7 Savory Apple Recipes—and Expert Tips to Make the Most of the Harvest
Apples bring sweetness, juiciness, and crunch to more dishes than just pies. Discover these 15 savory ways to cook this fall staple, with added expert advice.
Erin Kunkel
Fall and apples go hand in hand with each other—not only because it’s harvest time, but because their flavors fully immerse us in the cozy season. Pies, ciders, strudels, and crisps are normally what come to mind when eyeing the apples in the grocery store’s produce section or farmers market, but this fruit brings more to the table than just sweetness.
Think grilled chicken accompanied by a crunchy kale salad, or a green-apple relish alongside a spicy ancho chile skirt steak—these recipes highlight the fruit’s versatility and savory ways to enjoy the harvest. Plus, read on for expert tips on how to choose the right variety.
Apple Harvest and Its Western Roots
Washington’s apple-growing industry has led the nation in production since the 1920s, according to Dr. Amanda Van Lanen, a history professor at Lewis-Clark State College and author of The Washington Apple. Irrigation and railroads helped build Washington’s apple industry, alongside the development of refrigerated railcars that shipped apples to Eastern markets intact.
“They’re really tapping into the urban growth of America as more and more Americans are moving to cities and leaving the farm, needing that fruit,” Van Lanen says.
Today, the state is expected to produce about 176 million bushels in the 2026-27 crop year, according to the USApple 2026 Industry Outlook Report.
Pexels
Choose Apples by Flavor and Texture
The U.S. grows more than 100 apple varieties, an overwhelming amount when wanting to choose right. Consider factors like tang, crunch, sweetness, or a soft texture.
“You can’t necessarily judge the tartness of the apple by the color of the skin,” explains Dr. Kate Evans, a professor of pome fruit breeding and genomics at Washington State University. Not all green apples have the acidity of a Granny Smith, for instance. She recommends checking retailers’ flavor descriptions when seeing unfamiliar varieties to decide what to buy.
Texture matters as well. Dr. Evans describes it as “a combination of crispness, firmness, and juiciness … They’re three different things.”
Just because an apple is firm doesn’t mean it’ll be crisp, she explains. Biting into a fruit partly depends on whether its cells break or separate. Differences in the cell-wall structure and how well cells hold together also affect how an apple will respond to cooking.
“Some of them will just keep that structure. Others will just sort of soften and almost just turn into a kind of fluff,” Dr. Evans says.
As a starting point, the Washington Apple Commission recommends varieties like Cosmic Crisp, Granny Smith, or Cripps Pink when you want apples to hold their shape in baking. For fresh dishes, sweeter apples like Fuji and Honeycrisp can balance tartness.
Mix and Experiment!
Combining varieties can introduce different textures and create a more complex flavor profile.
“I would just encourage people to experiment and not feel too constrained by the apple pie or apple whatever [their] grandparents used to make,” Dr. Evans says.
The Commission affirms that lemon juice helps slow apple browning. However, they also recommend using other juices—orange, pineapple, or lime—to get a flavor that better fits your dish. They also highlight the Cosmic Crisp, a variety with the distinctive quality of browning more slowly.
Know Your Local Growers
“If folks can’t get out or if folks are in other parts of the West, I always encourage folks to go out and find your local orchard, find your local grower, and give them some love,” Dr. Van Lanen says.
Buying directly from the producer allows you to ask what’s been recently picked and learn about lesser-known varieties, for example.
“There is just something about getting it right fresh from the orchard right after it’s been picked,” Dr. Van Lanen says.
Once you have your apples, put them to work in these delicious savory dishes!
Fall Green Salad with Apples, Nuts, and Pain d’Épice Dressing
The spices in this salad are like those in French gingerbread, or pain d’épice. If you make it with walnut oil, use walnuts; if you make it with hazelnut oil, use hazelnuts.
Grilled Chicken and Kale Salad with Tahini Lemon Dressing
Grilling the kale leaves whole makes them slightly crunchy and smoky tasting. Just make sure they’re completely dry or else they’ll steam and wilt.
Warm Buckwheat Salad with Roasted Shallots, Apples, and Frisée
Kasha—roasted buckwheat that’s been hulled and crushed—has a nutty, smoky flavor that goes well with sweet apples and mildly bitter frisée. You could swap in spelt or wheat berries for the buckwheat.
Chicken Sausage and Vegetables Sheet Pan Supper
“Fab, fuss-free dinners are my holy grail,” says Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo about sheet pan meals. This one is adapted from her and husband Henry Fong’s cookbook, Ready or Not! “Sheet pan suppers allow me to maximize the amount of veggies for dinner,” she says. “And cleanup is a breeze.”
Coffee and Ancho Chile Skirt Steak with Green Chile-Apple Relish
It’s an unusual combination, but when coffee and chile mingle with meat, the flavor is extraordinary. The relish adds an exclamation point.
Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder
“This is a grown-up braise—a company braise,” says Piper Davis, co-owner of Grand Central Bakery in Portland and Seattle. “It’s a technique more than a recipe.” The keys to that technique: cooking the meat in cider with one set of seasonings, straining and reducing the liquid, and then adding fresh vegetables toward the end. The cider’s acidity tenderizes the meat, and its sweetness balances the savoriness of the pork. “I don’t think anything goes better with pork than apples,” says Davis. “There’s a reason it’s a classic combination.”
Search All of Sunset’s Recipes
Keep Reading:
The Latest
It’s Never Been a Better Time Than Now to Stay at a Dude Ranch