5 Old-Fashioned Fall Foods That Deserve a Comeback

Somewhere between trendy pumpkin spice everything and quick weeknight dinners, a handful of genuinely good fall dishes quietly fell out of rotation. None of them are complicated, they just stopped being made as often as they used to be.

Baked Apples

Whole apples, cored and filled with a mix of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a few raisins, used to be a standard fall dessert long before crisp and pie took over. There’s something satisfying about a dessert that’s just one whole piece of fruit, warm and soft all the way through.

Core the apples without cutting through the bottom, then pack the filling into the center. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the apples are tender when pierced with a fork.

Serve them warm, with the caramelized filling spooned back over the top. A drizzle of cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream turns it into something closer to a full dessert.

Scalloped Corn

This creamy, baked corn casserole used to show up at nearly every potluck and holiday table, and it’s rarely made from scratch anymore. It’s essentially a cross between creamed corn and a bread pudding, held together with eggs and a handful of crushed crackers.

Mix corn, milk, beaten eggs, a little sugar, and crushed saltines together in a baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until the top turns golden and the center sets like a custard.

It works as a side for almost any fall main dish, from roast chicken to a simple pork chop. The texture is soft and slightly sweet, closer to a savory pudding than a typical vegetable side.

Beef and Barley Soup

Before soup became mostly about quick weeknight shortcuts, beef and barley soup was the kind of dish that simmered most of the afternoon. Barley gives it a chewy, hearty texture that rice or pasta never quite replicates in a soup.

Brown chunks of stew beef in a large pot, then add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened. Pour in beef broth and a cup of barley, then simmer for about an hour, until the beef is tender and the barley has plumped up.

The result is thick enough to eat almost like a stew. It reheats well over several days, which is part of why it used to be such a reliable cold-weather staple.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Bread pudding used to be the default way to use up stale bread, and folding pumpkin into the custard turns it into a distinctly fall dessert. It has a completely different texture than pumpkin pie, softer and more custardy throughout.

Tear day-old bread into cubes and layer it in a baking dish. Whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, milk, sugar, and pumpkin spice, then pour it over the bread and let it soak for about 15 minutes before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the top is set and slightly puffed. Serve warm with a drizzle of caramel or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

A proper pot roast used to anchor Sunday dinners for entire families, cooked low and slow until it practically fell apart with a fork. It’s fallen out of favor mostly because it takes hours, not because anything about it stopped being good.

Sear a chuck roast on all sides in a heavy pot, then add onions, carrots, and potatoes around it. Pour in beef broth until it comes about halfway up the roast, cover, and cook low in the oven at 300 degrees for about three hours.

The meat should shred easily with a fork by the time it’s done. Serve it with the vegetables and a spoonful of the pan juices poured over the top.