Easy stewed apple (2024)

FAQs

Are stewed apples healthy? ›

Reasons to Love Stewed Apples

Nutritious: High in fiber, vitamin C, and various antioxidants. Adaptable: Serve with breakfast, as a snack or alongside both sweet and savoury dishes. Switch out the spices to create a different flavour profile. Diet-friendly: Free from gluten, dairy, egg and nut.

Any type of citrus juice—lemon, lime, or orange juice—will work here; pineapple juice will do the trick too. These fruit juices contain citric acid, which slows the chemical reaction and prevents browning. (You can also sprinkle the fruit with powdered citric acid, but it may leave a strong sour flavor.)

You can peel the apples, or you can leave the skin on for a little extra texture. Either way, chop your apples into small pieces and place them into a boiling pot of water. Boil the apples in the pot until they start to soften. This should take no longer than 15 minutes.

Bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Simmer and season: Reduce the heat to low and let the apples simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until they are tender. You can also enhance the flavor by adding spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves during the simmering process.

Whether you choose them with or without the skin, raw or cooked, apples are a fantastic addition to a healthy diet. Malhotra mentions, “They can alleviate constipation, soothe diarrhea, support a healthy gut microbiome, and offer a range of other nutritional benefits.

Apples fill you up and help lower cravings for less healthy foods. In addition, they are full of antioxidants which means they help prevent free radical damage associated with cancer. Be sure to eat them with the peel on to gain the full fiber benefits. This is another simple healthy food that promotes colon health.

Obviously you don't want apples with an al dente bite, but did you know it's possible to overcook them? "Apples lose their flavor rapidly when cooked too long," says Martinez.

Heating can also be used to inactivate PPO enzymes; apples can be blanched in boiling water for four to five minutes to nearly eliminate PPO activity. (Be warned that cooking will affect the texture of the product.) Enzymatic browning is not unique to apples.

Here's the short version: The best way to prevent browning is to soak the cut fruit in a saltwater solution (half a teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of water) for 10 minutes, then drain and store until ready to use.

Nutrition scientist, Dr Joanna McMillan, says we should be eating and cooking with apples that have the skin on to take advantage of the nutrients in the peel. So crunching on a juicy apple, skin and all, could actually be the healthiest way to eat this super fruit.

What happens when you boil a whole apple? ›

Boiling an apple will soften its texture and break down its cellular structure. However, it won't turn into applesauce like when you cook it. The skin may peel off, and the apple might absorb some water, affecting its taste and texture.

Leaving the skins on, chop the apples into about 1 inch pieces. Put into a pot and add the water. Boil the apples for 10 minutes, or until soft. Drain the water from the apples and add the remaining ingredients to the apples.

It's always best to choose whole fruit over juice, especially if blood sugar control is your goal. Take it a step further and leave the skin on the apple when you eat it. You'll get way more fiber, potassium and vitamins A, C and K!

“When apples are cooked, these soluble fibers—which act like prebiotics and feed your gut microbiota (good bacteria)—break down and release higher amounts of pectin, which makes them easier to digest and helps your good gut bacteria thrive by getting rid of toxins and reducing inflammation.”

You can eat this every day, no matter how you're feeling. Of course, there may be mornings when you don't feel like eating Cooked Apple; when that happens, don't! You may drink the cooking liquid as tea, add it to your oatmeal, or simply discard it. If you didn't peel the apple, discard the peels while eating it.

Are cooked apples as healthy as raw? Both cooked and raw apples are healthy, but stewed apples can be particularly helpful for gut health.