker. This makes enough for about 8 people.
This slow-cooking apple cider recipe
is customizable when it comes to quantity changes, so if you have a smaller 4-quart slow cooker, for example, simply use half the ingredients
.
Advance Preparation and Freezing Instructions
You can prepare it up to 3 days in advance and reheat before serving. I would recommend reheating over the stove if served hot.
This slow cooker apple cider recipe is also freezer-safe. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving, hot or cold. If you prefer to reheat frozen cider directly on the stove, pour it into smaller containers. I like to use these soup cubes, they are great for freezing smaller portions of food.
Tips for decorating and decorating
A beautiful presentation is always important!
Garnish with freshly cut fruit and whole spices. I like to throw them in the slow cooker, along with the cider. Don’t worry, these won’t really affect the taste.
- Sliced apples Sliced oranges
- Fresh blueberries Whole
- cinnamon and cloves
Recipe FAQs
This recipe was published in 2019 and
updated in October 2022 to include new photos and information, plus some recipe modifications.
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