Skip The Ketchup: This Sweet Ingredient Gives Basic Burgers A Fall Upgrade

There is a way to incorporate fall flavor into almost anything. Pumpkin breads, maple-spiked pastries, spiced lattes — you can even give savory foods a cozy upgrade if you get creative. One way to amp up some basic burgers is to forget the ketchup entirely and add a little slather of an unlikely condiment instead: apple butter. Apples pair surprisingly well with burgers. Like ketchup, the sweetness complements the richness of the meat while also providing some added moisture and acidity.

There are a few ways to include them. Jamie Oliver likes to use apple slices as a topping for the crunchy texture, but one might also grate the fruit right into the ground meat. However, apple butter is an even better fall addition to use in place of ketchup. You'll still get that creamy texture, but the spices help round out the flavor profile of the meat. It's warming, complex, and totally unexpected.

Apple butter is typically made with brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. It's the epitome of fall flavor, but it is strong. You only need a tiny bit to transform an easy smashburger recipe into a cozy, cold-weather treat. Just slather a small spoonful right onto the patty or bun, using more or less depending on your personal taste.

You can use apple butter on almost any meat. Try it with beef, lamb, chicken, or pork. It even works well on turkey burgers. If you really enjoy the flavor, you could always add a little to the ground meat when forming your burgers. Another option is to mix the apple butter with some tomato sauce and Worcestershire to create a makeshift barbecue sauce or melt it in the pan towards the end of cooking and use it to baste the meat.

Apple butter is delicious when incorporated into caramelized onions, too. Add a few spoons to this foolproof caramelized onions recipe, use them on your burgers and find out. Some other toppings that work well with the fall flavors are cheddar cheese, camembert, and blue cheese. Bacon is also always delicious on a burger, and some greens would certainly help lighten things up. Serve with other fall favorites like sweet potato fries, corn on the cob, or a fall harvest salad — or try this apple harvest salad if you really want to lean into the theme.