Fried Apples Recipe For The Perfect Sweet Side
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This fried apples recipe is a total Cracker Barrel copycat. Coated in a deliciously sweet cinnamon-sugar sauce, these Southern fried apples make the perfect sweet side dish.
Growing up, Mama always let us choose the menu for a special meal on our birthdays. As you can imagine, these delectable fried apples were always on my list. This is how she made them and these are a striking twin to the Cracker Barrel fried apples. We also like to have them with our holiday meals, too. Fried apples are an excellent Thanksgiving side dish alongside family favorites like baked ham and sweet potato casserole.
Fortunately, this Southern fried apples recipe is a super easy fall recipe to make and a tasty way to prepare apples year-round (move aside, apple pie). All you need is some crisp fresh apple slices and then cook the delicious apple sauce. Featuring apple juice, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cornstarch, it’s the perfect combination of sweet and spice. Once you have one bite, I guarantee you’ll go back for seconds!
Enjoy your Southern skillet fried apples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Serve them with French toast for breakfast, roast chicken for lunch, and whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Recipe Ingredients
- Apples (Golden Delicious)
- Apple Juice
- Sugar
- Corn Starch
- Cinnamon
- Allspice
Place apples in a single layer in a large skillet.
Pour apple juice over the apple slices.
Cook apples over medium heat. You want these to just simmer until the apples are fork-tender. Keep an eye on these while you do the next steps. You’ll need to be nearby to turn them a few times in order to have them cook evenly.
While those are cooking, put corn starch, allspice, cinnamon, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
Stir that up with a wire whisk.
Once your apples are fork-tender, remove them from the pan using a slotted spoon so the juice remains in the pan.
Now, you really do want these fork-tender, not cooked to the point of surrender 😉.
Just set them aside in a bowl, big enough to stir a bit because we are about to pour a sauce over them.
That hot apple juice in your skillet is now going to be poured into your bowl of dry ingredients.
Whisk this together until smooth (until you get all of the lumps and such out).
Pour this mixture back in your skillet and cook over medium heat until bubbly and thickened.
Pour this gooey goodness over your cooked apples.
Stir it up until you have this magnificent dish overflowing with .
Enjoy!
Storage
- Store fried apple leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed.
- Once cooled, you can also store leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating as instructed above.
Recipe Notes
- If you’ve never used allspice in your apple dishes, you are missing out! What allspice does is make the cinnamon *pop* in your recipes. It simply amplifies the cinnamon flavor. I like to add a pinch of it (a generous pinch) whenever cinnamon is called for in addition to the cinnamon.
- Another option is to use cinnamon and nutmeg if you prefer, or .
- Cut your apples in wedges but leave the skin on for a more traditional side dish. Don’t worry, it will be nice and tender when they are done!
- Substitute the sugar for brown sugar (or use a combination of both) for a more caramelized flavor.
Recipe FAQs
What is the best apple variety to use for this Southern fried apples recipe?
While I used Golden Delicious, you can use any kind of tart apple variety, like Granny Smith apples, Jonathan, Braeburn, Honey Crisp, or Pink Lady apples.
You might like these other appetizing apple recipes:
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups apple juice
- 4 large golden delicious apples unpeeled and cut into wedges
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- In a large skillet, combine the apple juice and sliced apples. Heat on medium until apples are fork-tender, turning often to enable even cooking. Be careful not to overcook apples. Remove apples from the juice with a slotted spoon and place them in a large bowl.2 1/2 cups apple juice, 4 large golden delicious apples
- In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour hot apple juice into the dry mixture. Whisk vigorously until all lumps are gone. Pour this mixture back into the skillet and heat on medium heat, whisking constantly, until bubbly and thick.3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 tsp allspice, 4 tablespoons sugar
- Remove from heat and pour the sauce over the apple slices in the bowl. Stir until apples are evenly coated.
Christy, Sounds good. My mother always made fried apples by cooking 3 or 4 slices of bacon in a cast iron skillet. She took the bacon out of the pan and cooked her apple slices in the bacon grease. She add a little salt and a pinch of black pepper. Once the apples were cooked and right before serving she would stin in several tablespoons of honey into the apples and top them crumbled up bacon. These are great with pork chops.
Christy, once again you make wonderful memories over flow from within me of a breakfast of homemade biscuits the size of a cats head, home churned butter, and bacon from the cellar that daddy smoked ever so carefully. So yummy! Thank you Christy for all the apple recipes that stirs up the beautiful memories.
So many great apple recipes from you and so little time for one person living alone to eat them all! What torture! Love your blog!
In your apple freezing post you mentioned using the frozen apples for this recipe, and I wondered if you made any changes when you do.
How long do you cook the apples for? The recipe says “fork tender.” Probably a silly question, but I have never made fried apples. I am looking forward to trying this recipe. =o)
Just like when you boil potatoes, until you can easily pierce them with a fork- thus the saying fork tender. It depends on your apples and how thick or thin you cut them as to how long this will take.
I have a bunch of leftover granny smith apples. Could I use them instead?
FANTASTIC! Super easy and delicious! Sauce goes a long way, and we all enjoyed! Thanks, Christy!
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed them Noelle!!!