Make Instant Pot apple cider with your kids! This small batch recipe makes 5 cups and only requires water, apples, and cinnamon sticks.
You might also like our boiled cider syrup, our apple cider donuts, or our spiced wassail.
Homemade Apple Cider
When we lived in Ohio our friends invited us to their apple orchard at the end of the season to make fresh apple cider. We used all of the apples that normally you’d think weren’t fit for eating. They weren’t bad, but they were bruised. Homemade cider was such a great way to use them up and it was such a great family activity with jobs for everyone.
We don’t have a cider press, nor do we have access to enough apples to make large batches of cider like we did in Ohio, but it doesn’t matter because you can make apple cider in your instant pot! My kids love helping with this interactive recipe.
Things Kids Can Learn from Making Apple Cider
- How do different varieties of apples taste?
- What spices blend well with apples?
- How does filtration work?
How To Make Instant Pot Apple Cider With Kids
First, you’ll need apples. It doesn’t really matter what kind. We used a combination of yellow delicious and gala. You’ll also need 2 cinnamon sticks and some water. Simple, right?
Slicing fruit is one of their favorite things to do. I bought this little dog knife for my kids years ago and it works great for cutting soft fruits. Sharp enough to cut fruit, yet dull enough to not cut skin.
Note: To cut apples with the dog knife, you will need to slice them in half first, then the kids can quarter them. The knife isn’t strong enough to cut a whole apple in half.
Homemade Apple Cider Ingredients
- 8 apples, quartered
- 4 cups water
- 2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
How to Make Apple Cider In An Instant Pot
Once your apples and water are ready, go ahead and place them in the Instant Pot and set it to pressure cook on HIGH for 15 minutes. Allow it to naturally release for 15 minutes, then quick release until the pressure reaches normal. Remove the lid.
Now for the fun part (for kids, at least)
Pour the contents from the Instant pot through a strainer with a bowl underneath to catch the cider.
Mash apples with a potato masher to release even more of the cider into the bowl.
Use a rubber spatula to press even more cider from the apple pulp.
You can strain the cider one more time through the cheesecloth if you’d like. This will create a cider that is less cloudy, but all apple cider has sediment at the bottom of the jug. If you don’t use a cheesecloth for the second strain, just give it a quick stir before serving.
She said, “I can’t believe how good this smells!”
We enjoyed our cider warm, but you can refrigerate it as well.
Instant Pot Apple Cider Recipe
Instant Pot Apple Cider Recipe
Instant Pot Apple Cider
Equipment
- pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 8 apples
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cup water
Instructions
- Quarter apples and place in instant pot.
- Pour water over apples and add cinnamon sticks.
- Cover with lid.
- Pressure cook on high for 15 minutes.
- Let the pressure naturally release for 15 minutes then quick release to finish.
- Strain apples through a sieve.
- Mash apples to push them through.
- Strain a second time or press through a cheese cloth.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more creative projects to make with your kids? Sew with Me has 60 sewing projects to help kids learn how to sew. Useful items such as scrunchies, pillowcases, gift bags and more!
This is great! We’ll be making some today. Thank you!