TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: A savory-sweet side dish of tender turnip and apple wedges cooked in a brown butter-cider vinegar glaze and seasoned with fresh thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Why you’ll love it: It’s an easy, healthy, and unexpectedly delicious vegetable side that is ready in under 30 minutes, perfect for weeknights or holiday menus. (Think Thanksgiving or Christmas!)
- How to make it: Melt the butter, then sauté the turnips and thyme until golden. Reduce the heat, add the apples, cider vinegar, salt, and pepper, and simmer until crisp-tender and glazed.
Jump To
Sure, turnips and apples don’t exactly scream “sexy side dish.” But toss them in a skillet with some butter, fresh thyme, and a splash of cider vinegar, and something wondrous happens. The earthy sharpness of the turnips mellows, the apples soften without turning to mush, and the whole thing glistens in a buttery, tangy glaze that tastes like autumn in a pan.
I first made this dish on a whim—probably trying to use up odds and ends before a grocery run—and it turned out to be one of those recipes that quietly steals the show. It’s unfussy enough for a weeknight but classy enough to sidle up to juicy roast pork, roasted duck, or my mustardy goose. And the fact that it’s on the table in under 30 minutes? That’s just good planning.
Chow,
Your Glazed Turnip Questions, Answered
Yes, you absolutely can eat the greens, so if your bunch of turnips arrives with greens attached, don’t toss them. They can be eaten raw in salads or cooked into soups, sautéed with oil, or transformed into braised greens. Treat them the same way you would kale or Swiss chard.
Rutabagas tend to be larger than turnips, and have yellow-tinged flesh, while turnips have white flesh. They have a similar flavor, however, rutabagas are slightly sweeter than turnips.
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If you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David
Glazed Turnips and Apples
Ingredients
- 3 (about 22 oz total) sweet eating apples, such as Jonagold, Cox’s Orange, or Ambrosia, unpeeled
- 1 pound turnips, peeled (about 3 medium turnips)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 10 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the apples and turnips into wedges about 1/2 inch (1 cm) wide.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turnips and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden but not yet tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the apples, salt and pepper to taste, and vinegar, and gently stir the apples and turnips to coat them.
- Continue to cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the apples and turnips are on the soft side of crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This glazed turnips and apples recipe is a perfectly delicious side dish for fall. The bite of the turnips pairs nicely with the sweetness of the apples and the vinegar adds a touch of acidity that rounds everything out. This dish would be a great addition to a holiday meal—it’s delicious, easy, quick, and doesn’t take up valuable oven space.
I used 2 Jonagolds and 1 Pinova apple and 1 gargantuan turnip. I added 2 1/2 tablespoons vinegar. After adding the apples and cooking for 5 minutes, the turnips and apples were crisp-tender, which was perfect for me.
It’s nice to find a turnip recipe that doesn’t involve throwing it in a stew or mashing it with potatoes. This turnips and apples dish was attractive and served as a great side dish to a dinner of roast pork. With the addition of a little vinegar and the use of a sweet apple, this becomes an attractive sweet-and-sour side dish.
I used Aurora apples. I’m glad I chose a relatively sweet apple as a tart apple would not have meshed well with the cider vinegar. The preparation was simple although I prefer my turnips tender, not crunchy, and achieving that state took 20 minutes of cooking before I added the apples and the vinegar. (An alternative would be to slice the turnips into thinner wedges so that they would cook faster.)
So I freaking LOVE fall and everything about it, but the warm aromas of soulful comfort food on a crisp evening is easily the best thing about it. Cozying up together in a warm kitchen over supper is enough to bring joy to even the most mundane of weekdays. One of the best ways to bring color and aroma to an autumn plate is to take advantage of the season’s best produce that lends itself beautifully to slow roasting and fragrant spices.
These glazed turnips and apples were no exception—the turnips were a nice, neutral canvas for the butter and thyme and the apples added a lovely sweetness that made the dish almost decadent. (I have a thing for baked apples in all forms, from pie to sauce.)
The best part is that it’s really not super labor intensive—just slice some things and toss them in a pan for a quick sauté without a ton of attention needed. I’d also wager that you could roast the apples and turnips in the oven, too, if you wanted the recipe to be completely hands off.
I used Gala apples. I sliced my turnips relatively thin since they are absolutely terrible when undercooked. The apples didn’t get too soft or mushy.
Great recipe but I really recommend you parboil the turnip.
Thanks, Douglas.