By Layla Khoury-Hanold for Food Network Kitchen

Layla Khoury-Hanold is a contributor at Food Network.

Apples are synonymous with fall, when apple picking, cider sipping and pie peak. Here’s everything you need to know about apples, including how to select, store and slice them as well as the best uses for popular varieties of apples. Plus, get some of our favorite apple recipes.

What Are Apples?

Apples are an orchard fruit that grow on trees and are part of the rose family, along with pears.

Apples are typically round with thin red, green or yellow skin and moist, creamy flesh. Apples range in flavor, with sweet, tart and floral varieties, and textures range from firm to crisp to soft to mealy. As a result, some apples are best suited to eating out of hand or slicing, while others are ideal for cooking, baking and juicing.

From a nutrition standpoint, Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND, award-winning nutrition expert and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Diabetes Create Your Plate Meal Prep Cookbook, says, “A medium apple contains 72 calories, 3 grams of fiber and 11% of your daily vitamin C. Almost half the vitamin C comes from the flesh." Other health benefits of apples include the antioxidant beta-carotene, most of which is in the peel, and "apples contain flavonoids, or plant compounds, called phloridzin and quercetin, which researchers have tied to helping battle heart disease and cancer," Amidor adds.

When Are Apples In Season?

Depending on the variety, apples are available from late July through early November, though peak apple season is autumn.

How to Know When Apples Are Ripe

You can tell when apples are ripe when they develop a full, bright color and they’ve lost their green background color (unless it is a green apple variety such as Granny Smith). When you slice into a ripe apple, the flesh should be creamy or white, not green. If you’re picking your own apples, you’ll know they’re ripe and ready to be picked when they release easily from the tree. To select apples, look for ones that are firm with smooth, shiny skin and without bruises, dents or soft spots. Avoid overripe apples, which can taste mealy. Bruised apples give off ethylene, a gas that promotes ripening, which may cause foods around it to spoil.

12 Varieties of Apples

There are more than 7,000 apple varieties grown worldwide. Apples that hold their shape are better suited to slicing or to using in dishes where presentation is important. Other varieties with higher malic acid content break down more easily, making them ideal for making applesauce. Those with a crisp, firm and sweet-tart profile are best for baking; for more info, check out our primer on The Best Baking Apples. Here are 12 common apple varieties available in the U.S.

Fuji: yellow-green with red highlights and crisp, spicy-sweet flavors. Ideal for eating fresh or in salads.

Gala: reddish-orange and yellow-striped skin with a crisp texture and sweet flavor. A go-to apple for snacking, salads and applesauce.

Golden Delicious: glossy skin with a greenish-gold hue and a crisp and sweet profile. A good pick for baking, salads or serving alongside cheese.

Granny Smith: bright green with a firm, crisp flesh and tart flavor. An excellent apple for eating and baking, though you may need to add more sugar to balance the tartness.

Honeycrisp: mottled yellow-red skin with juicy, sweet flesh and a slightly tart flavor. An ideal snacking apple that also holds it shape well in baking.

Jonathan: brilliant red skin with a tender texture and tart, acidic flavor. A great all-purpose and snacking apple.

McIntosh: red- and green-skinned with a soft texture and aromatic, tart flavor. Good for making applesauce, closed pies or pie filling recipes that call for a combination of apples.

Macoun: deep red in color with a juicy flesh and sweet-tart flavor. Ideal for eating out of hand and baking.

Pink Lady (Cripps Pink): reddish-pink with crunchy, juicy flesh and a sweet-tart flavor. An excellent all-purpose apple that can be eaten fresh or used in baking.

Red Delicious: deep red color with a soft, mealy texture and sweet, one-note flavor. Best for snacking.

Rome: Red skin with a firm texture and sweet-tart flavor. Ideal for baking, pies and applesauce.

Winesap: dark red with streaks and a tangy-crisp profile. A great all-purpose apple that’s also used for making cider.

How to Store Apples

Store your apples in a cool, dry place or in a paper bag in the refrigerator for up to one month.

How to Cut Apples

Step 1: Cut apples in half. Place washed apple on cutting board and use a sharp paring knife to cut it in half length-wise.

Step 2: Cut apples into quarters. Place apple halves face-down on cutting board and cut in half again to create quarters.

Step 3: Remove the core. Use paring knife to cut away the core and seeds.

Step 4: Slice apples. Cut quartered apples length-wise into slices.

Step 5: Chop or dice apples. Cut apple slices length-wise into strips and slice cross-wise to chop or dice, depending on desired size.

What to Cook with Apples

Apples make for a delicious snack when consumed fresh, but their earthy, sweet, tart and tangy flavors perk up sandwiches, salads, roasted meats, desserts and cocktails, too.

Accompaniments

Transforming apples into sauces, chutneys, relishes and butters are a delightful way to celebrate fall. Try making The Best Homemade Applesauce or this Spiced Apple-Pear Sauce for a wholesome snacking option or to serve as an accompaniment to grilled pork chops. Combine apples and cranberries to put a fresh spin on holiday accompaniments, as with this Cranberry-Apple Chutney and this Cranberry-Apple Relish. Add a seasonal spin to your morning routine by making Homemade Apple Butter to spread onto toast, pancakes or waffles, or dollop it into oatmeal or yogurt parfaits.

Salads

When it comes to autumn salads, choose firm, crisp apples with a tart or sweet-tart profile such as Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady or Honeycrisp. For a sweet-savory medley, combine earthy kale, apples, dates, almonds and cheese for this hearty Kale and Apple Salad. Balance out apples’ sweet profile with earthy or bitter-leaning vegetables to make salads and slaws to pair with sandwiches and roasted proteins alike. Try Beet and Apple Salad, Shaved Cauliflower-Apple Salad or Kohlrabi and Apple Salad.

Soups and Sides

Apples impart a touch of sweetness to autumnal soups such as Apple-Cheddar-Squash Soup seasoned with sage, Curried Sweet Potato Apple Soup spiced with ginger, nutmeg and Madras curry powder, or this easy 5-Ingredient Apple-Butternut Squash Soup that gets its comforting, creamy texture from coconut milk. Apples and pears team up in this all-star seasonal side of Glazed Apples and Pears, where Macoun or Golden Delicious apples make an ideal match for Anjou or Bartlett pears. Sturdy, crisp apples turn Cornbread-Stuffed Baked Apples into a scene-stealing side. For a simple yet versatile accompaniment to main dishes, try this quick, simply spiced dish of Roasted Apples and Fennel.

Main Dishes

Apples go well with a variety of proteins, especially pork chops. Try one of these perfect pairings: Pork Chops with Baked Apples, Pork Chops with Spicy Apples and Cabbage or Pork Chops and Apple Sheet Pan Dinner. For a one-pot dish that’s destined to be a go-to fall dinner, opt for the aptly named Apple Picking Braised Pork Tenderloin. Apples are also a natural match for poultry, as demonstrated by these fan-favorite recipes for Spiced Chicken with Apples and Honey-Mustard Chicken and Apples. For a crowd-pleasing dinner, add grated Granny Smith to these Turkey-Apple Swedish Meatballs. Turn apples into a vegetarian main event by tucking them into a galette with squash and cheese, a la this Butternut Squash, Apple, and Onion Galette with Stilton.

Desserts

Fall is primetime for transforming apples into pies, tarts, cakes and crisps. This Classic Apple Crumb Pie calls for a mix of apples such as Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and McIntosh to create a balanced sweet-tart and textured filling. Our Freeform Apple Tart employs puff pastry and Golden Delicious apples to create an easy apple tart that’s equally suited to serving to company as it is for snacking. For this Caramel Apple Cake, Golden Delicious are ideal because they hold their shape during baking and lend a complementary honeyed sweetness. If you’re looking for a low-lift, high-flavor baked apple dessert, try making Apple Crisp, in which Rome or Golden Delicious apples bake under a toasty oat-pecan topping.

Drinks

A mix of tart Granny Smith and sweet Gala apples bring a hearty helping of fall flair to Autumn Apple Sangria. For this take on Wassail, a hot mulled cider, floating, whole baked apples lend a homey vibe to a festive, serves-a-crowd warming drink. Bookmark Homemade Apple Cider and Instant Pot Mulled Wine to make when chilly fall days call for cozy sips—plus, all those warming spices will make your house smell amazing. Kick-start your morning smoothie routine with apple-inspired recipes, including this Apple Pie Protein Shake made with sweet Honeycrisp, or this Apple and Avocado Smoothie, which gets a welcome jolt of tartness from Granny Smith.

Related Links:

55 Best Apple Recipes for Fall and Beyond

Apple Recipes We Love

Our Best-Ever Apple Pie Recipes