Homemade Pear Sauce

Special Equipment You’ll Need

You’ll need a few kitchen tools to prepare this recipe. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:

• Vegetable Peeler — To peel the pears.
• Kitchen Scale and Bowl — To weigh the pears.
• Citrus Juicer — To juice the lemon (here are my favorite tricks for getting the most juice from limes and lemons). 
• Large Saucepan or Stock Pot — To cook the delicious sauce.

And if you’ll be canning the pear sauce, here’s what you’ll need: 

• Water Bath Canner (or Large, Deep Pot with a Lid & Rack) – I only water bath can my sauce, but a pressure canner should work too. 
• Glass Canning Jars, Lids & Bands – Remember to use new lids for a proper seal! 
• Canning Funnel – Makes it easier to transfer the sauce to jars. 
• Ladle – For scooping the sauce into the jars. 
• Jar Lifter (Canning Tongs) – For safely removing the hot jars from the boiling water bath.

Grab These 5 Ingredients

The full list of ingredients with their measurements can be found in the recipe card below, but here’s an overview of what goes into this homemade pear sauce. 

• Fresh Pears —  Any variety of fresh pear may be used! I tend to use Bartlett pears, but I’ve also used D’Anjou, Red D’Anjou, and Bosc pears. You can use a mixture of different pears or all the same variety. Note that I do NOT recommend using Asian Pears for this recipe. 
• Lemon Juice — Freshly squeezed is best. 
• Spices — I used a blend of ground cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg, but you may use any spices you like. 

Katie’s Tips for Making This Recipe 

• Want it sweeter? Try adding brown sugar in 1 tablespoon increments until your desired flavor is reached. 
• Don’t have a food processor? You can use a potato masher or an immersion blender at low speed.
• Tempted to change the ingredients? Don’t! I do not recommend making substitutions in recipes that you plan to water bath can unless it is adjusting the amount of spices. Altering the amount of pears or the acidity (by omitting or substituting the lemon juice) would affect the ability to water bath can this pear sauce. Always consult canning experts and reputable sources before deviating from the recipe when water bath canning. 
• Having trouble getting your jars open? Head over to my post about How to Open a Jar for 5 proven ways to open jars with tight lids.

Ways to Serve This 

One of the best parts of making this recipe is all the different things that you can do with it besides just eating a bowl of it by itself. This recipe for pear sauce is pretty darn good on its own, but here are a few fun serving suggestions:

• Make these cute Bite Sized Cranberry Walnut Tarts, but substitute the easy homemade pear sauce for the cranberry sauce.
• Stir some into Maple Syrup to make pear flavored maple syrup. It will be so good poured over pancakes and waffles for a post-Thanksgiving brunch.
• Stir it into plain yogurt for a tangy, sweet flavor. Then, sprinkle granola and dried cranberries or fresh chopped pears on top.
• Stir a few spoonfuls into your oatmeal as it’s cooking to infuse it with spiced pear flavor. Substitute pear sauce for applesauce in baking recipes for a slightly different flavor, or use it as an oil substitute in baking.

Storage Instructions 

Refrigerating: Homemade spiced pear sauce will last for about 3-4 days if stored airtight. 

Freezing: Store it in the freezer for up to 6 months. I suggest freezing it in smaller quantities so you can thaw out however much you need at a moment’s notice. For best results, make sure you cool the finished pear sauce to room temperature before freezing!

Canning: If canned properly, pear sauce will last anywhere from 12 to 18 months. I’ve included instructions for how to water bath can pear sauce in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post! 

You can also pressure can this pear flavor sauce as long as you have the correct tools and consult reputable sources for the instructions. Some tools you might need if you would like to pressure can pear sauce are: Pressure Cooker Canner, The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning, and of course – canning jars.