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I love sweet and savory flavors together and while chocolate-covered bacon fits the bill, it isn’t the best for a nutritious meal idea. These sausage stuffed apples make a delicious meal and their fun packaging makes them appealing to kids.
This recipe is incredibly versatile and you can make this into sausage-stuffed sweet potatoes or sausage-stuffed winter squash depending on what you have around the house.
Sausage-Stuffed Apples for Dinner
We have a lot of apple munchers in our house! I have one son in particular that loves to enjoy a little quiet time by grabbing a few apples and a favorite book.
To make the apple “bowls,” simply cut off a little slice from the top of each apple. Then use a melon baller to scoop out most of the center, leaving the edges about half an inch thick.
It might sound tricky, but I promise it’s actually really fast and easy. You could also just slice the apples in half and scoop out some of the center that way.
My kids love helping with this step and make sure nothing goes to waste! If you don’t have any little scavengers helpers around, save the apple scraps for apple walnut tuna salad or Instant Pot steel-cut oats.
Making Sausage Filling (Grain-Free)
The filling for these stuffed apples couldn’t be easier to make. For the sausage I like to use Italian sausage, but breakfast sausage or spicy sausage also work well. I brown the sausage in my favorite skillet and before it’s all the way done cooking, add the chopped celery and onion and spices and let it finish cooking together.
To save on dishes, I wipe out the same skillet that I cooked the sausage in and put the apples back into it to cook them in the oven. Then I cook them in the oven until they’re nice and soft and they’re done!
Healthy Food to Go
One of my favorite things about these sausage-stuffed apples is that they’re portable! I make them ahead for on the run days. They’d also be perfect for a lunch to take to work.
Here are some other more portable meal ideas:
- Bacon Chicken Bites
- Bacon-wrapped Salmon Patties
- Brainpower Smoothie
- Breakfast Egg Muffins
- Broccoli Bacon Quiche
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Mason Jar Salads
- Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
- Salad on a “Stick”
- Tuna-stuffed Avocado Bowls
- Wellness Energy Bars
Sausage-Stuffed Apples Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 medium apples
- 1 lb sausage
- 1 medium red onion (finely diced)
- 2 stalks celery (finely sliced)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 TBSP maple syrup (or honey, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Cut half an inch off the top of each apple.
- Use a melon baller or corer to remove most of the flesh and seeds of the apple, leaving about half an inch around the edges to make a bowl.
- Set aside.
- In a large skillet, brown the sausage until almost completely cooked.
- Add the celery, onion, and spices to the skillet and continue cooking until the sausage is cooked through and the celery and onion are starting to soften.
- Drizzle with the maple syrup or honey if desired.
- Divide and spoon the sausage mixture equally into each apple and place in a large baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the apples are cooked and fragrant.
- Remove and serve with salad.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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What type of Apple is best? Just bought your book and I am in love!
I like green apples or Fiji in this recipe.
Question, what is the best way to store these until ready to heat up again? Also, what is the best way to reheat something like this?
I just store in glass containers with a lid and reheat in the oven.
I sometimes in the autumn stir fry up some pork, apple and cabbage, with some cumin and paprika for flavouring. It’s like a sweet and savoury dish all in one.
I absolutely love the flavours I this dish. I only wish it wasn’t so crumbly… I think next time I would skip cookin the sausage and just stuff the apple halves with raw sausage. I’d probably cook it at a low temp fr longer too… But it reminds me of the old days when I’d stuff my turkey with sausage bread stuffing. Same flavours, no whet after effects!!
Yum! Made this for dinner last night and just finished the leftovers for breakfast. Wish I’d made a double batch! I left out the maple syrup because it was plenty sweet from the apples.
My go-to meal of meat and fruit is one I call Peachy Chicken. Place chicken pieces in baking pan. Top with peaches. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake until chicken is done. Yes, it really is that easy. I also make Pear of Chickens the same way except using pears and ginger or nutmeg depending on my mood. I’m a lazy cook.
This will be on my Fall meal planning list, with my apple tree! I will be in need of some tasty recipes to use all those apples up. Cannot wait to try it. Way to hot right now and no fresh in season apples here in Utah.
This looks so good – I love sweet and savory dishes and I particularly love apples and sausage! Can’t wait to try it.