40 Sweet and Savory Apple Recipes for Fall

By Food & Wine
Updated August 24, 2020
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.
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Sausage-and-Apple Frittata with Dill

Credit: © Eva Kolenko
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Instead of serving the breakfast sausages on the side of her eggs, Kay Chun bakes them right into her delicious egg frittata.

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Apple Pandowdy

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Let the pandowdy cool for at least 24 hours before serving.

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White Wine–Baked Apples

Credit: Abby Hocking / Food & Wine
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The key to these simple baked apples from Spanish winemaker Álvaro Palacios is using a delicious drinking wine, like white Rioja.

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Tangy Apple Salad

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New Orleans chef Donald Link serves this salad with Andouille and Sweet Potato Pie.

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Babette Friedman’s Apple Cake

Credit: Roland Bello
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Le Coucou chef Daniel Rose stirs apples into the batter of this pound cake–like dessert, then tops it with more of the Calvados-spiked fruit.

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Crab, Apple and Watercress Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette

Credit: © Petrina Tinslay
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Sweet-tasting lump crab is sold precooked, so it's perfect for a fast meal. Melissa Rubel Jacobson uses it here in a crunchy salad that gets a double dose of nutty flavor from walnuts and walnut oil.

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Apple-Pomegranate Cobbler

Credit: David Cicconi
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This juicy and bright apple cobbler is just the right amount of sweet, with an irresistibly tender and crunchy crust on top.

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Hot Dogs with Cheddar and Sautéed Apples

Credit: John Kernick
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Matt Neal's sister, Madeline, is a big hot dog fan who constantly comes up with ideas for toppings. She suggested this terrific, if unlikely, combination of cinnamony sautéed apples with slices of sharp cheddar cheese, served on top of hot dogs tucked into pretzel rolls.

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Apple Crostatas

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Grace Parisi uses a mix of Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Golden Delicious apples for this perfect fall dessert.

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Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

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This simple soup makes the most of fall farmers’ market produce.

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Beet-and-Apple Salad

Credit: David Malosh
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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.

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Dutch Apple Pie

Credit: Tina Rupp
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Grace Parisi’s Dutch Apple Pie recipe calls for six large apples.

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Pearled Barley Salad with Apples, Pomegranate Seeds and Pine Nuts

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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The salad without the pine nuts can be refrigerated overnight. Bring the salad to room temperature before serving.

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Light and Fluffy Baked Apple Pancake

Credit: © Michael Turek
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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.

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Anise Pork with Figs and Apples

Credit: Ashley Colbourne
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The sweet licorice flavor of aniseed or fennel seeds adds depth to pork. For the sauce, look for dried figs that are soft and moist. If they seem very dry, soften them in hot water before cutting.

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Brioche French Toast Stuffed with Apple, Raisins and Pecans

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The fruit filling in this fluffy stuffed French toast is reminiscent of a festive apple pie.

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Apples On Horseback

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These simple, delicious hors d’oeuvres are just apples with cheese and pancetta.

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Kale & Apple Salad with Pancetta and Candied Pecans

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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.

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Braised Chicken with Apples and Calvados

Credit: Con Poulos
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Chef Matthew Accarrino uses apples plus cider and the apple brandy Calvados to add layers of flavor to his braised chicken.

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Guest-at-the-Doorstep Apple-Berry Charlotte

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Classic Soviet cuisine abounded in nifty quick recipes for unexpected guests. This puffy dessert requires only sliced tart apples, a few handfuls of berries and a simple batter.

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Homemade Applesauce with Chinese Five-Spice

Credit: Abby Hocking
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The key to making delicious applesauce, says butcher Erika Nakamura, is using fresh apples and adding enough lemon juice to offset their sweetness. Adding Chinese five-spice allows for a more savory flavor, which is ideal when serving the applesauce alongside roast meats.

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Apple Ginger Crostata

Credit: John Kernick
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Food & Wine's Justin Chapple makes quick work of a simple apple crostata by using a sheet of store-bought puff pastry as the base.

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Pork and Apple Bedfordshire Clangers

Credit: John Kernick
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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.

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Pork Chops with Three-Apple Slaw

Credit: Victor Protasio
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For his zippy version of coleslaw, F&W’s 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.

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Apple-Ham Quiche

Credit: Victor Protasio
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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.

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Miso-Crusted Pork Roast with Apples

Credit: Greg DuPree
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This pork shoulder makes an impressive meal for very little effort. If your shoulder comes pre-tied, untie before rubbing with miso, then re-tie.

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Deep-Dish All-American Cinnamon Apple Pie

Credit: Greg DuPree
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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.

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Apple-Rose Cake

Credit: Kristin Teig
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Cortney Burns uses both dried apple and fresh medium-size tart apples in this cake, which also gets flavor from pistachios, finely ground dried rose petals, and more.

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Miso Caramel-Apple Danish

Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
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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.

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Skillet Apple-Ginger Crisp

Credit: Antonis Achilleos
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“Candied ginger in the topping adds a satisfying chew and a zingy bright flavor that leaves you wanting one more bite,” Susan Spungen writes.

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Spiced Brown-Butter Apples

Credit: Greg Dupree
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You can enjoy these apples warm or at room temperature—have vanilla ice cream or heavy cream on hand for serving.

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Green Chile–Spiced Apple Fritters

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“These crispy fritters are a perfect treat for breakfast on a cool fall morning with a hot cup of tea or a chai latte,” Vallery Lomas writes.

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Pork Loin Stuffed with Apples and Pumpkin Seeds

Credit: Con Poulos