50 Fabulous Fall Recipes

By The editors of MidwestLiving.com
June 01, 2012

Enjoy the flavor of apples, pumpkins and other fall favorites in these tempting takes on cool-weather classics, including cobbler, pot roast, chili and pie.

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Cider-Braised Chicken, Brussels Sprouts and Apples

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This fantastic one-pan dinner is ideal for a Sunday supper or casual fall get-together with friends; the sauce is delicious, so serve with bread or mashed potatoes to soak up every delicious bite.

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Autumn Beef Stew

We riffed off Julia Child's legendary boeuf bourguignon, stealing her trick of flavoring a wine-rich beef stew with bacon drippings, but adding generous chunks of carrot, potato and butternut squash. Autumn Beef Stew

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Sweet Potato with Moroccan Chickpeas

Credit: Blaine Moats
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Like chili on a baked potato—except so much more alluring, with caramelized roasted sweet potato and spiced chickpeas. Tie it all together with lemon-tahini dressing, fresh mint and dreams of far-off places.

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Sheet Pan Sausage and Fall Vegetables

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One oven temp, so much goodness: Bratwursts sizzle and crisp, fingerling potatoes become burnished golden nuggets, and cabbage turns nutty and sweet. A final drizzle of brown butter and fried sage leaves ties the elements together.

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Slow-Cooker Brat and Sauerkraut Soup

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Potatoes, onion, sauerkraut and brats pack in the German flavor in this homey slow-cooker soup. Try with Whole Wheat Pretzel Rolls; the soft pretzels' chewy, brown exterior comes from being boiled in an alkaline solution-the 1/4 cup baking soda in the water isn't a typo!

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Wine-Marinated Pot Roast

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This tender beef creation includes a gorgeous, glossy red wine sauce that amps up sweet root vegetables, mushrooms and onion.

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Calico Chowder

Credit: Blaine Moats
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If you have partial bags of dried beans loitering in the pantry, throw them all in the pot to make this anything-goes fall soup. Perfumed with thyme and sage, it's creamy, homey and gratifyingly resourceful.

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Apple-Almond Brave Betty

Credit: Adam Albright
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We gave a classic dessert a new name, in honor of all the people who have cooked in servitude or fought for social justice over the centuries—and we updated the flavors, too, with almond cookies and a splash of bourbon.

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Quick Black Forest Cherry Cake

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This quick twist on the classic German chocolate-cherry cake uses boxed cake mix and cherry preserves. Don't skip the kirsch or brandy; it adds that signature Black Forest flavor.

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Pasta with Chard and Basil

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If you have a big bunch of chard from the farmers market or a CSA box, this healthy, easy 30-minute dinner is a great way to use it up. 

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Pan-Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Mushrooms

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This beautiful, buttery beef tenderloin is so simple. Brown the beef in a cast-iron skillet, roast it in the oven, then take advantage of the hot pan to toss together the thyme- and sherry-glazed mushrooms.

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Smoky Beef, Black Bean and Corn Chili

Credit: Blaine Moats
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This hands-off, slow-cooker recipe has just a pound of ground beef and a can of stock. All the rest of the heft and taste comes from black beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, smoked paprika, chipotle peppers and corn tortillas.

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Pork Chops with Grapes and Onions

Credit: Blaine Moats
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This dinner for two is weeknight-easy. Use bone-in chops for the best flavor and serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

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Roast Chicken and Mushroom Jus

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At Iowa's Rapid Creek Cidery, Matt Steigerwald serves his chicken and savory mushroom sauce with Sweet Apple Risotto (find the risotto recipe here), but mashed potatoes or buttered noodles would be just as good.

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Cheesy Brat Casserole

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This six-ingredient hotdish recipe from an Appleton, Wisconsin, reader features an all-star lineup of Wisconsin foods, including bratwurst, cheddar cheese and potatoes. "It's a quick, easy recipe," our reader says. "There's not much you can mess up."

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Southwest Corn Pudding

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Buttery onions, cheddar and green chilies lace our stuffinglike pudding. Inspired by traditional skillet corn bread, this recipe works as a side or as a meatless main served with a salad or garlicky sauteed kale.

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Quick-Roasted Salmon with Lemon and Herbs

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A side of salmon is as celebratory as a traditional meaty roast-in way less time. Elegant and easy, this recipe cleverly uses the same flavored mayonnaise for brushing and serving as a condiment.

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Harvest Chipotle Chili

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Sweet potatoes and apples hold their own with spicy chipotle chilies in this perfect sweet-heat balance. Does it take a lot of peeling and chopping? Yes. Is it worth it? Oh, yeah.

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Lemon-Ricotta Hotcakes

Credit: Carson Downing
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When life gives you lemons, make the legendary lemon-ricotta hotcakes from Hell's Kitchen, a Minneapolis favorite.

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Streusel Apple Bread

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A touch of lemon, chopped cranberries and walnuts make this quick bread taste like coffee cake.

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Roasted Pork with Apple-Walnut Salsa

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Who knew a pork shoulder seasoned with just salt and pepper could be so scrumptious? The recipe comes chef Marshall Paulsen of Minneapolis' Birchwood Cafe. The salsa recipe makes a very generous amount of the apple salsa, about 4 cups. It will keep fine for a day or so in the refrigerator to eat with leftovers, or just halve the recipe if you don't think you'll use it all. Any leftover pork makes a mean sandwich.

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Roast Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Fall Fruit

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Apples, pears and cranberries mix with caramelized onions in a luscious tumble over chicken breasts. Why leave the skin on and bones in? Trust us; you'll notice the extra flavor in this fabulous fall recipe.

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Spiced Pear-Cranberry Cobbler

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You can almost remember a misty-morning trip to the orchards and bogs when you taste this riff on a Midwest favorite. A pumpkin-cornmeal biscuit crowns the sweet-tangy fruit duo.

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Vanilla Apple Gratin

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This simple, orchard-fresh dessert captures the flavor of vanilla ice cream melting into the warm apples in a pie-but more quickly, and with way less fat and sugar.

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Brussels Sprouts with Ham and Leeks

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In the final minutes of cooking, a splash of fresh orange juice and cider vinegar adds the perfect sweet acidity to a company-worthy (but family-night-easy) side dish.

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Roasted Chicken with Sage Pan Sauce

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This sage-infused, company-worthy fall recipe takes full advantage of cast iron's versatility. The pan goes from stove top to oven and back to stove top.

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Triple-Spiced Pear Bread

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Oats, walnuts and nuggets of chopped pear give this loaf a toothsome heartiness, while buttermilk keeps it moist and tender.

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Sausage and Spinach Skillet Pizza

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A hot cast-iron skillet mimics a pizza stone to create a crisp, evenly browned crust. We loaded our pizza with oozy red sauce and stretchy cheese. Fork and knife highly recommended.

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My My’s Brown Sugar Pound Cake

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Patty's grandmother sifted together the flour and baking powder three times before adding them to the batter. We had good results just whisking them together. This recipe comes from Patty Pinner's cookbook Sweets (crownpublishing.com).

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Apple, Cranberry and Pecan Galette

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A free-form tart is the anxious pie-maker's best friend. No fussy crimping, and any torn edges or lumpy folds just add to the charm (especially when sprinkled with sparkly raw sugar).

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Sweet Potato-Cranberry Cake

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Chocolate and sweet potato batters are swirled together to make this moist, tender spice cake from Patricia Polley of Columbus, Ohio. Wrap and store the cooled cake overnight for easier slicing. (It's a great alternative to coffee cake for brunches.)

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Danish Pastry Apple Bars

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One of her students shared this fall recipe long ago with Gail Michael of West Lafayette, Indiana. "These were in the lunch box of one of my first-grade students in the fall of 1974," Gail recalls. She's baked many batches of these apple bars since then. It's like apple pie in a baking pan.

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One-Pan Harvest Pasta

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This hearty weeknight dinner recipe is perfect for fall and winter, when you crave cozier foods.

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Pumpkin-Banana Bread

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Lisa Johnson of Gardner, Kansas, added banana to pumpkin bread for a new twist on this quintessential fall treat. "This pumpkin bread is a favorite with our family," she says. "It's easy to make, and my two girls enjoy helping me."

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Crumb-Topped Apple Trio Pie

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Crisp on top, sweetly tender inside, this quintessential fall dessert blends tart and sweet apples -- Granny Smith, Jonagold and Braeburn -- with sugar and cinnamon under a brown-sugar and walnut crumb topping.

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