This easy apple chutney recipe with onion, ginger, orange juice, apple cider vinegar and raisins is so good, you might want to grab a spoon and just eat it from the jar. Make this during apple season when there's such a wide variety of apples available.
Add it to roasted vegetable dishes like butternut squash or acorn squash, or stir into soups. For an appetizer, serve this chutney with cheese and crackers.
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Fall is apple chutney season. There's soooo many ways to use it! I spoon it on soups like my new favorite roasted butternut squash soup, on veggies like this roasted cabbage, and my husband's pork chops. And now I'm making a new batch to experiment with it in wraps of black beans and roasted squash.
This apple chutney is slightly modified from one of Ina Garten's on The Food Network that got rave reviews.
❤️ Why you'll love this homemade apple chutney
- It's all about fall.
- There are so many ways to use it. Add it to soups and roasted squash dishes.
- It only take 10 minutes of prep work. The rest of the work is done by the stove.
- Uses ingredients you probably have on hand.
- Best of all, you don't have to peel the apples (yay!!). For me, this makes it an easy apple chutney.
🧅 Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions for this apple chutney recipe, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Apples - Use 2 different kinds of apples for a depth of flavor. At least one type should be Granny Smith for a combination of tart apples with sweeter apples. I've used Fuji, Honey Crisp and Pink Lady apples as the other apples with great success.
- Yellow onion
- Ginger - either fresh ginger or ginger paste.
- Orange juice
- Apple cider vinegar - Most any vinegar, except balsamic vinegar, is fine in this recipe. But apple cider vinegar is the best vinegar for this recipe if you have it on hand. I use this vinegar for many of my salad dressings this time of year too.
- Brown sugar - store bought or make your own brown sugar if you only have white sugar in your pantry!
- Brown mustard seeds - in the spice section of your market.
- Red pepper flakes - a pinch of these red chili flakes adds a bit of heat. You can substitute red chili powder, if that's what you have on hand, or can be eliminated if preferred.
- Golden raisins
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping soooo much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Chef's knife
- Heavy bottomed pot such as a Le Creuset.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
There's not a lot of prepping involved in making this homemade chutney, but I simplified it a bit.
- The original recipe calls for peeling and coring the apples. I chose not to peel them, and it worked great.
- Instead of peeling and finely mincing fresh ginger, I used ginger paste in a tube. Since ginger in a tube isn't as potent as freshly minced ginger, I used a bit more. This is the only pre-made ginger paste I use, as many other products have very diluted flavors.
🍽 Ways to Use Apple Chutney
- With roasted butternut squash or acorn squash.
- On your morning biscuits, scones or muffins.
- Stir some into yogurt.
- Spoon a little over roasted vegetables, such as roasted squash, sweet potatoes or these Garlic Roasted Cabbage Steaks.
- Fold into your next apple pie or cobbler for a little accent flavor.
- Add to an appetizer cheese board along with crackers and nuts.
- Use it in place of apple sauce for a side dish. This chutney, however, is a chunky sauce, so you may want to use a stick blender to purée it a bit.
- Spoon a little into a cheese empanada or add to a grilled cheese sandwich.
- Top soups with it, like this Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.
- Spoon over pork chops if you have meat eaters at your table.
🙋♀️ What's the Difference Between a Chutney and Relish?
Chutney, a spicy - savory condiment that originated in India, are sometimes confused with relish. They're both cooked in a spiced vinegar, and can be either sweet or savory. But they are not the same.
- Chutneys cook for a longer time. Relishes are typically barely cooked.
- Because of the longer cooking time for chutneys, they're chunky but spreadable.
- Relishes have a bit of a crunch, and is usually made of veggies.
- Chutneys are softer, due to the longer cooking time.. And you can have either a fruit chutney, as in this recipe, or a vegetable chutney, such as green mint chutney.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Add walnuts. This adds a little crunch, and a great balance of savory with the sweet.
- Add warming spices such as cinnamon, ground cloves, ground cardamom, or allspice.
- Caramelize the onions.
- Use two different kinds of apples to add a little depth of flavor.
- Brighten with a little lemon juice.
📇 More Condiments To Have On Hand
Apple Chutney
Ingredients
- 3 apples, cored (but not peeled) 2 tart Granny Smith apples, 1 Honey Crisp (see Ingredient Notes in the post)
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 4 teaspoons ginger paste
- ½ cup orange juice
- 3 ounces apple cider vinegar, a little more than ⅓ cup
- ½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ⅓ cup golden raisins
Instructions
- Finely chop the cored apples to roughly ¼" X ¼" pieces. It is not necessary to peel the apples.
- Combine the apples, onion, ginger paste, orange juice, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, pepper flakes and salt in a heavy bottomed sauce pan or pot over medium heat. Le Creuset cookware is perfect for this.
- Bring the mixture to a low boil, and reduce the heat to simmer for 1 hour, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally to ensure none of the chutney sticks to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the raisins, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve immediately while warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers in mason jars or other airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one month.
- Note: This recipe is not using a canning process to seal the jars, and therefore has a shortened shelf-life.
Jane
Fantastic recipe with incredible flavors. Thanks for sharing it with us!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so excited you tried it and like it! I'm making a batch every week right now, to go with various dishes!
Gisela duVigneau
Love the depth of flavors. I had to discipline myself not to eat the chutney out of the jar and put it in three small jars. Two were sealed in a water bath for future enjoyment. The other one was consumed in no time at all.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so happy you made this!! Great idea to seal it for the future. When I make a big batch, it's just too tempting. I can't stop reaching for it for a little snack, LOL.
D Machelle Finley Anderson
I love healthy recipes. Also love canning foods.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Same here!
lynn
Just delicious!
Susannah
Made this apple chutney to go with a curry chicken I made recently and it was so nice!
Sharon
This easy apple chutney went perfectly spread with cream cheese on whole grain crackers for a quick snack.
Mikayla
I have always made peach chutney and thought I would whip this up and give it a try. No disappointment here, we loved it, especially with our homemade cinnamon tortilla chips.
Kathryn
This is such a great way to use up apples. Love this chutney on everything, especially on pork chops, our fav!!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer
Such an awesome recipe that's perfect for this time of the year! I love that it's no-peel too! this atop grilled pork was exceptional!
Dennis
What a delicious chutney! I will definitely be making this again.
Jessica
I can't believe how delicious this dish turned out! It's like a burst of sweet and tart delight. Five stars all the way!
Cathleen
This recipe just screams fall in the best way! I am definitely going to be making this over and over in the months to come!
Katie Crenshaw
This apple chutney turned out so good and had so much flavor. I made it for a special topping for baked brie. It was perfect.
Silvia
This is a fantastic apple chutney. I love that I don't need to peel the apples. We added a little bit more ginger as we love this spicy so much and it worked really well.
Hayley Dhanecha
This apple chutney looks delicious! I love to serve this with poppadoms and samosa.