🍂🌻 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🌻🍂🍁 Chuckwagon Fall Recipe of the Day — Wednesday, August 26, 2026

🥘🍎 Harvest Apple Cider Pork Chops with Maple Bacon Sweet Potatoes 🍎🥓

Good morning, friends! 🤠🍂

We're getting an early taste of fall at the chuckwagon today! Imagine thick, juicy pork chops sizzling in a cast-iron skillet with apples and onions, all covered in a buttery apple-cider maple glaze. Alongside them, we're making roasted sweet potatoes with maple syrup, smoky bacon, and just a touch of cinnamon.

Your kitchen is going to smell like fall has officially arrived! 🍎🍁

🥩 Apple Cider Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 4 thick-cut bone-in pork chops

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 crisp apples, sliced

• 1 large sweet onion, sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cup apple cider

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme

• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• Salt to taste

🍠 Maple Bacon Sweet Potatoes

• 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

• 6 slices bacon, chopped

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 2 tablespoons melted butter

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

• Pinch of salt

• ½ cup chopped pecans, optional

🔥 Let's Get Cooking!

1️⃣ Roast the sweet potatoes.Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the sweet potatoes with melted butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, smoked paprika, and salt. Spread them onto a baking sheet and roast for 25–30 minutes, turning halfway through.

2️⃣ Cook the bacon.Fry the bacon until crispy. Drain and set aside.

3️⃣ Sear those pork chops!Season the chops with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and sear for about 3–4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.

4️⃣ Bring on the fall flavors. 🍎Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, apples, and onions. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic.

5️⃣ Make the cider glaze.Pour in the apple cider. Stir in the maple syrup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Let it simmer until it begins to reduce.

6️⃣ Finish the pork.Return the chops to the skillet and spoon that beautiful apple-cider glaze over them. Cook until the pork reaches 145°F internally, then allow it to rest for at least 3 minutes.

7️⃣ Finish those sweet potatoes.Toss the roasted potatoes with crispy bacon and optional pecans just before serving.

🏆 MawMaw's Fall Kitchen Secret

🍎 Use two different kinds of apples—one sweet and one tart.

Try Honeycrisp + Granny Smith. The sweet-tart combination is wonderful with pork and keeps the sauce from becoming overly sweet.

And don't peel those apples unless you want to—the colorful skins make this dish look beautiful on the table!

🍽️ Build a Fall Supper

Serve it with country green beans, warm buttermilk biscuits with apple butter, roasted Brussels sprouts, and a cold glass of apple cider or sweet tea.

🍎 And for dessert?

Warm Cinnamon Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream! 🍨

🍂 Chuckwagon Encouragement

There's something special about the changing seasons.

The leaves remind us that change can be beautiful. The harvest reminds us that things planted faithfully eventually have a season of gathering.

Maybe you're in a season of planting right now.

Maybe you're waiting.

Maybe you're finally seeing a harvest from prayers you've prayed for years.

Whatever season you're walking through, God is there too.

Don't rush through today waiting for the next season. Thank Him for what He's doing right here, right now. ❤️

📖 Scripture for Today

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

— Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

🍁 Wednesday Fall Table Question

Which fall flavor are you most excited to see again?

🍎 Apple cinnamon🎃 Pumpkin spice🍁 Maple🥧 Pecan🍠 Sweet potato🍯 Caramel

👇 Tell us in the comments—and share your favorite fall recipe too!

Happy cooking, friends! May your home be warm, your table be full, and your fall season overflow with Faith ⭐ Family ⭐ Friends ⭐ Food ⭐ and Memories! 🍂🤠❤️