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I feel better both mentally and physically when I am eating clean the whole food plant-based (WFPB) way. If you are new to the phrases of eating clean and WFPB, in a nutshell it refers to eating foods that are as close as possible to their natural state.

So, what does that look like on our plate when we sit down for a meal? Well, an apple looks like an apple on our plate. It is not a not a slice of apple cake or an apple muffin. This encourages us to make our meals from scratch and with adding a few ingredients as possible. So, eating the apple whole with the skin on is the “cleanest”. Peeling the apples and cooking them with no added ingredients is great. The more ingredients you add such as salt, flours, white sugar, and brown sugar, the farther away from it’s “whole state” you get. It is perfectly fine to add healing spices such as cinnamon, ginger or fennel seeds. You can also add other fruits such as blueberries, pears, oranges, or cranberries as they are all foods in their “whole state” as well. In my version of this Clean WFPB Crockpot Applesauce recipe below it is just apples and lemon juice. That’s it. It doesn’t get much cleaner!

Crockpot Clean Applesauce

Donna Spencer

Apples are considered nutrient-dense fruit, meaning they provide a substantial amount of nutrients per serving. One medium 7-ounce provides 2–5% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamins E, B1, and B6.

Apples are a good source of fiber and vitamin C. They also contain antioxidants, like vitamin E, and polyphenols that contribute to the fruit’s numerous health benefits. Vitamin E serves as a fat-soluble antioxidant, vitamin B1 — also known as thiamine — is needed for growth and development, and vitamin B6 is essential for protein metabolism (4, 5, 6).

Apples are also a rich source of polyphenols, an important group of antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds that protect your cells from free radicals — harmful molecules that contribute to the development of chronic conditions, like heart disease and cancer.

To get the most out of apples, leave the skin on, as it contains half of the fiber and most of the polyphenols (7, 8).

This Clean WFPB Crockpot Applesauce recipe will add a great side dish to your meals or the perfect snack option to your day.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 6

Course Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Calories 104 kcal

Equipment

crockpot
Cutting Board
pairing knife
Produce Peeler

Ingredients

6 apples or how ever many you have on hand.
1/2 lemon

Instructions

Peel, core and roughly chop all apples. Add chopped apples to the crockpot.
Cut one half lemon in half (resulting in two quarters) and add to crockpot.
Set crockpot to low temp for 6-8 hours depending on how many apples you are cooking. Cooking fewer apples takes less time. Give the apples a toss every couple of hours.
The apples will cook down and you will be able to mash them into the consistency you desired. I use a handy dandy ground meat chopper utensil. I like mine a medium chunkiness.

Nutrition

Calories: 104kcal

Keyword antioxidants, apple, clean, crockpot, lemon, nutrient-dense, polyphenols, WFPB

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Crockpot Clean Applesauce