20 creative ways to incorporate fall flavors into your meals

Whether you’re making a salad or looking for a topping for a soup, using pumpkin seeds as your crunchy element is a great option for the fall. You can go back to nuts and other seeds when fall is over. 

If you want to continue using the same nuts you always use for your crunch, make them more autumnal by toasting them. It’s a quick and easy way to add more flavor to your nuts, making all of your dishes a little more exciting to eat. 

If you brew coffee at home, spice it up a bit by adding some cinnamon to your grounds. It’ll add a nice festive fall flavor that you’ll absolutely love. You’ll probably want to keep doing this even beyond fall. 

Pears are a delicious fall fruit that can be used in a variety of delicious ways. Add them to sandwiches and salads, bake them as dessert, or just eat them raw. 

Rosemary and thyme are a match made in spice heaven. And they don’t need to be reserved for turkeys on Thanksgiving. Use them to spice all your meats throughout fall for a decidedly cozy taste. 

Put away the parsley. To add more fall flavor to your food, garnish with something a little more autumnal, like sage, thyme, rosemary, fennel, or even ginger. (Okay, parsley is fine in the fall, too, but it gets used throughout the entire year, and some other herbs deserve some love.)

Brown butter is so delicious. It’ll make all of your dishes richer and nuttier. If a recipe calls for melted butter, try using brown butter instead. It’s a tasty way to make your recipes feel more autumnal. 

For sweets, opt for caramel instead of chocolate. If a recipe calls for a chocolate drizzle, use caramel. If you’re told to make a chocolate sauce, use a caramel sauce instead. All caramel all the time in fall. 

If you’re a potato lover, add some variety in the fall by using sweet potatoes instead. Sweet potatoes can be used just like regular potatoes, so if your recipe calls for a regular potato, consider using a sweet potato. 

Surrender all of your pasta dishes to the power of squash noodles. Spaghetti squash and butternut squash make for great vegetable noodles, which result in some totally delicious fall pasta recipes. 

Alcohol is an important ingredient in many recipes. This fall, when it makes sense, use bourbon as your cooking alcohol of choice. It’ll deepen the flavors and offer a welcome change in your regular recipes. 

Don’t stick to your regular root vegetables all fall. Swap out for some fall options, like parsnips, beets, and turnips. They act just the same as other root vegetables, so they’re easy to mix into your typical cooking routine. 

Maple syrup is a perfect fall sweetener. Use it as a substitute for whatever you typically use as a sweetener, like honey or sugar. Maple syrup makes for delicious glazes, sauces, and marinades. It’s the perfect fall ingredient. 

Don’t save cranberries for Thanksgiving. Utilize them throughout the entire season. They can be used in savory or sweet dishes. They’re excellent for sides or desserts. Cranberries have so many uses, so don’t limit yourself to only eating them on one day of the year. 

If you love a good jam, fall is the perfect time to try a new flavor. Apple, pear, cranberry, fig, and plum are great options to try. They’re sweet and rich, and they taste wonderful on a variety of bread items. 

An easy way to make your food taste like fall is to slow cook. Slow cooking brings out every last flavor of every last ingredient in your dish, and rich, robust flavors are totally autumnal. 

Another cooking method to embrace in the fall is roasting. It’s especially effective with vegetables, especially if those vegetables are at their peak in the fall. Roasting is easy, delicious, and autumnal. 

If you love to serve your meals with a carb, try using a sweet bread in the fall. Options like pumpkin bread, apple cinnamon bread, or even a cranberry bread will make for a nice change in the cozy season. 

Don’t think that cranberries and pears are the only fall fruits to be used in autumn. Make sure to incorporate figs, pomegranates, and persimmons, among others, into your recipes. They can be swapped in for several summer and spring fruits. 

There are lots of other vegetables that are in season in the fall, too. Kale, spinach, chard, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage are just a few of the delicious veggies that can be used for soups, salads, sandwiches, casseroles, pastas, and more for fall-flavored food.