Apple of My Eye

It’s that wonderful dead period between fall and winter where it’s too cold to go to an orchard, but an apple still sounds nice. Whether you’re looking for a good pie filling, a salad topper, or just a classic after-school snack, here are my rankings of 10 supermarket apples. 

Rankings are based on taste and texture, and I’ve included which of three common dips- caramel, peanut butter, and Nutella- I believe each apple pairs best with.

Envy- #10

$2.69/pound

Envy is a very hard apple with thick skin and an overbearingly sweet taste. I was not a fan, especially for its price point. I didn’t love the taste with any of the dips, but I thought peanut butter paired best because it had the least taste of all the dips, which helped to mellow out Envy. 

Opal- #9

$2.69/pound

This apple is deceiving. Despite its shape, size, and location in the store- it’s not an apple. It’s a pear. I wouldn’t be able to recommend this to anyone looking for a traditional apple taste. It’s slightly soft, and relatively good, but not what I’m looking for in an apple. Surprisingly, it paired well with Nutella, but that could be because the sweetness drowned out the pear taste.

Sweetango- #8

$2.69/pound

Sweetango is pretty mild but has a sour aftertaste. It has a medium texture that is neither hard nor soft. Sweetango did not stand out as either very good or very bad, and it didn’t pair well with any dips. Sweetango could dance out of the produce aisle and no one would miss it. 

Granny Smith- #7

$1.69/pound

Granny Smith is a hard, sour apple. I was not a fan of this one; it was too tart for my taste. I would say it is almost bitter. Nutella paired best with this, as it was the only one to cut the sourness.

Cosmic Crisp- #6

$2.69/pound

Everything about this apple is unique, from its name to its texture. The taste can be compared to that of Honeycrisp, but there’s so much going on, it makes any singular flavor descriptor hard to find. The one average thing about this apple was its texture, which didn’t stand out in any particular way. 

Fuji- #5

$1.69/pound

Fuji is a slightly sour, harder apple. It tastes similar to how apple cider smells. Due to its slightly sour taste, it coupled well with caramel. It was very plain, but not in a bad way- it just didn’t stick out to me.

Red Delicious- #4

$1.69/pound

Red Delicious has a slightly crisp texture and doesn’t have a very strong taste. It doesn’t lean very sweet or sour, and most of the taste comes from its thick skin. Overall, it’s a very plain apple, but I still have a soft spot in my heart because it was the cafeteria apple growing up. I thought it paired best with peanut butter.

Golden Delicious- #3

$1.69/pound

Golden Delicious are very soft, pearlike apples. They have a mild taste and are only slightly sweet. They have almost no bite to them, so they’re nice for people who like softer textures and milder tastes. I liked this one much more than I thought I would because the texture was spot-on for me. Out of the three dips, I thought caramel paired best.

Gala- #2

$1.69/pound

Gala is a softer, slightly pear-like apple. It tastes like what you imagine an apple would taste like, it’s very average in a good way. Since it is such a common apple, I liked it paired with peanut butter simply for the nostalgia factor. I ate peanut butter and apples growing up, and looking back it must have been Gala apples because trying them together now was like walking back 10 years.

Honeycrisp- #1

$2.69/pound (but frequently on sale)

There’s a reason why Honeycrisp is one of the most popular apple varieties in America. Honeycrisps are a perfect balance of sweet and sour, they’re (as the name implies) crisp, and they are easily accessible. One of the only downfalls I’ve noticed with Honeycrisp is the price point, but because they are so widely produced, they are often on sale. 

While I prefer slightly softer, mildly sweet apples such as Golden Delicious, your party pleasers are more likely to be crisp with a balance of sweet and sour such as Honeycrisp. However, Gala is a great substitute for people on a budget still looking for an all-purpose apple.

Note: Prices are accurate as of November 1, 2022.