This savory stuffed apple recipe from Liz at @octofree works as a side dish for your holiday dinner or a festive standalone meal for one or two guests. With traditional Thanksgiving ingredients such as apples, turkey, wild rice, and lots of fresh herbs, it’s nostalgic and whimsical and will make your guests feel like they’re getting extra-special treatment.
Each Honeycrisp apple becomes its own edible baking dish, filled with a savory mix of ground turkey, wild rice, garlic, shallot, sage, and thyme, then finished with a drizzle of apple cider reduced until it’s dark and caramel-like. It’s also free of the top eight allergens, so a lot more people can sit down to it.
Why You’ll Love These Savory Stuffed Apples
They’re seasonal. Apples, sage, thyme, and cider are all at their best in fall, and you can find them all at a local orchard or farmers’ market. They’re inclusive. Free of the top eight food allergens, they let guests with food allergies share the same holiday dish as everyone else. They’re impressive. The apple is the serving dish, and the dark, glossy cider reduction makes each one look special. And they’re flexible. Serve one as a holiday side, or two as a light, top-eight-allergen-free dinner.
Shop Local for This Recipe
Buy Honeycrisp or Braeburn apples and fresh cider at a local orchard or cider mill, fresh sage and thyme at a farmers market herb stall, and shallots and garlic from a farm stand. Many farmers markets also sell ground turkey from local farms. The cider is boiled to make the reduction, so pasteurization isn’t a concern for this recipe.
Ingredient Notes: Wild Rice, Honeycrisp Apples, and Cider
Wild rice. Despite the name, wild rice isn’t rice. It’s the seed of an aquatic grass native to the Great Lakes region, called manoomin, or “the good berry,” by the Ojibwe, who have harvested it for at least 2,000 years. It’s Minnesota’s official state grain, adopted in 1977. Its chewy texture and nutty flavor give the filling body.
Honeycrisp apples. The Honeycrisp was developed at the University of Minnesota and released in 1991, after it was nearly thrown out. A horticulturist named David Bedford saved it from the reject pile in 1982. It became Minnesota’s official state fruit in 2006. Its crisp, juicy flesh holds its shape well as it bakes.
Apple cider reduction. Simmering 2 cups of cider for about 40 minutes concentrates its sweetness into a dark syrup with a caramel-like consistency. It hardens as it cools, so drizzle it right away.
Tips for Making Savory Stuffed Apples
Core, then scoop. Use an apple corer to remove the cores, then scoop more flesh from the center with a melon baller or small spoon. Start at the top and leave about ½ inch of flesh inside so the apple holds about ¼ cup of filling. Be careful not to break the skin. Save the scooped-out apple for snacking.
Wrap in foil and stand in a muffin tin. Place each apple on a 6-inch square of foil, wrap up the sides, and leave the top open. Set the wrapped apples in the muffin tin slots, which holds them upright as you fill them and as they bake.
Oil the apples. Spray or brush the insides and tops with a little olive oil.
Build the filling in layers. Cook the garlic and shallot until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper, sage, and thyme for another minute. Add the ground turkey, break it into small pieces, and stir often until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Then stir in the prepared wild rice.
Fill and bake. Spoon about ¼ cup of filling into each apple, more for large apples, filling to the top. Bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes, until the apples are soft but not wrinkled or brown.
Reduce the cider. Bring 2 cups of cider to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, then simmer over medium-high heat until it’s dark brown and resembles caramel, about 40 minutes. The reduction hardens if it sits, so use it immediately.
Unwrap carefully. Let the apples cool for a minute or two, move each to a plate or bowl, and carefully remove the foil. Drizzle with the reduction and garnish with thyme.
How to Serve Savory Stuffed Apples
Serve one apple per guest as a holiday side dish, or two apples for a light dinner.
Looking for more? Try our Cider-Glazed Pork Loin and Allergen-Free Golden Soup, see all of our apple cider recipes, and browse TABLE’s Side Dishes, Dietary Needs, and Fall recipes.
Storing Savory Stuffed Apples
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container. Refrigerate any extra filling separately. Reheat and eat withing three days.
Print
Savory Stuffed Apples with Apple Cider Reduction
- Total Time: Approximately 90 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 stuffed apples 1x
Description
Baked apples stuffed with a savory filling of ground turkey, wild rice, garlic, shallot, sage, and thyme, and drizzled with a caramel-like apple cider reduction.
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 Honeycrisp or Braeburn apples (6 if large, 8 if medium or small)
- 1 tbsp olive oil or spray olive oil
For the filling:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1½ cups prepared long-grain wild rice (for a time-saver, use the prepared 365 Long Grain Brown & Wild Rice from Whole Foods straight from the bag)
For the apple cider reduction (optional):
- 2 cups apple cider
- Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Prepare the apples:
- Using an apple corer, remove the cores from the apples.
- Carefully scoop more of the apple flesh out from the center using a melon baller or small spoon, being careful not to remove so much that the skin breaks. Begin at the top and leave about ½ inch of flesh inside so the apple holds about ¼ cup of filling.
- Place each apple on a 6-inch square of foil, then wrap the sides but leave the tops open.
- Place the foil-wrapped apples into muffin tin slots. This helps hold the apples upright as you fill them and as they bake.
- Spray or brush the insides and tops of each apple with a little olive oil.
Make the filling and stuff the apples:
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan.
- Add the garlic and shallot and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add the salt, pepper, sage, and thyme and cook for another minute.
- Add the ground turkey and break it into small pieces as it cooks, stirring often, until the turkey is cooked through but not yet brown, about 10 minutes. Turkey is considered cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Stir in the prepared wild rice until it is distributed evenly.
- Carefully spoon about ¼ cup of the turkey filling into each apple, filling each one all the way to the top.
- Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes, until the apples are soft but not wrinkled or brown.
Make the apple cider reduction:
Note: the reduction must be used immediately, or it will harden.
- When there are about 40 minutes left on the cook time for the stuffed apples, pour 2 cups of apple cider into a small saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then simmer over medium-high heat and reduce for about 40 minutes.
- The result will be dark brown and resemble the consistency of caramel.
Assemble the final dish:
- When the stuffed apples are done cooking, remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly for a minute or two.
- Move each foil-wrapped apple to a plate or bowl and carefully remove the foil.
- Drizzle with the apple cider reduction, garnish with fresh thyme sprigs, and serve.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: About 50 minutes (during which you reduce cider for 40 minutes)
- Category: Side dish, main course
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Savory Stuffed Apples FAQs
What apples work best for stuffed apples?
The recipe uses Honeycrisp or Braeburn apples. Cook them until they’re soft but not wrinkled or brown.
Why wrap the apples in foil and set them in a muffin tin?
The foil-wrapped apples stand upright in the muffin tin, which helps hold them steady as you fill them and as they bake.
Can I make the filling ahead of time?
Yes. You can make a day head and store in the refrigerator. Let the mixture come to room temperature before stuffing the apples.
What does the cider reduction taste like, and how long does it take?
Simmering the cider for about 40 minutes gives you a dark brown reduction that resembles caramel. Use it right away, because it hardens as it cools.
Is this recipe allergy-friendly?
It’s designed to be free of the top eight allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. Always check the labels on packaged ingredients, like the prepared wild rice.
About the Recipe Author
Liz Fetchin is the founder of Octofree, a Pittsburgh-based recipe site where every recipe is free of the top eight food allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. A North Allegheny native who has cooked allergen-free for her family for more than 15 years, she is the author of the e-cookbooks An Octofree Thanksgiving and Weeknight SOS, and a contributor to TABLE Magazine.
About the Stylist
Anna Franklin is TABLE Magazine’s food stylist and recipe developer. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Academy of Culinary Arts, she spent many years cooking in restaurant kitchens and photo studios before moving into food styling. Anna tests, plates, and styles the recipes and restaurant features in TABLE’s print and digital editions, working alongside photographers Dave Bryce and Laura Petrilla. She is also the founder of Bazaaa Sauce, a Pittsburgh hot sauce microbrand. Read more of her work at TABLE.
About the Photographer
Dave Bryce is TABLE Magazine’s contributing architecture, interiors, and food photographer, based in Pittsburgh. He photographed Fallingwater: Living With and In Art (Rizzoli, 2025) and regularly shoots for Pittsburgh Magazine and American Farmhouse Style, working with architects, interior designers, and hospitality brands. See more at davebrycephotography.com.
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