Their mild, sweet flavor, firm texture, and ready availability make apples a strong contender for best all-’rounder: Raw, baked, or stewed, in desserts, breakfasts, salads, baking, and dressings, the apple does it all. Grab a bag of your favorite apples and sink your teeth into these scrumptious vegan apple dishes, no processed sugar or added oil required!
By Lisa Esile, MS,
Aug 30, 2019
Last Updated:
Apples, applesauce, and dried apple rings come together for a sweet, moist cake that is free of oil, flour, and added sugar.
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This recipe is like giving your average plain-Jane coleslaw (which is perfectly delicious and satisfying) a makeover. Just add generous portions of chopped apple, a creamy cashew-based dressing, juicy sweet grapes, and a sprinkle of poppy seeds. Now you’ve got fancy slaw—and you’d never guess it was vegan.
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Sliced apples are the finishing touch on this lovely fall loaf cake, which features a maple glaze.
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Apple, pumpkin seeds, and roasted butternut squash are tossed with kale and quinoa for a salad that is sweet, earthy, and chock-full of fall flavors.
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This gorgeous dessert is surprisingly easy to make and bursting with sweet fall flavors—worthy of any holiday table!
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If you’re not good in the morning, or you need breakfast in a hurry, these overnight oats are ideal. Throw the ingredients into a bowl the night before and in the morning enjoy the flavors of apple, orange zest, walnuts, and dates melded together with softened oats. And a bonus: Nuts, dried fruit, and oats are easier to digest after soaking overnight.
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Get your day off to a good start with this fresh and filling apple-lemon breakfast bowl. And it’s easy too, just toss apple, dates, and walnuts into a food processor with lemon juice and cinnamon. Voila!
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Apples make a great crumble filling—they’re just sweet enough and when cooked are soft but hold their form. The addition of raspberries, which are slightly tarter, gives this dish a real lift. Top with a mixture of oats, oat flour, almond butter, and maple syrup for a rich-tasting, butter-free crumble!
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Tired of the same old snacks? For a healthy, chewy anytime snack these baked fruit chips rock. The natural sweetness of apple, combined with date sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, are sure to spice up your day.
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Make your mornings simpler and sweeter: Prepare this easy loaf for a delicious, nutritious on-the-run breakfast.
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In this almost-instant, no-cook vegan apple crumble, diced apples are coated with an easy applesauce made from cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and raisins. And the topping is just dates and walnuts!
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As every good cook knows, the secret to a good salad is in the dressing; but what most people don’t know is you don’t need oil to make a good one. This thick vinaigrette uses applesauce as its base, and with the addition of tasty ingredients like miso, cumin, maple syrup, and dijon mustard, it turns an average salad into a gourmet one.
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A 5-minute cranberry relish coats apple slices in this rustic fall dessert.
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The combination of apples and red wine gives this yummy cabbage and navy bean side dish its pleasant sweet-and-sour flavor. And it’s hard not to love the lush pink color: It looks so warm and appealing on the plate.
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The success of this green salad is in the pairing of sweet, crunchy apples, pecans, and dried cranberries with a dressing laced with orange zest. Serve as is for a light lunch or alongside just about anything: pizza, burgers, or even a stew.
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Savor the contrast of flavors and textures in this satisfying salad. Sweet apples, crunchy celery, and fat, juicy raisins pair beautifully with tender, chewy wheat berries. Now top with a cayenne- and cumin-spiked lemon dressing for a salad your family and friends won’t forget.
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For a healthy, family-friendly treat, create your own “candied” apples with peanut butter and brown rice syrup.
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A waffle maker is a great tool to have in the kitchen, and you can get that satisfying crunch without using oil. Sweet potato and oats give these waffles a lightly sweet flavor, and a simple slaw made from apples, dates, and cinnamon make a fresh, sweet-tart topping.
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These cinnamon rolls are melt-in-your-mouth gooey goodness. Apples, raisins, cider, and maple syrup are cooked down to a sweet sauce that gets slathered onto the dough before rolling.
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Aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) and mashed banana serve as binders for these perfectly moist mini muffins, which are studded with chopped apple and raisins. Keep some in the freezer so that you always have a convenient healthy treat ready to go.
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Lisa Esile is an author, illustrator, blogger, vegetable gardener, and whole-food enthusiast with a special fondness for potatoes. She has a master’s degree in human nutrition and is passionate about showing people how to live happier, healthier lives. Lisa is the author of Reach your Big Calm and the co-author of Whose Mind Is It Anyway?.
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