Pear Sauce

Pear Sauce

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  • Total: 80 mins
  • Prep: 20 mins
  • Cook: 60 mins
  • Yield:

Pear sauce is an excellent addition to any pantry. If pears are in season or you have a surplus from your garden, cooking and canning or freezing the pears is a great alternative. Find any sweet, ripe unblemished pears and follow this easy recipe. Cook it on the stove or in a crockpot and can it or freeze it depending on what's available to you. Our recipe uses sugar only if your taste needs it, but sweet pears are delicious enough that sugar is optional.

Useful for lunchboxes, pear sauce can be served plain, like applesauce, and also used as a topping for bread, scones, or buttery pastries, or as an oil substitute in many baked good recipes for low-fat diets. Pear sauce, like applesauce, can be used as an egg substitute in many vegan recipes by replacing one egg with 1/4 cup of pear sauce.

Serve it warm to accompany pork chops or smoked ham and add it to grilled cheese sandwiches for a hint of sweetness. If you cook your pear sauce down further, make pear butter to give as gifts to family and friends.


  • 40 medium pears (or 50 small)
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • Optional: Sugar (to taste)
  • Optional: Ground cinnamon (to taste)

Steps to Make It

This recipe is versatile, allowing you to make it either on the stovetop or in a crockpot. Both methods have been described below, along with two long-term storage options: canning and freezing.

Stovetop Method

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Peel, chop, and core all the pears. Remove any blemished pieces.

  3. Add the pears and water to a large pot and bring it to a boil.

  4. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the pears soften. Stir often.

  5. Add the lemon juice and any sugar or cinnamon that you wish to include.

  6. Bring the pot back to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the pears cook down to your desired consistency, usually about 30 minutes more.

  7. If you want a perfectly smooth sauce, blend the fruit with an immersion blender, or transfer the sauce to a regular blender to finish. Be careful with hot fruit as the lid can pop off and fruit spatters can cause burns. It's best to let the fruit cool off for at least 30 minutes before processing.

Crockpot Method

Since this recipe calls for a lot of pears, you'll either need to divide the recipe between two large crockpots or halve the recipe.

  1. Peel, chop, and core all the pears. Remove any blemished pieces.

  2. Put the pears, water, and optional sugar and cinnamon to taste in the crockpot.

  3. Cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours. Stir occasionally.

  4. Once the pears soften and the sauce reaches your desired consistency, process the fruit with an immersion blender or regular blender as indicated in the last step of the stovetop cooking method above.

Can the Pear Sauce

Canning the pear sauce will give it a longer shelf life and allow you to store it out of the refrigerator. Processing times vary by altitude, so check for specific times depending on where you live.

  1. Ladle the pear sauce into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace.

  2. Run a spatula or bubble remover tool around the inside edge of the jar to remove any air bubbles.

  3. Wipe the rims clean and close the jars with a sterilized lid, secure the band, and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes for pints, or 20 minutes for quarts.

  4. Set the jars on a towel and allow them to cool overnight. Test the jars for a good seal in the morning by pressing down on the lid. If it doesn't pop back, the jar sealed correctly. Label your jars. Canned sauce keeps in the pantry for a year or more, but its quality is best within the first 12 months.

  5. Refrigerate any jars that did not seal well and use them within the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Freeze the Sauce

  1. Ladle the pear sauce into clean freezer jars, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace in pint jars and 1-inch of headspace in quart jars.

  2. Seal the jars and allow them to cool completely.

  3. Label the jars with the processing date and place them in the freezer. Frozen pear sauce keeps for up to 6 months.

  4. Thaw a jar in the refrigerator and warm the pear sauce in a pan on the stovetop.

  5. Enjoy!

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