These Quick Pickled Apples with Cheddar make a tasty, healthy appetizer. You can serve them with crackers but they are also great just with the cheese for those avoiding carbs.
They are simple to make but you have to start a day ahead to give the apples time to ‘pickle’.
After 2 days the apples start to get a bit soft and soggy so plan to use them up in that 48 hour window for best results.
I really liked them with Sea Salt Rice Crisp cracker. The salty/sweet combination was really good.
I also had a nice old white cheddar that made a nice creamy salty base for the pickled apples as well. I also added in some of these Quick Pickled Grapes….yum!
This is a great appetizer because it is lighter than some of the heavier dips and charcuterie items. The pickled apples are great on their own too so this is an awesome snack for dieters too!
Quick Pickled Apples with Cheddar may just become your go-to appetizer once you taste them!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 3 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- sprig of thyme or 1/4 tsp dried
- 2 apples Pink Lady, Honey Crisp, Granny Smith are all good
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1 lb old cheddar
- crackers I used Sea Salt Rice Crisps
Instructions
- Combine vinegars, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve sugar. Add the coriander, cloves bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside and allow brine to cool about 15 minutes
- While brine is on the stove thinly slice the red onion vertically. Cut apples in half and remove the core section. Cut each half into 10 thin wedges. Toss the cut wedges in lemon juice to coat them and avoid browning.
- Pack the apple slices in a 1 liter jar,alternating layers of apples and onions. Pour brine over, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Transfer pickled apples and onion slices to a small dish and serve with cheddar and crackers.