79 Apple Recipes for Making the Most of Your Orchard Haul
Looking for the best apple recipes? While we’ll happily crunch almost any apple out of hand, there are many more delightful ways to eat the fruit you haul home from the U-Pick orchards, whether it’s chopped up in a refreshing salad or slaw or stealing the show as a warm dessert. Apples are also a natural partner for savory ingredients like pork roasts, crispy-skinned chicken, juicy sausages, and even scallops. At breakfast, they shine with bacon or ham, or piled on a bowl of oatmeal or quinoa. If you’re simply slicing them, head this way for the best ways to prevent an apple from turning brown. Ahead, a little inspiration so you can eat apples for every meal.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens1/79Apple-Braised Chicken Thighs
Both sweet and savory apple recipes shine from late summer through the winter holidays. In this Hanukkah feast, one large potato pancake sliced into wedges is an easy large-format alternative to making individual latkes. Serve each wedge with applesauce-braised chicken thighs to complete the meal.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi2/79Our Favorite Apple Pie
Our favorite apple pie is the perfect combination of an all-butter flaky crust and tender apples. Before you get started, here’s a guide to picking the best apples for baking.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton3/79Endive, Apple, and Celery Salad With Smoked Almonds and Cheddar
Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht4/79Baked Apple Pancake
This recipe is the key to the ultimate laid-back fall brunch gathering. And here’s the amazing news: The active prep time is just 5 minutes. Serve warm with brown-sugar-glazed bacon on the side.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell5/79Cider-Braised Chicken With Apples and Kale
Mustard-rubbed chicken legs get super-tender when braised in apple cider and white wine for this cozy fall dinner.
Photo by Ed Anderson7/79Apple and Kohlrabi Coleslaw
Crisp and crunchy slaw works as a side at any barbecue, but this dish also makes a lovely light lunch.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne10/79Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding
Gooey desserts are the best desserts. You’ll want to eat this toffee pudding right out of the baking dish.
Photo by Matt Taylor-Gross13/79Apples-and-Honey-Baked Brie
Put this starter out at a fall dinner party, and you’ll be shocked at how quickly it disappears.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton15/793-Ingredient Caramel Apple Tart
This beautiful tart is one of our easiest apple recipes—even easier than an apple crisp. Store-bought caramel sauce and frozen puff pastry are the secrets to a showstopping apple dessert that you can make in under an hour. We definitely recommend serving it with vanilla ice cream.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Michelle Gatton, prop styling by Alyssa Pagano19/79Carrot, Yellow Beet, and Apple Slaw with Caraway Seed Dressing
Photo by Jonathan Lovekin21/79A Salad of Brussels Sprouts, Clementines, and Russet Apple
A salad of brussels sprouts sounds boring, but this one has enough citrus, almonds, and rough-skinned apples to be interesting. A dressing made with liquid honey and clementine zest removes any notion of worthiness. There are a few sesame seeds and some flat-leaf parsley, but it’s not complicated with unnecessary ingredients.
Gieves Anderson, food styling by Anna Hampton22/79Skillet Stuffing With Apples, Shallots, and Cranberries
Cooking your stuffing in an ovenproof skillet means it can go from stovetop to oven without missing a beat. Prepping the aromatic vegetables in the food processor cuts down on chopping time.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Frances Boswell24/79Galette de Pommes au Calvados
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks25/79Caramel Apple Drip Cake With Candied Walnuts
Grated apples give this showstopping fall cake a moist, dense texture.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Bill Clark28/79Creole Cream Cheesecake With Caramel-Apple Topping
Photo by Jennifer Robins29/79Instant-Pot Breakfast Cobbler
This breakfast dish requires just 15 minutes cook time in the Instant Pot; it can be adapted for a slow cooker if you prefer a more relaxed total time. It’s not just an apple cobbler—there are diced plums and pears in the filling too. And while it’s designed for the morning, a scoop of vanilla ice cream makes this the perfect dessert for apple season.
Photo by Holly Wulff Petersen32/79Sumac, Spelt, and Apple Cake
Sumac, with its tart, lemony flavor, is more commonly used in savory dishes, but its citrus fragrance also works just as well in a sweet cake. The spelt flour gives this vegan number a rustic look and nutty taste, producing a delightfully crunchy crust that hides a soft, moist crumb underneath, with chunks of sweet apple running all the way through.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi37/79Apple Fritters With Spiced Sugar
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Ali Nardi38/79"Seder Plate" Salad
This salad—inspired by the elements of a Passover seder plate—is a bright and flavorful mix of romaine, lamb sausage, apples, and walnuts.
Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou40/79Fall Fruit Galette
Craig Cutler43/79Scallops With Apple Pan Sauce
Sweet and tart Granny Smith apples are the perfect complement to buttery, rich scallops. This is a restaurant-worthy dinner that’s really not hard to pull off at home.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Jessie YuChen44/79Salted Caramel Apple Cookies
These soft and chewy apple cookies are pretty much what would happen if a caramel apple and a snickerdoodle got together.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton45/79Kale Salad With Brussels Sprouts, Apples, and Hazelnuts
Gentl & Hyers49/79Cornbread with Caramelized Apples and Onions
The apples and onions are sautéed in butter, giving this cornbread a smooth texture and savory-sweet flavor. Don’t have a cast-iron skillet? Cook the apples and onions in whatever you have and then transfer them to a glass baking dish with the batter.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton51/79Black Apple Old-Fashioned
Need an apple-themed drink to go with all these recipes? This twist on the old-fashioned uses apple brandy and apple bitters, plus herbal Jägermeister for a cinnamony punch. This cocktail is great with an appetizer of air fryer crispy chickpeas.
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Pearl Jones54/79Date Night Pork Chop
Rubbing a little honey across the surface of the pork before searing guarantees a shiny, caramelized crust. Pair that with a lemony endive and apple salad, and you’ve got the ultimate dinner for two.
Photo by Marcus Nilsson61/79Coleslaw with Apple and Yogurt Dressing
Hot ribs, meet cool slaw. Yogurt magically lightens the dressing.
63/79Waldorf Salad
Photo by Angie Mosier66/79Salted Caramel Apple Pie
For this fall favorite, baking expert Cheryl Day mixes a variety of three apples—Granny Smith, Pink Ladies, and Honeycrisps—and drizzles them with caramel sauce, then sprinkles on a bit of fleur de sel, a combination that satisfies those salty-sweet cravings.
Photo by Kyle Fidel68/79Quick Breakfast Quinoa
Apples, blueberries, and almonds make this a filling, satisfying breakfast option.
Photo by Alex Lau70/79Apple Butter
Here’s a great way to preserve your apple orchard haul. Baking the apple butter evaporates the excess liquid so it’s deep in flavor and ready for spreading on toast or scones.
72/79Quick-Braised Red Cabbage and Apple
This simple cabbage and apple side dish works especially well with sausages, ham, roast pork, or turkey.
Photo by Carl Kravatz77/79Instant Pot Cinnamon-Apple Pork Chops
If you don’t have a premixed version on hand, you can make your own pumpkin pie spice with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Then all you need for this comfort food recipe is boneless pork chops, olive oil, sliced apples, a cinnamon stick, sage, and unsweetened applesauce.
