Applesauce is a sweet, smooth food made by cooking apples until they're soft enough to mash into a thick sauce. Most applesauce is slightly chunky and has a light brown or pale yellow color, though some is completely smooth. People eat it as a side dish, a snack, or use it in baking.

Making applesauce is simple: you cook peeled apple pieces with a little water and sugar (though some recipes skip the sugar since apples are naturally sweet). As the apples soften, you mash or blend them. Some families make their own applesauce in the fall when apples are fresh and plentiful.

Beyond the food itself, applesauce is also an old-fashioned exclamation of disbelief or disagreement, like saying “nonsense!” If your friend claimed they could run a mile in two minutes, you might say “Applesauce!” to show you don't believe them. This slang usage was especially popular in the 1920s and has a playful, silly sound.

In baking, applesauce works as a substitute for oil or butter in recipes, making muffins and cakes moister while adding natural sweetness. It's also one of the first solid foods many babies eat because it's soft, naturally sweet, and easy to digest.