British seasonal food in March - what to eat now

If you’re looking for the best British seasonal food in March, this comprehensive guide is for you.

We’re at the start of the ‘hungry gap’ in the UK, that awkward time when many seasonal foods have finished and other crops are yet to start growing.

However, the first few green shoots of spring are bursting through, such as purple sprouting broccoli and wild garlic. Many types of fish and shellfish are available too.

As the home grown list is relatively small, the UK also relies heavily on imported fresh ingredients for volume and variety in March. Look out for blood oranges and passion fruits for a blast of bright flavour.

Fruit in season in March

If you want to buy fresh and British, it’s rhubarb all the way. Alternatively, look out for the more exotic imported treats.

British-grown fruit in March

Apples (from store)
Rhubarb (mostly forced)

Imported seasonal fruit: March

Blood oranges
Clementines
Passion fruit

Recommended seasonal fruit books

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Vegetables in season in March

British Seasonal Food in March vegetables veg in season — Clockwise from top left: parsnips, purple sprouting broccoli, chicory, silver beet chard

Look out for purple sprouting broccoli and spring greens, a bright change from all the root vegetables.

British seasonal veg: March

Cabbage (green, Spring greens)
Celeriac
Chard
Chicory
Kale
Leeks
Parsnips
Purple sprouting broccoli
Seakale
Spring onions

If you’re lucky, you may also be able to find:

New season baby asparagus (expensive so it might be better to wait until April).
Leafy crops grown under cover (leaf beet, oriental greens, winter salad leaves).
Stored vegetables like beetroot.

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

Recommended veg cookbooks

FREE!!

UK fruit and veg calendar

Herbs in season in March

Chives
Coriander
Parsley

Always available: older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, and thyme.

Wild / foraged food in March

Best British seasonal food in March foraged ingredients wild food by Penny Golightly — From left to right: nettle tops, wild garlic

It’s wild garlic season, which makes delicious sauces and dressings.

Best UK foraged food: March

Nettle tops
Wild garlic (aka ramsons)

[Take great care when foraging as it’s very easy to confuse edible and poisonous ingredients.]

Recommended wild food & foraging books

British Seasonal food in March fish shellfish seafood in season UK — Clockwise from top left: British clams, halibut, red gurnard, pollock

It’s a good month for shellfish, including razor clams, and you can also find gurnard, wild salmon, halibut and pollock. Most flatfish are about to go out of season as they start spawning, although halibut is still good during March.

Fish stocks change from one year to the next, influenced by marine stewardship, local environmental conditions, and fluctuations in weather conditions. Here’s a rough guide to what’s available now.

Sustainable British fish: March

Brill
Clams (standard or razor)
Dab
Gurnard (red & grey)
Halibut (farmed)
Herring / sild
Lobster (European)
Monkfish
Mussels
Oysters
Pollock
Prawns (Northern)
Scallops
Sole (lemon)
Spider crab
Sprat / whitebait
Trout (rainbow)
Wild turbot

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

You may also be able to source the fish listed below via a responsible fishmonger.

Less sustainable UK fish: March

Brown shrimp
Langoustine / scampi
Wild salmon
Whelks

Available in good condition almost all year: herring/sild, farmed salmon, farmed sea bream and turbot, common/Dover/megrim sole, sustainably-fished monkfish, rope-grown mussels, prawns, rainbow trout.

Recommended fish & shellfish books

FREE!!

UK fruit and veg calendar

Meat, poultry and game in season in March

As you can see, there’s only one thing in season this month:

Venison (wild red deer)

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

Recommended meat, poultry & game books

Cheese in season in March

British Seasonal Food Cheese in March and in season cheeses imported — Clockwise from top left: fresh goat’s cheese, Cotherstone, Stilton, Valencay

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

More quality cheeses start to arrive at the market during springtime, so you can put an interesting cheeseboard together in March. Look out for fresh cheeses from animals that have been grazing pastures outdoors, especially sheep and goats.

Best British cheeses: March

Fresh Cotherstone (semi-hard, crumbly cow’s milk cheese)
Fresh ewe’s milk cheeses
Fresh goat’s cheese and goat’s curd
Stilton (last bit)

Best imported cheeses: March

Brie de Meaux
Morbier
Valençay (goat’s cheese)

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

Recommended cheese books

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Our favourite British seasonal food in March

My favourite vegetable this month is definitely purple sprouting broccoli, and it makes a very tasty side dish simply steamed or with a simple dressing. It’s also delicious fried with a few drops sesame oil or served in noodle-based dishes with plenty of soy sauce and garlic.

I’m also looking forward to a baby leaf and chicory salad, with some fresh goat’s cheese or goat’s curd. It’s the perfect seasonal reminder that nature is gearing up for springtime.

On a rainy weekend we’ll be having a rhubarb crumble using forced rhubarb, perhaps with a few apples sliced in. Plenty of vanilla custard too.