How to make mulled cider in your slow cooker. Warm apple cider filled with cinnamon, spices, and a smidge of brown sugar, perfect for the holidays!
‘Tis the season for warm drinks, soft blankets, good books, and apple pie spice with all of its fall spicy goodness. Even though I love summer, I love this time of year when the temperatures drop and mulled cider becomes the beverage of choice.
While I'm more of a hot chocolate girl myself, I do love a warm mug of cider, especially when my house smells as good as it does after an afternoon of slow cooking a batch of spiced cider.
This hot apple cider is so easy to make, anyone can make it. It doesn't require a lot of ingredients or time in the kitchen.
Are you ready for an apple cider drink that will get you in the mood for fall? This is most definitely it.
I JUST WANT THE RECIPE! TAKE ME TO THE RECIPE FOR MULLED CIDER!
If you’d rather skip all of my cooking tips, important cooking info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the delicious mulled cider recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
WHAT IS APPLE CIDER? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPLE JUICE AND APPLE CIDER?
You can use either apple juice or apple cider for this recipe.
There are a few differences, though, between apple juice vs apple cider.
Apple cider is a thicker, more opaque apple juice, and it may have pulp and chunks of apple left behind. Apple juice is a thinner, more transparent liquid without any pulp left behind.
In terms of commercial apple cider vs apple juice, apple juice is pasteurized and has a longer shelf life than apple cider.
If you have fresh apples and want to make the juice yourself, here is a fairly simple recipe for how to make apple juice in your Instant Pot. You can also use the same recipe to make a thicker apple cider drink.
WHERE TO BUY APPLE CIDER
If you decide to actually go with cider and buy it instead of making it, you can usually find it at any grocery store, orchard, or maybe even a farmer's market.
If apple cider isn't available where you live and you decide to buy juice instead, you could go with a thicker juice, maybe Simply Apple or something similar.
APPLE CIDER BENEFITS
Remember the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Apples have a ton of nutritional value and are a great addition to our diet.
While you’d probably get a LOT more benefit out of the whole apple, apple juice is a good source of vitamin C and potassium. It's also a great source of antioxidants.
Now with the added sugar (I use 1/4 cup of brown sugar), this hot cider won't be quite as good for you, but it is delicious, so I guess you could say that's a benefit too.
APPLE CIDER INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED:
You'll need a few ingredients to make this delicious mulled cider.
- Apple cider or apple juice
- An orange
- Whole cloves
TIPS FOR HOW TO MAKE APPLE CIDER
Making apple cider is really easy. Just a few steps and you can walk away and let your slow cooker do all the heavy lifting.
You're essentially going to combine all of the ingredients in your slow cooker. But the orange and cloves require a bit of attention first.
You can wash and slice the orange, add the cloves to the orange slices, and then add the slices to the slow cooker. Or you can wash and peel the orange and stick the cloves all over in the orange, then add the orange to the slow cooker.
Note: You can leave the peeling on the orange, but it may add a little bitterness to your hot cider.
Once you've decided what to do with the orange, just combine all the ingredients and give it a good stir. Then cook everything on low for about 4 hours.
Homemade apple cider makes your house smell so good.
Once it's cooked, strain out any loose cloves, the oranges, and the cinnamon sticks. You can serve it up in your favorite mugs, and maybe add a cinnamon stick for garnish.
IF YOU LOVE THIS MULLED CIDER RECIPE, TRY SOME OF OUR OTHER APPLE RECIPE FAVORITES:
Homemade Apple Jelly without Pectin
Easy No-Peel Instant Pot Applesauce
No-Peel Instant Pot Cinnamon Applesauce
50 Mouthwatering Apple Recipes
KITCHEN TOOLS YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE HOT APPLE CIDER:
Festive Mugs – I love Peanuts mugs, this Mr. Tea mug, and I also love enamel mugs. So fun! Because why shouldn't you have something fun to drink from? Right?! Right!
MULLED CIDER RECIPE
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Slow Cooker Mulled Cider
Ingredients
- 2 quarts apple cider or apple juice
- 1 whole orange
- 2 teaspoons whole cloves
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3 whole cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Pour the apple cider or apple juice into the slow cooker.
- You can wash and slice the orange, add the cloves to the orange slices, and then add the slices to the slow cooker. Or you can wash and peel the orange and stick the cloves all over in the orange, then add the slices to the slow cooker.
- Add the brown sugar, allspice, and cinnamon sticks to the cider in the slow cooker, and give it all a good stir.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker, and cook everything on low for about 4 hours.
- Strain out the oranges, cloves, and cinnamon sticks.
- Serve it in your favorite mugs, and maybe add a cinnamon stick for garnish.