When apples are in season I cook with them constantly. I make apple cobbler, baked apples, apple pie filling, apple cake, Jewish charoset and these simple yet satisfying Southern style fried apples. Serve your apples as a side dish recipe for pork chops, or spoon them over vanilla ice cream for a treat! There are SO many different ways to enjoy apples – cakes, pies, homemade apple sauce, cobber, you name it. One of my favorite ways to serve apples is this Southern preparation of fried apples, similar to what they offer at Cracker Barrel. This 5 ingredient recipe couldn’t be any easier and it tastes so flavorful.
Fried Apples Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need fresh apples, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.
How Do You Make Fried Apples?
Cut the apples into wedges. Melt the butter in a pan or large skillet, and add both types of sugar as well as cinnamon. Stir everything together, then add the apples to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally until the apples are tender and starting to caramelize. Serve and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Dish
I like to cut my apples into thicker slices and leave the peels on because they’re easier to eat. It also helps to ensure they don’t get overly soft as they brown in the sugar and butter. This recipe assumes that you’re using an apple with some sweetness to it, such as the Pink Lady apples shown. If you choose a tart apple, such as Granny Smith apples, you may want to increase the sugar by 1/4 cup. I stick to the classic cinnamon to spice my apples, but you could also add a pinch of ground cloves, allspice or nutmeg. Another great choice is to use apple pie spice. Be sure to keep your stove at medium heat or medium-high heat. If the pan is too hot, the apples could burn on the outside before they cook through. Leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Flavor Variations
Fried apples make a great side dish or snack, but there are so many different ways to pair them with other flavors.
Ice Cream: Serve your apples over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Breakfast Topping: Spoon your apples over pumpkin pancakes or buttermilk waffles. You can also mix them into french toast casserole. Oatmeal: Serve fried apples on top of a hot bowl of oatmeal or cold overnight oats. They’d also be great over chia pudding. Side Dish: Offer a side of fried apples alongside brown sugar pork chops or roasted chicken. Yogurt: Spoon over vanilla Greek yogurt and sprinkle with granola, pecans or walnuts.
I like to make a double batch of apples so I can enjoy them all week long in various preparations. Everyone is sure to love these apples no matter how you serve them up!
Fried Apples Video
