British seasonal food in July – what to eat now
Welcome this comprehensive guide to the best British seasonal food in July. It’s an abundant month for homegrown produce as the warmer weather brings us more ingredients.
Seasonal highlights include summer berries, salad leaves, globe artichokes and courgettes. In particular it’s time for the classic combo of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon. Flatfish return to the menu too, including Dover sole, and you can also find brown crab and mackerel at their best.
There is so much good food to enjoy in July. Have a look at what’s available from around the UK, plus a few imported seasonal treats.
Fruit in season in July
There are plenty of berries to choose from, and some homegrown stone fruits are ready to eat too. Take your pick from any of these:
British-grown fruit in July
Apricots
Blackberries
Blackcurrants
Blueberries
Cherries
Figs
Gooseberries
Loganberries
Peaches
Raspberries
Redcurrants
Strawberries
Tayberries
Whitecurrants
Imported seasonal fruit: July
Apricots
Figs
Mangoes (honey)
Melon (Charentais, cantaloupe, galia)
Nectarines
Peaches
Pineapples
Recommended seasonal fruit & preserves books
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Vegetables in season in July
It’s an abundant month, with so many crops ready to eat:
British seasonal veg: July
Aubergines
Beetroot (new season)
Broad beans
Broccoli (calabrese)
Cabbages (summer, red)
Celery
Chard
Chicory
Courgettes
Cucumbers
Fennel (Florence)
Globe artichokes
Green beans (French and runner)
Kohlrabi
Leaf beet (perpetual spinach)
Lettuce and other salad leaves
Mangetout, sugar snap peas
Marrows
New potatoes
Okra
Pak choi
Peas
Peppers
Radishes
Shallots
Spinach
Spring onions
Summer squash
Tomatoes
Turnips
Watercress
Available most months in good condition: button mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, maincrop potatoes, onions, rocket.
FREE!!
UK fruit and veg calendar
Recommended veg cookbooks
Herbs in season in July
Fresh right now:
- Basil
- Chervil
- Chives
- Coriander
- Dill
- Fennel
- Lovage
- Marjoram
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Sorrel
- Summer savory
- Tarragon
- Thyme
- Winter savory
Always available:
- Chives, coriander, parsley grown under cover.
- Older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, thyme.
Wild / foraged food in season in July
There are several seasonal treats to find in the wild this month:
UK foraged food in July
Bilberries / blaeberries (wild blueberries)
Elderflowers
Puffball mushrooms
Samphire (marsh and rock)
Scottish girolles (golden chanterelles)
[Take great care when foraging as it’s very easy to confuse edible and poisonous ingredients.]
Recommended foraging & wild food books
Fish in season in July
July’s a good month for most flatfish once their spawning season is over, especially Dover sole. You can also find Atlantic prawns and crab, plus fresh mackerel and sardines to throw on the barbecue.
Seasonal fish varies greatly around the UK and from year to year, for complex reasons including geography, climate change and overfishing. It’s a real labour of love trying to keep up with it all.
If in doubt about sustainability, look for farmed fish or responsibly fished wild varieties from a reliable fishmonger.
Here’s a rough guide to what’s most sustainable, in season and on sale now in July:
Sustainable British fish: July
Brill
Coley / saithe
Crab (brown)
Dab
Flounder
Haddock
Herring / sild
Mackerel
Plaice
Pollock
Pouting / bib
Cold water prawns
Sole (common / Dover)
[To the best of my knowledge, the list above excludes critically endangered fish. Visit The Good Fish Guide from the Marine Conservation Society for the latest lists which are regularly updated.]
You should be able find most of these sustainably via a good fishmonger:
Less sustainable UK fish: July
Cod
Lemon sole
Sardines / pilchards
Squid
Whiting
Wild halibut (best to avoid)
Wild salmon
Wild seabream
In good condition almost all year: herring, farmed halibut, farmed sea bream, farmed turbot, megrim sole, sustainably-fished monkfish, rope-grown mussels, prawns.
Recommended fish & shellfish books
FREE!!
UK fruit and veg calendar
Meat, poultry and game in season in July
Game season opens next month, but for now there’s this:
UK meat, poultry & game: July
Lamb (including salt marsh lamb)
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 July
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.
In July you can find aged fresh cheeses made from spring milk, fresh cheeses made from rich summer milk, white blooming rind cheeses made from late winter milk, washed-rind cheeses with orange or pink surfaces, and a few shorter-matured blue cheeses.
In particular, if you like squidgy soft cheeses, July’s a good month. Take a look:
Best British Cheeses: July
Farmhouse Cheddars
Ewe’s milk cheeses
Fresh and aged fresh goat’s cheese
Stinking Bishop
Best imported cheeses: July
Short-matured blue cheeses
Camembert de Normandie
Other soft cheeses (e.g. Chaource, Pont l’Evêque, Reblochon)
Feta
Mozzarella
Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially hard cheese types.
Recommended cheese books
Enjoying this guide? You may also like:
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- British seasonal food in August
- What to sow & do in a July kitchen garden
- Best supermarket rosé wines for 2026
Our favourite British seasonal food in July
The recent heatwave meant that we made most of our meals based around salads and anything else that doesn’t need cooking. Nobody in this house is putting the oven on indoors in the UK during these sorts of temperatures.
We’ve been eating a lot of lunches and dinners that are variations on lettuce, rocket, radishes and a bit of cheese – and it’s been pretty good with a chunk of bread and some nice dressing. The most effort I’ve made has involved throwing a few things in a griddle pan, like fish fillets and courgettes, and adding a squeeze of lemon.
For 2026 our kitchen garden’s given us lots of strawberries, and only a few raspberries, redcurrants and cherries. This was in direct contrast to last year, where the weather was different and we were giving away bowlfuls of cherries. We’ve topped up with slices of melon and a few peaches.
My July seasonal food shopping list has blueberries, apricots, and a big wodge of Camembert on it, and I’ll be making some new potato salad with loads of chopped chives later this week too. Might take it all out on a picnic with some crab sandwiches for a treat.
Recommended seasonal inspiration books
Has anything caught your eye on this list of best UK seasonal foods in July?
Any old favourites or interesting new things that you want to try?
