23 Sweet and Savory Apple Recipes for Fall
Fall is peak apple season, and if you find yourself with a large quantity, we have plenty of ways you can use them. Try Granny Smith apples in a skillet apple-ginger crisp for dessert, whip up a baked bourbon-apple butter (using Braeburn or Fuji) to spread on biscuits or toast, and use Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples in a simple roasted merguez sausage sheet pan dinner. Whether you're looking for something on the sweet or savory side, there's an apple recipe for you.
Apple Pandowdy
Pie for a crowd, this pandowdy uses a mix of Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious apples for the perfect fall dessert. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tangy Apple Salad
New Orleans chef Donald Link pairs tart Granny Smith apples with crunchy watercress and a tangy buttermilk dressing.
Apple-Pomegranate Cobbler
This bright apple cobbler is just the right amount of sweet, with an irresistibly tender and crunchy crust on top. Serve topped with fresh pomegranate seeds for a juicy burst of tangy flavor.
Beet-and-Apple Salad
For his salad, chef George Mendes uses fresh horseradish and Gegenbauer cider vinegar, a rare Austrian import. This version calls for jarred horseradish and supermarket apple cider vinegar.
Dutch Apple Pie
F&W's Grace Parisi uses a mix of Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious apples in this classic pie. Top the apple mix with a walnut crumble for a truly iconic dessert.
Pearled Barley Salad with Apples, Pomegranate Seeds, and Pine Nuts
Chewy barley is paired with juicy apples and pomegranate seeds for this delicious fall grain salad. Enjoy in the late fall/early winter when pomegranates are in season.
Light and Fluffy Baked Apple Pancake
Golden Delicious apples hold their shape after they are caramelized with sugar and maple syrup, making them a perfect choice for this clever, giant one-pan pancake.
Apples On Horseback
These simple, delicious hors d'oeuvres are just apples with cheese and pancetta. Grill until the pancetta is crispy and Manchego is gooey. They're delicious paired with a fruit-forward sparkling wine.
Kale & Apple Salad with Pancetta and Candied Pecans
Kale is a marvelous green for salads because it's hearty enough to handle hefty ingredients like nuts and meat, plus it doesn't wilt as it sits on the table. When chef Ryan Hardy makes this kale salad for Thanksgiving dinner, he deep-fries the pecans, but it's quicker (and less messy) to toast them in the oven.
Braised Chicken with Apples and Calvados
Chef Matthew Accarrino uses apples plus cider and the apple brandy Calvados to add layers of flavor to his braised chicken. Apple slices, mushrooms, and fresh herbs round everything out in a rich pan sauce.
Pork and Apple Bedfordshire Clangers
Sam Jacobson of the Stargazy bakeshop in Philadelphia delivers both sausage roll and fruit pie in these traditional spiced half-and-half pastries from eastern England.
Pork Chops with Three-Apple Slaw
For his zippy version of coleslaw, F&W Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple swaps the cabbage for a mix of sweet and tart apples — Gala, Honeycrisp, and Granny Smith — and then tosses them with a creamy, Tabasco-laced dressing.
Apple-Ham Quiche
Thin apple and ham slices are rolled together and set in a tender, herby custard sprinkled with sharp white cheddar. For a quicker weeknight dinner, use a frozen 9-inch deep-dish pie shell, blind baked according to package instructions.
Deep-Dish All-American Cinnamon Apple Pie
This pie — one of our 40 best recipes — gets its intensely apple-y flavor from macerating the apples in sugar for an hour. The liquid drained from the apples is simmered with a hit of butter until a syrup forms. That rich syrup is mixed with the apples, piled into the crust, and baked until tender and delicious. The pie is excellent the day it's made, but even better the next day.
Miso Caramel-Apple Danish
Danish have legions of fans across the globe for a reason. This upgrade on the classic cream cheese filling stars a sweet and savory tango of buttery miso-enriched caramel brushed over wafer-thin slices of apple.
Skillet Apple-Ginger Crisp
"There are few things better (or easier) than a fruit crisp. (In this apple crisp) candied ginger in the topping adds a satisfying chew and a zingy bright flavor that leaves you wanting one more bite," Susan Spungen writes.
Spiced Brown-Butter Apples
These butter-roasted apples are seasoned with Chinese five-spice. The clove, cinnamon, star anise, fennel, and Szechuan pepper in the blend add warmth and complexity. You can enjoy them warm or at room temperature — have vanilla ice cream or heavy cream on hand for serving.
Pork Loin Stuffed with Apples and Pumpkin Seeds
Laura Rege stuffs her pork loin with a tasty combination of toasted rye bread, apples, and pumpkin seeds. To serve this juicy roast, she drizzles it with luscious unrefined pumpkin seed oil.
Apple-Rum Spice Cake
A tender chiffon cake pairs well with the light and billowy frosting, seasoned with spicy-fresh ginger juice. Warm spices and a shot of rum add a kick to the apple compote that makes this a centerpiece dessert for the adult table.
Roasted Merguez Sausage with Apples and Onions
For this sheet pan dinner, use Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples, which hold their shape better during roasting than other varieties. Plus, their pleasant sweetness balances the intensely spiced merguez sausage.
Smoked Duck Breasts with Apple-Brandy Caramel
The duck fat caramel will be perfectly thick and sweet by the time the apples are tender, providing a rich sauce that pairs perfectly with smoky duck breast.
Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches
Top Chef winner Kristen Kish designed this dessert to honor both of her grandmothers, one known for her apple pie and the other for her snickerdoodles. Kish folds spiced apple pie filling into vanilla ice cream, then sandwiches it between chewy snickerdoodle cookies.
Baked Bourbon-Apple Butter
There's no better way to spend a chilly fall weekend afternoon than by making this nearly effortless apple butter. A bounty of sweet apples bake down into a rich, spreadable treat that's infused with the warming notes of cinnamon, ginger, and bourbon.