🍂🌻 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🌻🍂🍁 Chuckwagon Fall Recipe of the Day — Monday, September 28, 2026

🍗🍎 Country Apple Cider Chicken & Stuffing Skillet with Maple-Bacon Brussels Sprouts 🥓🍁

Good morning, folks! 🤠🍂

Happy Monday, friends! We're beginning the last few days of September with a supper that tastes like fall in a cast-iron skillet!

Today's Country Apple Cider Chicken & Stuffing Skillet combines juicy seasoned chicken thighs, apples, onions, celery, herbs, and savory stuffing with an apple-cider pan sauce. And on the side, we're making maple-bacon Brussels sprouts with just the right balance of smoky, salty, and sweet.

It's warm, hearty, easy enough for a Monday evening, and perfect for these beautiful early-fall days. ❤️

🍗 Country Apple Cider Chicken

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• ½ teaspoon rubbed sage

• ½ teaspoon dried thyme

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 1 large sweet onion, diced

• 2 celery stalks, diced

• 2 Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples, diced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1½ cups apple cider

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

🍞 Savory Herb Stuffing

• 6 cups day-old bread, cubed

• 4 tablespoons melted butter

• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

• ½ teaspoon rubbed sage

• ½ teaspoon dried thyme

• 1–1½ cups chicken broth

• ½ cup dried cranberries, optional

• ½ cup chopped pecans, optional

• Fresh parsley for finishing

🔥 Let's Get Cooking!

1️⃣ Season that chicken. Pat the chicken dry and season it with garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper.

2️⃣ Give it a good sear! Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken for about 3–4 minutes per side. Remove it to a plate.

It doesn't need to be completely cooked yet.

3️⃣ Build those fall flavors. 🍎 Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, onion, and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the apples and cook another 3 minutes, then stir in the garlic.

4️⃣ Make that cider sauce! Pour in the apple cider and chicken broth, scraping all those flavorful browned bits from the skillet.

Stir in the Dijon and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

5️⃣ Make the stuffing. In a bowl, toss the bread cubes with melted butter, poultry seasoning, sage, and thyme.

Slowly add enough chicken broth to moisten the bread without making it soggy.

Fold in cranberries and pecans if you're using them.

6️⃣ Bring it all together! Spoon the stuffing around the apple-and-onion mixture in the skillet. Nestle the browned chicken thighs into the stuffing.

Spoon a little cider sauce over everything.

7️⃣ Into the oven! Bake uncovered at 375°F for approximately 25–30 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165°F and the stuffing is golden on top.

Finish with fresh parsley.

That crispy stuffing around the edges might just be the best part! 😋

🥓 Maple-Bacon Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

• 6 slices bacon, chopped

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• Salt and black pepper

• ⅓ cup chopped pecans, optional

🍁 Make Them!

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Remove it and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the drippings.

Add the Brussels sprouts, cut-side down, and cook until they begin to brown.

Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Continue cooking until tender, then add the bacon back to the skillet.

Drizzle with maple syrup and apple cider vinegar and toss everything together.

Finish with toasted pecans if desired.

Sweet + smoky + salty = one delicious fall side dish! ❤️

⭐ MawMaw's Chuckwagon Secret

🍎 Choose an apple that can handle the heat!

Honeycrisp and Granny Smith work beautifully because they keep some of their texture instead of disappearing into the sauce.

And here's another trick: day-old bread makes better stuffing than fresh bread. Slightly dried bread absorbs all that wonderful broth and seasoning without turning into mush.

No day-old bread? Cube fresh bread and toast it in a 300°F oven for about 15–20 minutes.

🍽️ Complete the Monday Supper

Serve it with warm yeast rolls and apple butter, Southern green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry-pecan salad, and a big glass of sweet tea or cold apple cider.

🍂 And for dessert?

🍎🥧 Brown Butter Apple Crumble Pie

Tender cinnamon apples tucked inside a flaky pie crust and covered with a buttery brown-sugar oat crumble.

Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and just a little caramel drizzle.

Monday suddenly doesn't seem so bad, does it? 😄☕

💜 Monday Chuckwagon Encouragement

A new week often begins with a long list.

Things we need to accomplish. Places we need to be. Problems we're trying to solve. Prayers we're still waiting to see answered.

But sometimes we need to remember that God isn't asking us to carry the whole week today.

He gives us grace for today.

Maybe you don't know how something is going to work out by Friday. That's okay.

Maybe you've been praying about something for months and still don't have the answer. Keep praying.

Maybe the road ahead looks different than the one you planned. Keep walking with God.

We don't have to see the entire journey to trust the One leading us.

God has been faithful before, and He will be faithful again.

Take Monday one prayer, one step, and one blessing at a time. ❤️

📖 Scripture for Today

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

— Psalm 119:105 (KJV)

🍁 Monday Table Question

Which FALL flavor belongs in a savory supper at your house?

🍎 Apples🍠 Sweet potatoes🎃 Pumpkin🍁 Maple🌿 Sage🥓 Bacon — that's a season all by itself! 😄🤠 All of the above!

👇 Tell us in the comments! And show us what's cooking at your house. Family recipes, fall favorites, cook-off dishes, and pictures from your kitchen are always welcome!

🍂🤠 Happy Monday, Friends!

May your skillet be warm, your table have room for one more, and your new week begin with the reminder that you don't have to see the whole road when God is lighting the next step.

Faith ⭐ Family ⭐ Friends ⭐ Food ⭐ Memories ❤️🍁🌻