British seasonal food in April
Welcome to my guide to the best British seasonal food in April. Pick these ingredients fresh this month from your allotment or kitchen garden, or find some tasty treats via a good greengrocer or your neighbourhood box scheme.
Enjoy April’s new green shoots and help yourself to spinach, leaf beet, turnip tops and chard, and look out for ‘hungry gap’ varieties of kale. You can also find fresh herbs, oriental greens and salads this month that have been grown under cover. Other monthly seasonal treats include wild Spring mushrooms, brown crab, and imported exotic fruits.
Here’s what’s at its best right now:
British fruit in season in April

British grown fruit
- apples (from store)
- rhubarb (outdoor grown)
Best imported seasonal fruit
- Alphonso mangoes
- pineapples
Recommended seasonal fruit inspiration:

- The Last Bite: Desserts Through the Year – Anna Higham
- River Cottage Fruit Every Day – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
- Pam the Jam: The Book of Preserves – Pam Corbin
- Jams With a Twist: 70 Deliciously Different Recipes – Kylee Newton
Vegetables in season in April

- asparagus (early spears)
- celeriac
- chard
- Jersey Royal potatoes
- kale
- leaf beet (perpetual spinach)
- leeks
- lettuce and other salad leaves
- parsnips
- purple sprouting broccoli
- radishes
- seakale
- spinach
- spring greens and spring cabbage
- spring onions
- turnip tops
- watercress
[Available most months in good condition: broccoli, button mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, maincrop potatoes, onions, rocket.]
Recommended seasonal veg inspiration:

- The Magnificent Book of Vegetables – Alice Hart
- The Complete Vegetable Cookbook – James Strawbridge
- RHS Step-by-Step Veg Patch – Lucy Chamberlain
- Abel & Cole organic fruit & veg box deliveries
Herbs in season in April
- basil
- chervil
- chives
- lovage
- mint
- parsley
- sorrel
- tarragon
- thyme
[Always available: chives, coriander, parsley grown under cover; older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, thyme.]
Wild / foraged food in season in April

- morel mushrooms
- nettle tops
- St. George’s mushrooms
- samphire (rock)
- wild garlic
[Take great care when foraging as it’s easy to confuse edible and poisonous ingredients.]
Recommended wild & foraged food inspiration:

- The Forager’s Calendar: A Seasonal Guide by John Wright
- Food for Free: 50th Anniversary Edition – Richard Mabey
- Wild Food: A Complete Guide for Foragers – Roger Philips
- Concise Foraging Guide – Tiffany Francis-Baker
Fish in season in April

Fish in season in April, sustainable
The availability of fish and seafood varies a lot around different areas of the UK, and it changes in response to conservation, overfishing and general weather conditions. With that in mind, these are your most sustainable in-season fish options for this month:
- clams (farmed Manila)
- coley / saithe
- crab (brown)
- gurnard (red)
- herring / sild
- lobster (European)
- plaice
- pollock
- prawns
- sprat / whitebait
[Your location in the UK may affect which types of fish are most readily available. To the best of my knowledge, the list above excludes critically endangered fish but please visit The Good Fish Guide from the Marine Conservation Society for the latest lists as they can change quite significantly from year to year.]
Fish in season in April, less sustainable
You might also be able to source these sustainably from responsible fishmongers:
- brown shrimp
- razor clams
- langoustines / scampi
- native oysters
- whelks
[In good condition almost all year: herring/sild, farmed halibut, farmed sea bream and turbot, megrim sole, sustainably-fished monkfish, rope-grown mussels, prawns, rainbow trout.]
Recommended fish & shellfish inspiration:

- Fish & Shellfish: The Definitive Guide – Rick Stein
- Fish for Dinner: Delicious Seafood Recipes – Nathan Outlaw
- The Seafood Shack – Kirsty Scobie & Fenella Renwick
- Fish – Sophie Grigson & William Black
Meat, poultry and game in season in April

- roe buck deer
- spring lamb
- Welsh lamb
[Always available in good condition: beef, chicken, pork, rabbit, farmed venison, wood pigeon.]
Recommended meat, poultry & game inspiration:

- Tom Kitchin’s Meat and Game
- Lidgate’s The Meat Cookbook
- Game: River Cottage Handbook No.15
- The Meat Cookbook: Know the Cuts, Master the Skills
Cheese in season in April

British-made seasonal cheeses in April
- ewe’s milk cheeses
- fresh flavoured goat’s milk cheeses
- Single Gloucester (hay-fed cow’s milk cheese)
Imported seasonal cheeses in April
- Coulommiers
[Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially hard cheeses.]
Recommended cheese & wine inspiration:

- A Cheesemonger’s Compendium of British & Irish Cheese – Ned Palmer
- World Cheese Book – DK & Juliet Harbutt
- Which Wine When: What to drink with the food you love – Claire Strickett
- CheeseGeek seasonal cheese subscriptions & gifts
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What we’re eating at Golightly Gardens
I really fancied a treat so I’ve ordered some British asparagus to enjoy over the Easter weekend, so that’s a little taste of luxury I’m very much looking forward to.
At some point I’m going to take a long walk to the nearest greengrocer as well, and hunt down some of my favourite fragrant Alphonso mangoes too, because there’s nothing quite like them and you can only buy them for a couple of weeks or so in April.
Which April seasonal foods are going on your shopping list this month? Do you have any favourite recipes for this time of year?
Recommended general seasonal inspiration:

- The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2023 – Lia Leendertz
- Home Cookery Year: Four Seasons, Over 200 Recipes – Claire Thomson
- The Modern Cook’s Year: 250 vibrant vegetable recipes – Anna Jones
- RHS Grow Your Own Veg & Fruit Bible – Carol Klein
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Mmmmm. Alphonso mangoes… need to get some of those!