Fall Flavoring: 5 Flavor Families Beyond Pumpkin Spice

Every October the same flavor takes over cafe menus, candles and cereal boxes. Pumpkin spice is fine, though it’s a single note. The season tastes of a lot more than that: apples, woodsmoke, roasted squash, sage, maple, toasted nuts.

Grouping those flavors into families makes them easier to use. Once you know which family you’re craving, picking a dinner is quick.

What are the classic fall flavors?

The classic fall flavors come in five families. Warm spice means cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Orchard fruit means apples, pears and cranberries. Squash and sage covers pumpkin, butternut and sweet potato. Smoke covers chipotle and slow barbecue. Maple and brown butter covers the sweet, toasty side.

• Warm spice. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice and cardamom. Pumpkin spice and chai both live here.
• Orchard fruit. Apples, pears, cranberries, figs and grapes, often cooked down or roasted.
• Squash and sage. Pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato and root vegetables, with sage, rosemary and thyme.
• Smoke. Smoked paprika, chipotle, bacon, charred edges and slow barbecue.
• Maple and brown butter. Maple syrup, brown butter, caramel, molasses and toasted pecans or walnuts.

One family is enough to make a dinner taste like the season. The families also mix, so butternut squash with brown butter and sage uses two of them. As fall seasonings go, the savory side is sage, rosemary, thyme and smoked paprika, and the sweet side is the warm spice jar.

I asked Today’s Mealow, the app I make, for a bold dinner with friends in Denver. It came back with a BBQ chicken sandwich, a loaded burger and a spicy chicken wrap. Only the first one sits in a fall family. “Smoky, saucy” is the smoke family, so that’s the card I’d tap if I wanted the night to taste like October.

What is fall flavoring in coffee and baking?

Fall flavoring in coffee and baking usually means a spice blend, a syrup or an extract. Pumpkin spice blend, chai spices, maple syrup or maple extract, caramel, vanilla and apple cider are the common ones. Each one brings a single fall family into a drink or a bake.

Pumpkin spice blend is the easiest to make at home: mix ground cinnamon with smaller amounts of ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Chai leans harder on cardamom, black pepper and ginger. Maple extract tastes stronger than syrup, so a little goes a long way in frosting or pancake batter.

For drinks without coffee, hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick covers two families in one mug. A splash of maple in warm milk is the other easy one.

What fall-flavored food can you make for dinner?

Fall-flavored food for dinner includes butternut squash soup, chili with chipotle, sausages roasted with apples, sweet potato and black bean tacos, and squash ravioli in brown butter and sage. Each flavor family has its own short list of dinners and treats, so you can start from the flavor you want.

Warm spice

• Cincinnati-style chili, a thin meat sauce with cinnamon and allspice, spooned over spaghetti.
• Chicken tagine with apricots, cinnamon and ginger, served with couscous.
• Carrot and ginger soup.
• Pumpkin bread or gingerbread for after.

Orchard fruit

• Sausages roasted with apple wedges and red onion.
• Roast chicken thighs with pears and shallots.
• Turkey, brie and cranberry sandwich.
• Baked brie with fig jam and crackers.
• Apple crisp with an oat topping.

Squash and sage

• Butternut squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds.
• Butternut squash ravioli in brown butter and crispy sage.
• Sweet potato and black bean tacos.
• Thai red curry with pumpkin or kabocha squash.
• Stuffed acorn squash with sausage and rice.
• Sheet pan of roasted root vegetables with rosemary.

Smoke

• Beef and bean chili with chipotle.
• Pulled pork sandwiches with slaw.
• Smoked gouda mac and cheese.
• Potato soup with bacon and smoked paprika.
• Charred Brussels sprouts with bacon.

Maple and brown butter

• Pork tenderloin with a maple and black pepper glaze.
• Brown butter gnocchi with mushrooms.
• Maple roasted carrots and parsnips.
• Pecan pie or caramel apples for dessert.

The squash and sage family and the smoke family make the heartiest dinners. The maple and brown butter family is mostly about finishing touches, a glaze or a pan of browned butter poured over at the end.

How do you add fall flavor to a dinner you already make?

To add fall flavor to a dinner you already make, pick one family and change one step. Swap regular paprika for smoked. Grate nutmeg into a cheese sauce. Stir cranberries into a pan sauce. Drop a cinnamon stick into the chili while it simmers. One change is usually enough.

1. Pick a family you’re craving. Cozy and sweet points to warm spice or maple and brown butter. Fruity and bright points to orchard fruit. Savory and hearty points to smoke or squash and sage.
2. Find the step it fits into. Spices go in while the sauce simmers. Fruit and squash go on the roasting tray. Brown butter and maple go on at the end.
3. Change only that step. Keep the rest of your usual recipe, so the new flavor stands out instead of getting lost.

A plain beef stew becomes a fall dinner with dried figs simmered in the pot. Nothing else about the stew changes.

On nights you’d rather not pick at all, the dinner wheel can decide between a few dishes you write in from the family lists.

What fall flavors can you order when you eat out?

When you eat out, fall flavors show up as squash ravioli, chili, slow-smoked barbecue, spiced desserts and seasonal soups. Read the menu for the five families. Words like smoked, maple, sage, butternut, cider and spiced usually mark the seasonal dishes.

On a barbecue menu, the smoke family is most of the page. On an Italian menu, look for squash or sage in a stuffed pasta, and the pasta shapes guide covers ravioli, tortellini and the other filled shapes. If you want a fall dinner but don’t know which family, start with smoke or squash and sage for something hearty, and warm spice for something sweet after.

Torn between the fall special and your usual order? The restaurant ordering checklist helps you settle it.

In the mood for something smoky or hearty? Tell Today’s Mealow the flavor you want and anything you skip, and it picks 3 dishes from real places near you, each with a one-line reason.

Pick dinner near you