Fall is one of the best seasons for foodies, as tables fill up with delicious harvest options. Why not make a special dinner to celebrate this rich, resonant season? These fall recipes will help you to fill the air with the comforting aroma of simmering spices and roasting vegetables as friends and family gather to toast the summer's end and prepare for the colder months.
Fabulous fall appetizers
Fall recipes are heavy on squashes. Pumpkin is a common favourite, but don't forget butternut squash. It's excellent in fall soup recipes like this Creamy Butternut Squash Soup for an appetizer that mixes savoury fall veggies with sweet apple. Ground Cinnamon and Ground Ginger are classic fall ingredients to lend fall soup recipes like this a warming spice.
Hearty, comforting main courses
The main course in any fall dinner should be hearty and comforting, which is a perfect opportunity for slow-cooked meat. This Savoury Slow Cooked Pot Roast fits the bill, with root vegetables, onions and boneless beef that cooks to fall-apart tenderness for hours in the slow cooker.
If you prefer your meat in a crust, then consider a pie. Pies embody fall's essence with their warm, comforting nature and use of seasonal ingredients. Fall spices including nutmeg and cloves are the key to creating the spiced autumnal flavours in this Traditional Tourtière.
Pasta is also a great choice for your fall dinner table. Our Easy Meat Lasagna is a hearty one-dish wonder that will warm your family on a chilly fall evening.
While meat is popular for the fall dinner table, it isn't essential. Baked Butternut Squash Risotto is one of our favourite fall recipes. Baking the squash with chicken broth in Arborio rice rather than cooking it on the stove top brings out its deep autumnal flavours.
Seasonal side dishes
Whichever main you choose for your fall dinner, roasted vegetables make great autumnal sides. The secret to these Cinnamon Roasted Carrots is another fall and winter crop: oranges. Orange juice and honey make a sweet, comforting glaze to this simple carrot dish that will bring fall colour to your table.
This is also the time for vegetables from the Brassicaceae family. You'll know these veggies, which thrive in the cooler temperatures, as Brussels sprouts (which are excellent caramelized), cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. Make room for some of these in comforting gratins, stir-fries, and even a fall salad.
Vegetable dishes can be as grand as you like, even when they're just a side dish. Pecans, cranberries and goat cheese take these Roasted Brussels Sprouts to the next level.
Spiced, sweet fall desserts
Fall need not be just about meat and vegetables. It's also about autumnal fruits like apples, pears, and figs. These are excellent ingredients for fall desserts. Try Salted Caramel Mini Apple Pies - individual ramekins of fall flavour boosted with a spiced apple drizzled with salted caramel.
Alternatively, Apple Pie Spice is the secret ingredient for this Spiced Apple Crisp, which is a large baked fall harvest dessert that everyone can share.
One notable fall veggie also makes excellent sweet snacks: pumpkin. Married with our Pumpkin Pie Spice, it makes wonderful, warming Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles that deliver delight with every bite.
Warming fall beverages
Finish off the meal by moving to the couch with some friends, family, and a warming drink around the fire. Canada's secret weapon for seasonal cocktails is sweet, rich maple syrup. Blended with lemon juice, our Imitation Maple Extract brings that irresistible taste to our Maple Amaretto Sour.
Looking for something non-alcoholic? Try Hot Maple Mulled Apple Cider, which infuses apple cider with maple, cinnamon, and nutmeg - all the fall flavours!
All it takes once you've prepared these festive fall recipes is to set the scene. How about a warm, inviting room bathed in soft amber light from flickering candles, and a table adorned with a rich, earth-toned runner? Centre pieces of miniature squashes, dried flowers and fall leaves will help to bring bring nature's bounty indoors. All that's left is to play your favourite gentle fall melodies and serve up these delicious recipes while the chill wind blows outside.
More fall recipes
In search of more fall recipes? Check out these options:
