Fall Dinner Ideas
Butternut squash pastas, cider-braised chicken, and pumpkin-forward mains the Pepper community cooks the second the leaves turn.
★ Cozy Fall
Cozy FallAPPLE CIDER BRAISED BEEF SHOULDER
A delicious and comforting dish featuring tender beef shoulder braised in apple cider.
Bridget PhippsIngredients
- 3 pounds beef shoulder
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- 1Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
- 2In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.
- 3Season beef with salt and pepper, then sear until browned on all sides.
- 4Add onions and garlic, sautéing until fragrant.
- 5Pour in apple cider and add thyme and bay leaves.
- 6Cover and braise in the oven for 3-4 hours, until tender.
- 7Remove from oven and let rest before slicing.
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Open in Pepper →Why Fall Dinners Are Really About One Ingredient
The whole autumn menu rides on one flavor — roasted winter squash, sharp cider, sage brown butter, or maple — pick one and let it lead the entire plate.
Cooks on Pepper roast a whole squash on Sunday and stretch it across the week: soup Monday, pasta sauce Tuesday, grain bowl Thursday.
The recipes here are the community's fall rotation — the dinners that lean into the season without turning into another pumpkin-spice cliché.
Quick Tips
- 1
Roast the whole squash
Roast a butternut whole for one-pan dinners all week — cube leftovers into soups, pastas, and bowls.
- 2
Brown the butter
A minute in the pan turns butter nutty — instant fall dinner upgrade for pasta, chicken, or squash.
- 3
Cider replaces broth
Apple cider deglazes a chicken pan into an instant fall sauce with almost no extra work.
- 4
Toast the spices
Sage, thyme, and rosemary bloom in warm butter for thirty seconds — huge autumn flavor jump.
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