British seasonal food in April - what to eat now

Here’s the comprehensive guide to all the best British seasonal food in April, including fruit, vegetables, herbs, foraged foods, fish, meats and cheeses at their peak.

This month’s seasonal treats include asparagus, wild Spring mushrooms, wild garlic, turbot, and brown crab.

It’s a fantastic month for fresh green vegetables. Help yourself to spinach, leaf beet, turnip tops and chard, and look out for spring greens and ‘hungry gap’ varieties of kale. You can also find fresh herbs, oriental greens and salads this month that have been grown under cover.

There are also some delicious fresh flavoured cheeses, a few fruits, and plenty of fish and shellfish to choose from.

Let’s see what to eat in April while it’s at its best.

British fruit in season in April

As you can see, there’s very little UK-grown fresh fruit available in April, but we do have field or outdoor rhubarb to pick from this month. It needs a little more sugar than the more tender forced type, but it’s still great in crumbles, pies, tarts and other recipes.

British-grown fruit in April

Apples (from store)
Rhubarb (mostly outdoor grown)

Imported seasonal fruit: April

Alphonso mangoes
French strawberries (Gariguette, Mara des Bois)
Pineapples

Vegetables in season in April

Best British seasonal vegetables in April UK veg in season — Clockwise from top left: watercress, baby asparagus, spring greens (loose leaf cabbage), Jersey Royal new potatoes

British seasonal veg: April

Asparagus (early spears)
Celeriac
Chard
Jersey Royal potatoes (first full month)
Kale
Leaf beet (perpetual spinach)
Leeks
Lettuce (winter) & other salad leaves
Parsnips
Purple sprouting broccoli
Radishes
Seakale
Spinach
Spring greens & spring cabbage
Spring onions
Turnip tops
Watercress

Available most months in good condition: broccoli, button mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, maincrop potatoes, onions, rocket.

Recommended veg cookbooks

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UK fruit and veg calendar

Herbs in season in April

This is an excellent month for early types of soft herbs, which can be used to add interest to other more ordinary ingredients.

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

British seasonal foraged food in April UK wild ingredients — Clockwise from top left: nettle tops, wild garlic, rock samphire, morel mushrooms

There’s more foraged food to find in April, as the weather warms up. Look out for spring mushrooms, wild garlic and more.

UK wild food: 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 foraged & wild food books

Best British seasonal fish in April seafood shellfish in season UK — Clockwise from top left: pollock, brown crab, brown shrimp, halibut

Brown crab is the pick of the season in April, running through the Spring and Summer months. There are also clams and other shellfish to choose from, and white fish such as coley and pollock.

Halibut is in season until the end of May, most of which is farmed. Spring weather signals the start of spawning season for many other flatfish which are generally best avoided, although you may still find some plaice in good condition.

Wild salmon fishing varies from area to area around the UK and Scotland, but most local official seasons are open throughout the whole of April, making it easier to source. It becomes harder to get hold of from September, depending upon where you live.

The availability of fish and seafood varies a lot around different areas of the UK, and it changes in response to conservation measures, overfishing and general weather conditions. With that in mind, these are your most sustainable in-season fish options for this month:

Sustainable British fish: April

Clams
Coley / saithe
Crab (brown)
Gurnard (red)
Halibut (mostly farmed)
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.]

You might also be able to source these ingredients sustainably from responsible fishmongers:

Less sustainable UK fish: April

Brown shrimp
Razor clams
Langoustines / scampi
Native oysters
Whelks
Wild salmon (Atlantic type)

In good condition almost all year: herring/sild, farmed halibut, farmed seabass, farmed sea bream and turbot, megrim sole, sustainably-fished monkfish, rope-grown mussels, prawns, rainbow trout.

Recommended seasonal fish & shellfish books

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UK fruit and veg calendar

Meat, poultry and game in season in April

Best British seasonal meat game poultry in April season — Left to right: Welsh lamb, roe deer

It’s not a busy month for game, but more than one type of farmed lamb becomes available in April.

UK meat, poultry & game: April

Roe buck deer
Spring lamb
Welsh lamb

Always available in good condition: beef, chicken, pork, rabbit, farmed venison, wood pigeon.

Recommended meat, game & poultry books

Cheese in season in April

British seasonal cheese in April in season UK imported French cheeses sheep goat cow Spring — Clockwise from top left: Raedwald, ewe’s milk cheese, Saint Félicien, Valençay goat’s cheese

Yes, many cheeses are seasonal. It depends on the animals being milked, their grazing and reproductive cycles, the way specific cheeses are made, and their time to mature.

April is a month for light, fresh-flavoured cheeses. Sheep and goats make milk earlier in the season, and their shorter-matured cheeses become more widely available this month. Throw some into a salad, or add to a spring vegetable pasta or risotto.

Best British cheeses: April

Ewe’s milk cheeses, fresh and aged-fresh types
Fresh flavoured goat’s milk cheeses
Raedwald, washed-rind made with winter cow’s milk (Feb – Apr only)

Imported seasonal cheeses: April

Brie de Meaux
Saint Félicien (soft, sort-matured, cow’s milk)
Neufchâtel (creamy cow’s milk)
Valençay (aged-fresh goat’s cheese) & other goat’s cheeses

Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially hard cheeses.

Recommended wine books

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What we’re eating at Golightly Gardens

The first thing on my shopping list this month is a couple of Saint Félicien cheeses, arriving in little earthenware ramekins ready to be served with crusty bread and a glass of wine. I forgot to buy any last year, so April 2026 will be a fresh start!

I might also pick up some young asparagus at the end of the month, just as the official season starts, and look forward to having griddled spears in salads with fresh goat cheese, or simply steamed with some butter and sea salt or a poached egg on top.

Another of my absolute favourite ingredients in April has to be the deliciously fragrant Alphonso mango. I love them fresh with a tiny squeeze of lime, or paired with a scoop of coconut icecream. Their season is fleetingly short, so if you see some then be sure to get them while you can.