By: Jill Mills Posted: Sep 3, 2025

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This 3-Ingredient Apple Dump Cake may be the easiest fall dessert ever! Just dump cake mix, pie filling, and butter in a baking dish, pop it in the oven, and enjoy.

A plate of apple dump cake topped with vanilla ice cream

When it comes to baked desserts, I can’t think of anything easier than dump cake. I’ve made many, many different variations over the years – caramel apple dump cake, strawberry dump cake, chocolate dump cake, cherry dump cake, pumpkin dump cake, lemon dump cake, and peach dump cake just to name a few. This 3-ingredient apple dump cake is a new favorite and one I see myself making again and again this fall.

Why I Love This Apple Dump Cake

Only 3 ingredients. We’ll start with the obvious reason to love this cake first – it’s made with just 3 ingredients! All you need is cake mix, pie filling, and butter.
Dump & bake. The name of this cake really says it all. Just dump the ingredients in the baking dish and pop it in the oven. Viola! Dessert truly could not get any easier.
Perfect for fall. I love to make apple dump cake during the fall when I’m craving the flavors of apple pie without the work. Top it with some caramel sauce for extra warm fall flavor.

A box of yellow cake mix, apple pie filling, and a stick of butter

Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a run-down of the three ingredients in this recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.

Yellow cake mix – Any brand works, just make sure it’s a 13.75 ounce box.
Apple pie filling – I used two 21-ounce cans of apple pie filling. An equal amount of homemade apple pie filling would work too.
Butter – Unlike in other baking recipes, I like to use salted butter instead of unsalted for the added flavor.

How To Make Apple Dump Cake

The joy of this cake is just how simple and easy it is to make. The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.

Yellow cake mix over apple pie filling in a baking dish

Prep. Preheat the oven to 375F. Coat the baking dish with nonstick spray.
Assemble. Pour the apple pie filling into the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the cake mix on top. Melt the butter then drizzle it over as much of the cake mix as possible.
Bake. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake on top is dry and it’s bubbling around the edges.
Enjoy. Serve warm with any desired toppings.

Tips & Variations

Since this apple dump cake recipe is so easy, I only have a few tips to share.

Do NOT stir. This is KEY to making dump cake. Layering the ingredients is key to achieving the perfect temperature.
Pats of butter work too. You can also slice the butter into pats and line them up over the top of the cake if you want. I like to melt the butter and drizzle over the top to cover as much surface area.
Add salt if needed. You can use unsalted butter, but then I would add a pinch of salt to counter the sweetness.
Variations. Feel free to change the yellow cake mix to spice cake mix, vanilla or white. Add chopped pecans or walnuts.

Serving Suggestions

Apple dump cake is best enjoyed warm from the oven. While it’s fantastic on its own, I love to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

How To Store Leftovers

Fridge. Cover and store leftover apple dump cake in the fridge. It’s best enjoyed within 3-4 days.
Reheat. Reheat individual servings in the microwave then add the desired toppings.

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