The 8 Best Apple Varieties To Purchase At Grocery Stores

If you are looking for what I consider to be the 8 best apple varieties for baking, sauces, desserts, and beverages that you can get in grocery stores, then this is the article for you!

Did you know that there are actually more than 7,500 different apple varieties around the world? However, only a fraction of them ever make it to store shelves in most locations.

Even having just a few apple varieties on the store shelves can be a bit overwhelming though. While most of the time you can’t go wrong with eating any apple variety fresh, choosing the wrong type for baking or cooking can drastically change the outcome.

To help take some of the confusion out of picking the right type, I put together a simple list of the most common varieties that I personally consider to be the best on the grocery store shelves!

The 8 Best Apple Varieties Available In Stores

Cosmic Crisp

The first apple variety on my list is my absolute favorite hands down, and it’s the Cosmic Crisp! It’s a fairly new variety that was created in 1997 in the United States but didn’t become available to the public until 2019.

It has what I feel is a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors. It has a honey-like undertone that is similar to Honeycrisp apples but they aren’t quite as tart, which I prefer for fresh snacking.

The peel is dark red and the flesh is firm and crisp with plenty of juice. When cut, the apple doesn’t brown quickly like most other varieties can do, making it great for slicing and fresh eating.

Cosmic Crisp apples are perfect for snacking, salads, baking, and cooking. If you have never tried Cosmic Crisp apples, I highly suggest trying one!

Fuji – The 8 Best Apple Varieties

Fuji apples were named after the location where they were developed, Fujisaki, Japan. These sweet apples have been around since the 1930s and are used for all sorts of purposes like snacking, salads, baking, sauces, beverages, and freezing.

Fuji apples are red bicolored with reddish-pink stripes over a yellow base. Chances are you have seen these apples lining your local grocery stores since they are one of the most popular varieties.

These apples are dense and have a sweet but crisp flesh that is less acidic than most apples. With refrigeration, Fuji apples can be stored for up to a year. I would consider them to be my second favorite fresh-snacking apples on this list.

Gala

Gala apples are one of the best do-it-all apple varieties that have a mellow flavor. They are excellent for snacking, salads, baking, sauces, and beverages.

The flesh has a yellow-white coloring that is nice and crisp when cut into. There is also a good amount of juice in these apples as well.

Gala is a very popular variety that is mildly sweet with a slight hint of vanilla undertones. They feature crimson-red skin with a yellow background. They don’t store for quite as long as some other varieties.

Golden Delicious

If I could choose almost any baking apple variety, I would pick Golden Delicious. It has a tender, sweet flesh that holds up well when baked and cooked.

Golden Delicious apples have thin peels with light yellow-green coloring. They have a sweet, honey-like flavoring with slightly spicy undertones. The overall flavor is fairly mellow.

I always try to add a few Golden Delicious apples when baking pies, apple crisps, and other baked goods. Besides baking, Golden Delicious apples are also great for snacking, salads, sauces, beverages, and freezing. I love to use Golden Delicious apples when making my Skillet Cinnamon Apple Slices!

Granny Smith – The 8 Best Apple Varieties

Another one of the most popular varieties for baking is the Granny Smith apples. These tart apples are the best option for adding a zing of flavor to any dish whether it is cooked, baked, or fresh. Pair a few Granny Smith apples with some Yellow Delicious apples and you have a match made in Heaven!

In truth, granny smith apples can actually be too tart for some people to eat fresh (myself included). However, they are perfect for balancing out overly sweet ingredients like sugar and honey in baked goods.

In addition, Granny Smith apples are great for adding to salads and other fresh dishes to brighten up their flavors. One of our favorites is Apple Snicker Salad. Another great option is to add in a few when you are making Crockpot Apple Cider or other apple beverages.

Honeycrisp

Next is the Honeycrisp apple. If you are a fan of apples at all, then chances are you’ve bitten into a crisp, juicy Honeycrisp apple.

Like its namesake, these apples feature a sweet, honey-like undertone to their flavoring. They have a great balance of sweet and tart flavors, being slightly more tart compared to Cosmic Crisp apples.

These apples have a stunning yellow base peel with a red blush that covers the entire fruit. They are firm and have that great “crisp” texture when you bite down into them. You can use them for everything from eating fresh to baking, sauces, and freezing.

Pink Lady – The 8 Best Apple Varieties

Thanks to their blush-colored peel, Pink Lady apples (also called Cripps Pink) are some of the most visually appealing varieties available. But the draw doesn’t just stop at their appearance.

Pink Lady apples feature firm peels with a tart flesh that makes them ideal for baking and cooking. At the same time, they can also be enjoyed fresh or in salads as well. They are a great alternative to Granny Smith apples when you need a tart apple variety in your dishes.

They are probably my least grabbed-for-apple variety on this list, however, they are a great option if I can get them on sale for a good price or if Granny Smiths are unavailable. You can use Pink Lady apples for snacking, salads, baking, sauces, beverages, and freezing.

Red Delicious

Even though Red Delicious apples aren’t the most beloved apple varieties anymore, they still deserve a spot on my list. In my opinion, they are the iconic “red apple” with their dark red peel and heart shape.

Red Delicious apples are said to come from our neighboring state, Iowa. They can be traced all the way back to around the 1870s, so they are a beloved variety for the ages.

Red Delicious apples have a mildly sweet flavor with softer flesh compared to most of the apples on this list. Because of this, they don’t hold up the best when cooked and should really only be enjoyed eating raw, which is how I usually enjoy them.

A couple of bonuses of Red Delicious apples: They are usually some of the least expensive apple varieties available and they have excellent storage life!

Honorable Mentions – The 8 Best Apple Varieties

There are many other popular apple varieties that didn’t make my top eight list here. These are apples that I still enjoy but don’t grab very often when I am going to bake or eat them fresh – at least not on the store shelves.

Some of the other popular apple varieties are Braeburns, SweeTango, Envy, Jonagolds, Jonathans, McIntosh, and Jazz. You might have a harder time finding some of these varieties on store shelves.

We have a few of those varieties (like Jonathan and McIntosh), but they come from our own fruit trees on our semi homestead or my parents’ farm. However, that’s an article for another day since this was all about store-bought varieties!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

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