Homemade Crock-Pot Apple Cider
This homemade apple cider is easy to prepare in the morning or before bed. Throw everything into a crock-pot and 8-12 hours later your house will smell amazing with delicious apple cider!
OVERVIEW
- Skill Level: Beginner
Did you know you can easily make apple cider from scratch with fresh apples, an orange, and some spices? My mind was blown away with how easy it is to make using the slow cooker method. Throw all of the ingredients into a crock-pot and 8-12 hours later it’s done!
Your home will smell amazing and you’ll have fresh apple cider to enjoy all day.
Why I love to make apple cider in a crock-pot
- The prep time for this recipe only takes about 10 minutes! It couldn’t be easier to get your ingredients into the crock-pot.
- The 8-12 hours that the cider is cooking – what are you doing? Nothing! You don’t even have to be in the same room as the crock-pot. I love a passive recipe.
- As the apples break down and the spices mix together, your house will soon smell amazing!
- Make this recipe the morning of a big holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas and your guests will enjoy the lovely smell and the delicious drink.
- This cider couldn’t be easier to serve. Keep the crock-pot on warm and let guests serve themselves!
Ingredient list
When I first started researching apple cider recipes, most recipes called for using store-bought apple cider. They mixed this pre-made cider with additional spices and flavors. That was not what I was looking for. So here it is, my from-scratch apple cider recipe.
This homemade version calls for fresh apples, orange, spices, and sugar. That’s it!
Fresh Apples: I like to use a variety of tart and sweet apples in my cider. For this batch I used some Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and a few Granny Smith. I also like Golden Delicious and Braeburn. I encourage you to try a few different varieties for depth of flavor.
I’ve made this recipe several times where I’ve kept the peels on the apples and loved it! However, some readers have noted a bitter flavor with this method. For that reason, I have updated the recipe to remove the peels eliminating the risk of bitterness.
Checkout my guide on the Best Apples for Apple Pie!
Orange: While technically optional, I find fresh orange pairs very well with apple flavor. I wouldn’t swap it for lemon or lime as it would be too tart. Orange is the perfect blend of sweet and sour.
For this recipe, we’re only using the peel of the orange not the fruit or pith. Both the pith and fruit can add too much flavor and risk bitterness.
Spices: I’m using a combination of cinnamon, allspice, and clove. Do not use ground spices but instead use whole. The combination listed in this recipe is my favorite mixture of flavors but feel free to add more or less as desired. I’ve even had success adding fresh ginger root to the crock-pot!
Sweetener: This recipe works great with any type of sugar. I recommend using brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or white granulated sugar. After adding the recommended amount to the crock-pot, give it a taste and add more if desired.
How to make crock-pot apple cider
Prep the apples by peeling off the skin and discarding it. Slice the apples into chunks and add to a slow cooker. For the orange, remove the peel, slice into pieces and add to the slow cooker. Discard the fruit and pith.
Add all of the spices to the slow cooker and fill up with water. The water should reach the bottom of the top layer of fruit. Put the lid on the crock-pot and turn to low. Cook on low for 8-12 hours and enjoy the heavenly smell.
When it’s finished cooking, take off the lid and add the sweetener of your choice. Stir together until it melts into the mixture. Taste the cider as is and add more sweetener if desired. Using a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, smash down the apples against the side or bottom of the pot.
The first few times I made this, I spooned the cider out of the crock-pot with all of the apples and spices still floating around. It was great! However, I later learned that if you strain out the fruit and whole spices, you will get an even richer apple flavor.
This part is up to you, but when I make this recipe now I will strain out the whole fruit using a cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve. Put the cider back into the crock-pot and keep warm.
I like to keep the warm cider on the counter all day to enjoy. Any leftovers can be cooled down and stored in the refrigerator. Chilled apple cider over ice is delicious!
Use your homemade apple cider in this delicious apple cider donut recipe!
Ways to serve homemade apple cider
- Ladle the warm cider straight from the crock-pot into a mug with a cinnamon stick garnish
- Enjoy leftover chilled cider from the refrigerator over ice
- Make boozy cider by adding rum, bourbon, or whiskey to a mug and ladling warm cider over the top
MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you might like to try more recipes that use fresh apples!
Homemade Crock-Pot Apple Cider
This homemade apple cider is easy to prepare in the morning or before bed. Throw everything into a crock-pot and 8-12 hours later your house will smell amazing with delicious apple cider.
Ingredients
- 6 quart slow cooker (reduce the amounts for a smaller cooker)
- 8-10 medium sized apples (I like McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, and Braeburn. Do not use Red Delicious. Use a few Granny Smith if you enjoy a slightly tart flavor.)
- 1 orange
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ½ teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice
- 1 cup sweetener (granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or a combo *see note below about sugars)
Instructions
PREP
- Peel the apples (8-10 medium) and discard the peel. Chop into large chunks or use an apple slicer.
- Remove the peel from the orange (1) leaving behind the white fibrous pith. The pith will turn the cider bitter.
Slow cook
- Place the apple pieces, orange peel, cinnamon sticks (2), whole cloves (½ teaspoon), and whole allspice (1 teaspoon) into the slow cooker.
- Fill the slow cooker with enough water to reach the bottom of the top layer of apples. It should be pretty close to the top of the slow cooker.
- Turn it on low and put the lid on. Brew on low for 8-12 hours. 12 hours on low is ideal but if you're in a pinch, brew on high for at least 4 hours.
- Add the sweetener of your choice (1 cup) and stir to mix together and melt.
- Using a potato masher, mash all of the apples in the slow cooker.
- If a more clear cider is desired, very carefully strain the cider through a fine mesh sieve or a cheesecloth and pour back into the slow cooker.
- Let cool slightly and taste. Add more sweetener if desired. If you'd like a more concentrated flavor, turn the slow cooker to high and boil off some of the water (keeping the lid off). Alternatively, reduce the cider on the stovetop.
- Store leftover cider in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
A few readers commented that their cider tasted a bit bitter. I have re-tested the recipe and made changes to eliminate the risk of the cider tasting bitter. Most of our palettes are used to tasting sweet cider, so make sure you add some sweetness to yours because it does dramatically change the flavor.
*Note about sugars: White granulated sugar will give a lighter appearance to the apple cider. Brown sugar, honey, and maple syrup will give a darker, richer color. Any choice of sugar will result in a delicious apple cider flavor.
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92 Comments on “Homemade Crock-Pot Apple Cider”
How delightful! Looks so homey and elish!
How delightful! This looks so homey and delish!
Mmmm that sounds so yummy! We add pineapple juice and a touch of honey to ours. Love cider! http://cookinfood.com/2012/11/13/spiced-wassail-traditional-apple-cider/
That looks awesome Vanessa! I actually make a wassail too with pineapple juice and honey! It is fantastic mixed with champagne! https://bakerbettie.com/2011/12/12/holiday-party-made-easy-part-2-sparkling-wassail/
I'm in for this one for sure. Ever since I moved west I can't find fresh cider…imagine!
What do you think it would do if I used clementines instead of oranges? I think they are sweeter, so it might make it nicer. Also, wth does whole allspice look like? LOL off to Google!
Great idea! And I love the ‘mouth hallucination’…totally going to use that term from now on! Happy Holidays!
I can smell it (nose hallucinations) just from your description! And the only thing that could possibly be better than home-made hot cider would be home-made hot cider with bourbon. I love your Christmas Eve suggestion, too. Sounds like we’ll be having hot cider with our cinnamon rolls Christmas morning…
yeah. mouth hallucinations. That totally sounds legit.
i think we will try this in the upcoming weeks :9
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Can't wait to try this…I LOVE cider.
Are most commercial ciders made with the same spices or with spices at all?
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Do you remove skins on the oranges and apples before you put them in?
I don't! I like the flavor the zest brings. BUT if you are worried about it getting a bit bitter you can. I personally don't think it's necessary.
Still have lots and lots of apples, I think I'll be trying this next.
Hey Baker Bettie!
So I saw your recipe for this and went out and bought the ingredients for it…put it all in the crockpot aroung 7, and now its 11am the next day and i just tried mine and it seems a bit sour-ish. I bought red delicious apples for it sonce you said to do a variety but i think it might be the red delicious apples that are aking it taste like this. The taste isnt terrible, its just not as apple-ly as id like it to be. Maybe next time ill do it with just gala, fuji, and honeycrisp, or put more spices? Anyways, thank you so much for the recipe!
– Shalay
Hi Shalay,
It is possibly the variety of apple but did you put any sugar in? That might help tone down the sourness!
Want to try this today but only have cinnamon sticks, crushed clove, crushed nutmeg and crushed ginger? What do you think the amounts of the crushed spices ought to be?
can you use the powder cinnamon instead
Making this tonight 😀
Where do you buy whole cinnamon sticks and allspice? Just a regular grocery store? Because I want to make it too! YUM.
Cheaper on amazon. If you plan to use alot. I use a 1 LB bag all year long. Read reviews, they either tell alot of info to know. Or lie up a storm but if 20 negatives and 1 race review it’s easy to spot the fake
Spell check. Spelt rave wrong onme
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Taylar Ray you can get these in the spices section of your local grocery. I got had to go to two to get both the whole allspice and whole cloves, but they are there.
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Does this freeze and then thaw well?
I have never actually tried it, but I would assume so!
Set in the pot for 8 hours — tastes good, but it has a bitter aftertaste even after adding sugar. Any ideas about where I might have erred? 🙁
I would use less spices, maybe. My crock pot is only about 5Q and I used only 2 cinnamon sticks and just under 1T each of allspice and clove but I think I needed just slightly less than that. But it was delicious! I enjoyed it cold better than warm. I think the spices and flavors mingled better. I also only had 1 orange so I added 1 lemon
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My rating didn’t save, it is 5!
This is a fabulous recipe. But, I have one question? What should I do with all of the “fruit compost”? Can I freeze it and use it as a stove-top potpourri, perhaps?
Hi Tracie,
You could definitely try that or even try making apple sauce from it. But honestly, most of the flavors and aromas from the fruit have probably been extracted once it has finished brewing. These things may not be very flavorful or fragrant but definitely worth a try!
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Do you remove skins on the oranges before you put them in?
No ma’am! Just leave it all on!
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Great resapie for cider. Thank you very much
This recipe was great. However, leaving the skins on gave the cider a bitter aftertaste that I did not enjoy. I made it a second time and peeled all of the fruit. Turned out MUCH better. Thanks for a great, simple recipe!!
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This recipe looked simple and tasty, and I was excited about giving it a try. I already had whole cloves and cinnamon sticks and was able to find whole allspice at the grocery store, so I didn’t have to substitute ground. I also used the optional fresh ginger. My apples were a mixture of Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Envy. I wanted the cider to be sweet but not too sweet, so I used half a cup of brown sugar. When cutting and adding all the ingredients to my crock-pot, I had high hopes for the recipe. Separately, all the components smelled wonderful. As the cider cooked and released its aroma, I began to have doubts. It DID smell good, but it was more like a nice potpourri smell than an edible food smell. Sure enough, when I tasted it at the end, it had an overly spiced taste and slight bitterness that lingered unpleasantly in the mouth. I would like to try making it again, maybe peeling the fruit (as above poster suggested) and cutting back on and/or changing out spices next time.
Ok, so I’ve been working with my cider this morning trying to figure out how I’m going to use it all up. I combined equal parts cider and water to tone down the spices. Next, I did a second strain through a coffee filter, which got rid of pretty much all particles/sediment and almost eliminated the bitter taste. It was still a little strong, so I heated it up in the microwave and melted in a little ice cream to add vanilla flavor and further dilute spices. The ending result was pretty good, and my daughter guzzled it down.
Can I use ground allspice instead of whole allspice? And if not, is whole allspice available at Walmart or Publix?
It’s still cooking in my Crock Pot now! Thanks so much for this! I am adding honey and a little bit of white sugar. I was wondering if you could make this and hot bath can it to save for later? I know my husband would love to be able to take a jar to work!
Yes, it would keep in the fridge for a few days!
How much cider does this make? I’m trying to figure out how much we would need to drink over the 3 days that the recipe states it good for in the refrigerator. Thanks!
Hi Sarah! This makes about 3 quarts of cider! Hope you enjoy! I am updating the recipe to reflect this and it should also state that it can be kept for up to 5 days under refrigeration.
Makes the house smell ALMOST as good as it tastes!
How do you tehestvsnd hiw long can it stay on low in the crockpot to be good? Hours? 3? Or more?
Hi there! Yes, you can keep it warm in the crockpot for quite a few hours! I often make it for parties and let it sit in the crockpot on low all evening!
Worst rancid recipe I have ever tried. That is horrible, even adding more sweetener would not save that.
Hi Lizz, I’m so sorry to hear that this recipe did not work out for you. I have made it several times a year for the past few years with no issues, so I would love to help figure out what may have gone wrong. Can you explain more by what you mean by “rancid?” Did it taste bitter? Can I ask what kinds of apples you used? I’m going to make a note in the recipe to definitely avoid Red Delicious apples as I can see how that variety would not taste good at all in this. I’m wondering if by chance that is what you used?
Looks fantastic. I’m going to try it but core the apples and peel the orange as I’m guessing the seeds and peel are the culprits for those that found this to have a bitter after taste.
Also, the revised recipe calls for NO red delicious or granny apple but the video seems to promote both (I get it, the vivid colors!). 🙂
Hope you enjoy it Rich!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I had a 2.5 quart cooker and was able to fit about 7 or 8 apples (about 2 Ginger Gold and the rest Gala).
I didn’t have any oranges, allspice, or whole cloves on hand so I omitted the orange, and used about 1/8 tsp of ground cloves. I also ended up using 2 cinnamon sticks and used about a 1/4″ sliver of peeled fresh ginger as I know the skin tends to be bitter.
About a quarter of the way through cooking, I mashed the apples and let it continue to cook. After the cider was all cooked down and finished, I mashed it again and squeezed it through a nut cloth bag and added a little less than 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
This cider turned out soo well!
Next time, I’ll make sure to try it with the orange 🙂
Hi Shanese! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the cider! That is so great!
Just made this recipe but changed a few things. I just love apple cider but not all the ingredients called for. I used ground cinnamon an orange peeled and did not add the peel, and a good shot of celery salt. When the apples were nice and soft I ran them through the blender, poured the mash into a flour bag and hand squeezed it. The cider came out nice and sweet just the way I like it.
Sounds delicious! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
So I made the recipe and I love the initial taste but it’s got a after kick I’m not quite fond of. I used 11 Apples because I made a slightly larger batch at 16 cups. I used 7 empire and 4 gold delicious. At the time to add sugar I used 100% pure maple syrup. I was going for a bit more sweet. Where did I go wrong?
When you say it has “quite a kick” did it taste bitter? I’m really not sure what might have gone wrong. Did it taste too strong? Maybe it needed to be diluted a bit?
I zest and then peel the Orange yo avoid the bitter. The white pith of the Orange is what makes it bitter. I just grab my vegetable peeler and shave the zest off the Orange then peel it and break into chunks
Hi Bettie,
This is my first time at making homemade
apple cider and it did not turn out what it
is suppose to look like. It turned pure black.
It taste somewhat ok but not like the true
apple cider taste. I used different types of
apples (no red delicious) followed recipe. So
What do you think I did. Maybe to much cloves
Hi, pure black? That’s so odd! What kind of sweetener did you use? Maybe that was the culprit.
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