Assorted Apples
Find your next favorite apple, learn what's inside it, and know exactly what to make with it.
Apple varieties, recipes and nutrition, all in one place
There are dozens of apples in the grocery store and they are not interchangeable. Some are built for snacking, some fall apart in the oven, and some only show up for a few weeks a year.
Assorted Apples breaks down the most popular varieties by flavor, texture and best use, then pairs them with recipes and plain-language nutrition guides, so you always know which apple to grab.
Start exploring
America's favorite apples
Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Red Delicious are the five most grown apples in the United States. Here they are, plus three rising stars.
Ambrosia
Honey-sweet with almost no tartness.
Cosmic Crisp
Washington's long-keeping crunch.
Fuji
Dense, crunchy and very sweet.
Gala
America's most grown apple.
Granny Smith
The tart green baking standard.
Honeycrisp
The apple that made crunch famous.
Pink Lady
Tart, fizzy and pink.
Red Delicious
The classic red apple.
Find an apple by flavor
Sweet
Low in tartness, great for snacking and kids.
Tart
Bright and tangy, the classic choice for pies.
Extra crunchy
Loud, crisp bites that hold up for months.
Best for baking
Hold their shape and flavor in the oven.
When each apple is in season
Apples are harvested from late summer through fall, but some are stored and sold well into the next year. Here is roughly when to look for each one.
Early season
August to early September
Rave, Zestar!, Paula Red, Ginger Gold, SweeTango, Gala, Honeycrisp
Late season
October to November
Fuji, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Kiku, Piñata, Northern Spy, Arkansas Black
Winter and spring
Long keepers from storage
Cosmic Crisp, EverCrisp, Lady Alice, RubyFrost, Pazazz, SugarBee
Which apple should I buy?
Start with what you want to make. These three apples are the safest bets for each job.
Featured recipe
Harvest Apple Pie
A double-crust classic made with a blend of apples: Honeycrisp for sweetness, Granny Smith for tang and Braeburn for a filling that holds together.
- Prep 35 min
- Bake about 1 hr
- Serves 8
How to store apples
Keep them cold
Apples last weeks in the refrigerator crisper drawer but soften much faster on the counter.
Give them space
Apples give off ethylene gas, which speeds ripening. Store them away from greens, carrots and potatoes.
Check for bruises
One soft or damaged apple can spoil the ones around it. Eat bruised apples first.
Stop browning
A squeeze of lemon juice keeps slices bright. Or pick a slow-browning apple like Opal or Envy.
Apple questions, answered
Which apple is the sweetest?
Fuji, Kiku, Ambrosia, SugarBee and Autumn Glory are among the sweetest apples you can buy. Kiku, a type of Fuji, often measures even sweeter than regular Fuji.
What is the best apple for apple pie?
A mix works best. Granny Smith adds tang and holds its shape, Honeycrisp adds sweetness and Braeburn takes spices well. Golden Delicious melts in and thickens the filling. Try our Harvest Apple Pie.
Do apples need to be refrigerated?
No, but they last much longer cold. On the counter apples soften within days. In the refrigerator crisper drawer most varieties stay crisp for weeks.
What is the most popular apple in the US?
Gala is the most grown apple in the United States, followed by Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith and Fuji. Gala took the top spot from Red Delicious in 2018.
Why do apples turn brown when cut?
Cutting an apple exposes its flesh to air, and a natural enzyme reacts with oxygen to turn it brown. Lemon juice slows this down, and some varieties like Opal brown very slowly on their own.
How many apple varieties are there?
About 7,500 apple varieties are grown around the world, but only a small number are grown commercially and sold in stores.
Apple facts worth knowing
#1
Gala is the most grown apple in the United States.
Over half
of all US apples are grown in Washington State.
50+ years
Red Delicious was America's top apple before Gala passed it in 2018.
State fruit
Honeycrisp is the official state fruit of Minnesota.
What's inside an apple
A medium apple is mostly water, with a good dose of fiber. A large share of that fiber is pectin, a soluble fiber that also helps jams set. The skin holds much of the fiber and many of the plant compounds, so eating the peel counts.
About 95
calories
4.4 g
fiber
8 mg
vitamin C
86%
water
One medium apple, about 182 g, with skin. Source: USDA FoodData Central.