Every September, I pull out my pear sauce recipe because the pears on our trees are just about ripe! Pear sauce is so similar to apple sauce, given that apples are pears are sister fruit, so why not use what I have growing and make this canning staple?
Once again, we have two pear trees that give off crazy amounts of fruit every year!
In case you’re new to pear processing, understand that pears are harvested while they are still firm, because they ripen from the inside out.
So, all of the pears you see here are rather firm and wouldn’t be good for eating, but they’re perfect for making this pear sauce recipe, which is very similar to apple sauce!
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However, I have found a way to use these hard pears!
I make my pear sauce recipe by using my Instant pot!
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Since the trees are on my property and I’m sure no one has sprayed them, I can just leave the skins on.
I give them a quick wash in the sink and then rinse and drain.
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With my work area set up, I start chopping the pears into pieces, cutting out any bad spots.
It doesn’t matter if the pieces are even 1/4 of the pear size, because the pressure cooking in the Instant Pot will soften them up like crazy!
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Here’s what the inside of my Instant Pot looks like when it’s full of raw pears.
Add one cup of water and 1 tbsp. of cinnamon.
You can add other spices like nutmeg, ginger or cloves, but I like the simple sweet taste of the pears to come through. It’s also easier to substitute for applesauce if it’s not loaded up with other spices.
I set my Instant Pot on Pressure Cook for 5 minutes.
After only 5 minutes, this is how soft and mushy those hard pears are!
I love how fast I can process these pears into pear sauce!
I let them cool for a few minutes and then load up my Ninja Chef blender with the cooked pears.
I’ve had my Ninja Chef for a while now, and I love how powerful it is!
It’s one of those tools that really come in handy when you’re processing something like this pear sauce recipe and well worth the investment!
After less than a minute, here’s what the pear sauce looks like!
As I work through batches, I keep adding to my large pot of pear sauce recipe on the stove.
How to Can Pear Sauce Recipe in a Water Bath Canner
While your water bath canner is heating up its water, fill your jars with water as well and put them in the canner. This will keep them hot until you’re ready to fill them.
Put your canning lids in a sauce pot on the stove on “low” to just keep them warm, DO NOT BOIL!
Remove your hot jars to fill when you’re ready and fill the jars up with your pear sauce, either pints or quarts, they both take the same amount of time in the canner.
Should I Add More Acid to the Jar?
It is not necessary to add lemon juice or another citric acid when canning apple or this pear sauce recipe.
It is also acceptable to can the pear skins along with the pear sauce, since I did not peel them, as long as they are very clean.
Using a funnel, fill your jars up leaving 1/2 inch of head space.
Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean cloth, apply lids and rings.
Tighten your rings with a firm twist.
Make sure your jars of pear sauce are covered by at least 2″ of water.
Bring your jars to a full boil, reduce heat slightly and process for 20 minutes.
Take a look at how beautiful your pear sauce turned out!
How to Use this Pear Sauce Recipe
Remember that pear sauce tastes so similar to apple sauce, that you can substitute it easily in any recipe that called for apple sauce!
There are tons of recipes that allow you to incorporate your pear sauce recipe, here are just a few of my favorites!
I also love to eat our pear sauce over oatmeal or just by itself, warm, in a bowl on a cold day.
Pear sauce (as well as its sister, apple sauce) can be used in recipes to replace the oil! More about those types of substitutes here.
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Enjoy!
