Make your own Apple Cider Vinegar at home! It is a great way to use or preserve excess apples, or a zero-waste solution to use unwanted apple scraps like skins or cores! Apple cider vinegar is easy to make, and is healthy, delicious, fermented, and packed with probiotics.
Prep time: PT20M
Rating
4.89 stars (162 reviews)
Keywords
ACV, Apple Cider Vinegar, Fermented
Ingredients
Diced apple chunks, or apple scraps (skins, cores). Enough to fill half of your chosen fermenting vessel (e.g. quart jar, half-gallon jar, 1 gallon crock)
1 tbsp sugar, per 1 cup filtered water OR
1 cup sugar, per 1 gallon of filtered water
Categories
Natural Medicine Beverage
Preserved Food
Salad Dressing
Sauce
Steps
Wash and chop the apples into chunks, or gather collected apple scraps (which can be saved in the freezer over time) and add them to your jar or other large fermenting vessel until it filled about halfway full.
Pour lukewarm filtered water over the apples into the container until it is almost full, but measure/note the total amount of water added.
Stir in sugar in ratios of 1 tablespoon of sugar per cup of water added, or for larger batches, 1 cup of sugar per gallon of water added.
Optional: Add a splash of finished organic apple cider vinegar (e.g. store-bought) to inoculate the culture and encourage fermenting.
Stir combined ingredients until thoroughly mixed, and cover with breathable material.
Store in a dark location around 70 to 75 degrees F for two weeks to ferment, and stir everyday to prevent mold from forming on top. If needed, add another layer of material like a dark towel on top of the container to block light.
After two weeks, strain and reserve the liquid into a similar sized container and cover again. Compost the spent fruit.
Move the covered container of liquid to a location that is out of the way to continue long term fermentation. Maintain dark. A cooler "room temperature" at this stage is okay, but do not refrigerate yet.
After one month, sample the vinegar to see if it is finished fermenting and tart to your liking. If needed, allow it to continue to ferment for a total of two to three months.
Once it is fermented to your desired flavor, transfer the apple cider vinegar into bottles with lids (or swing top bottles). Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator, and enjoy!
Properly fermented apple cider vinegar should "stay good" for over a year - as long as it does not have visible mold, or a strong and unusual flavor or appearance.
Reviews
Nicole Curran on 2026-09-26 (5 stars): Hi there!!! First time making this I grew my own apples for this! It's been about 2.5 weeks and there is cloudiness/ film on top and all apples sunk.... I am at the point of straining. Do you think it's still ok? No fuzz or "off" smell
Lauren on 2026-09-23 (5 stars): I've loved being able to use up apple scraps to make this recipe! Great way to save $$. Thank you so much for sharing!
Kadie B on 2026-09-20 (5 stars): I was wondering if you can use apple cider instead of apples chunks. We have extra cider this year and this might be a great way to use it. Thoughts? Thanks!
Joan Terry on 2026-09-20 (5 stars): I have made this for about 4 years now with apple scraps and fallen apples from the trees in our yard and it is so easy and so good and practically free! The price of ACV is so high in the stores so this is very satisfying to make and enjoy all year long. Thank you for your recipe!!
Al on 2026-09-20 (5 stars): You mentioned repurposing the store bought empty ACV bottles for your homemade batch, how do you clean the bottles? Thanks!
Benny on 2026-08-14 (5 stars): We have a large, mature apple tree at the home we just bought. We don't know what kind of apple it is, but they are very tart (i.e. not sweet at all). I am looking for a use for them since we have so many, but since your instructions for this recipe say it should be 2/3 sweet, 1/3 tart, I imagine if we only used tart the vinegar wouldn't be very good? Any other ideas for a tart-only supply of apples? Thanks!
Katie Neumann on 2026-08-10 (5 stars): I have now made this recipe so many times I dont' even need to look up the recipe- ha! This is such a great and easy way of using up apple scraps that would be trash and making healthy apple cider vinegar. Now I use it to make your other recipe for fire cider! Thanks for the recipe guys!! You are the BEST!
Kelsey on 2026-07-20 (5 stars): Hello! First time ACV maker here. About to strain the apples and noticed a mother has formed! Is it beneficial to keep some of it?
