British seasonal food in February

Here’s the updated guide to the best British seasonal food in February, plus a few notable imports to brighten up your shopping baskets and tastebuds. We have fruit, vegetables, herbs, fish, meat, poultry, and a few cheeses to choose from.

British home grown produce tends to be hearty and filling this month, with lots of greens and root vegetables which lend themselves to soups, stews, casseroles and healthy side dishes. There are also a few treats in the imported fruit section, including fresh Seville oranges if you’re interested in making your own marmalade.

Fruit in season in February

British grown seasonal fruit

• apples (from store)
• rhubarb (forced)

Best imported seasonal fruit

• blood oranges
• passion fruit
• pineapple (Caribbean)
• pomegranate
• Seville oranges

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 February

• Brussels sprouts and sprout tops (last few)
• cabbage (Savoy, other winter types)
• celeriac
• chard
• chicory
• Jerusalem artichokes
• kale
• leeks
• parsnips
• purple sprouting broccoli
• salsify
• scorzonera

You can also find some crops grown under cover (endive, lamb’s lettuce and other winter salad) and crops that can store or stand for a while (beetroot, swede, turnip, winter radish, winter squash).

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

Herbs in season in February

• Winter savory

[Always available: chives, coriander, parsley grown under cover; older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, thyme.]

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

Fish in season in February

Fish stocks change from year to year, affected by overfishing, conservation efforts, and unusual weather for the season, but here’s a rough guide to what’s available.

Sustainable British fish

• brill
• clams (farmed Manila)
• cockles, crab (spider)
• dab
• gurnard (grey, red)
• herring / sild
• European lobster
• mackerel
• monkfish
• mussels
• oyster (native, Pacific)
• pollock
• pouting/bib
• prawns (Northern)
• sardines / European pilchard
• sole (Dover, lemon)
• sprat / whitebait
• trout (farmed rainbow)
• wild turbot

[To the best of my knowledge the list above excludes critically endangered fish, but this can change at short notice. Visit The Good Fish Guide from the Marine Conservation Society for latest lists.]

Less sustainable seasonal fish

You should still be able to source most of the following from a responsible fishmonger.

• cod
• razor clams
• langoustines/scampi
• red mullet
• scallops (king, queen)
• seabream
• whelks

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

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 & game in season in February

• hare
• venison (all types except for roe bucks)

[Available year-round in good condition: beef, chicken, pork, rabbit, farmed venison, woodpigeon.]

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 February

British-made cheeses

• mature blue cheeses (Stilton, blue Wensleydale, blue Cheshire)
• mature Farmhouse Cheddar

Imported February cheese

• Morbier

[Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially the harder 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

Enjoying this post? You may also like:

• British seasonal food in January
• British seasonal food in March
• Grow your own fruit & veg on a budget

Favourite British seasonal food in February

I’m looking forward to adding a big bunch of purple sprouting broccoli to my shopping list this week, to have some in a stir fry with soy sauce and slivers of garlic, and the rest on the side of a veggie roast dinner. It’s probably my favourite February ingredient, and you can even chargrill the spears in a panini press if you’re looking for a different way to prepare it.

It’s also the right month to buy some leeks and serve them in a gratin with a sharp farmhouse cheddar sauce and a few breadcrumbs on the top for crispness, for an easy, comforting midweek meal. Either that or a massive bowl of leek and potato soup with plenty of crusty bread on the side.

Which seasonal ingredients will you be buying and cooking this February? Let us know in the comments below.

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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