British seasonal food in November - what to eat now

Best British seasonal food in November UK ingredients

Welcome to our comprehensive guide to all the best British seasonal food in November, including fruit, veg, foraged ingredients, fish, shellfish, meat and cheeses.

As the clocks go back in the UK and the weather cools, hearty vegetables and stored apples and pears become the stars of the season.

November’s seasonal ingredients lend themselves to delicous, comforting pies, crumbles, bakes and casseroles, and many other dishes. Here’s what to buy at the market, look out for in your delivery box or pick from the allotment this month.

Fruit in season in November

There’s less to choose from this month in the homegrown fruit section, and it’s mostly tree fruits from the pome family (apples, quince, pears, medlars etc) to enjoy at their best.

British-grown fruit in November

Apples
Cranberries (the UK produces a few homegrown)
Medlars
Pears
Quinces

Top up with nuts and imported fruits to add variety.

Imported seasonal fruit: November

Clementines
Cranberries
Dates
‘Easy peelers’ citrus (satsumas, tangerines etc)
Pomegranates

Nuts in season in November

Almonds
Hazelnuts (from store)
Sweet chestnuts
Walnuts

Recommended seasonal fruit & preserves books

This site may get paid a small amount of commission for purchases made after clicking some of the links in this post. There’s no extra cost to you, so please support our work.

Vegetables in season in November

Best British vegetables in season November seasonal ingredients UK

The vegetables are mostly hearty ones this month, with a wide range of root vegetables and hardy brassicas dominating the harvests.

For an interesting treat, look out for Jerusalem artichokes and other ingredients such as salsify.

British seasonal veg: November

Beetroot (stored)
Broccoli (sprouting)
Brussels sprouts & tops
Cabbage (Savoy, red)
Cardoons
Celeriac
Celery
Chard
Chicory
Endive
Horseradish
Jerusalem artichoke
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Pak choi & other oriental greens
Parsnips
Pumpkins & winter squashes (from store)
Salsify
Scorzonera
Spinach
Swedes
Turnips
Winter radish
Winter salad leaves (grown under cover)

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

Recommended vegetable books

FREE!!

UK fruit and veg calendar

Herbs in season in November

Fennel
Marjoram
Mint
Parsley (especially hardy / curled)
Sage
Thyme
Winter savory

Always available:

Chives, coriander and parsley grown under cover.
Older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, thyme.

Wild / foraged food in season in November

British seasonal foraged food in November wild seasonal ingredients

It’s well and truly wild mushroom season as the weather turns. If you’re feeling flush, look out for the big highlight: truffles, which tend to be imported from France or Italy.

The other popular foraged ingredient this month is the last few sloes for flavouring jams, gins and liqueurs.

UK foraged food: November

Sloes
Wild mushrooms (ceps / penny bun / porcini, chanterelles, field, horn of plenty / black trumpets / trompettes, puffball, truffle & more)

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

Recommended foraging & wild food books

British seasonal fish in November seafood shellfish — Clockwise from top left: plaice, hake, mussels, haddock.

Cooler seas mean more fish are in good condition this month, especially hake, haddock and sustainably fished cod. However, as the weather becomes rougher it’s harder for fishing boats to bring in a catch.

Seasonal fish varies greatly in different areas around the UK, and from year to year, changing in response to sea temperature, conservation or overfishing, and breeding cycles. Here’s a rough guide to what’s on sale now that’s more sustainable:

Sustainable British fish: November

Brill
Clams
Cockles
Coley / saithe
Dab
Flounder
Gurnard (grey, red)
Haddock
Hake
Halibut (wild Greenland)
Herring
Lobster
Mackerel
Monkfish
Mussels
Oysters
Plaice
Pollock
Pouting / bib
Prawns
Scallops
Sole (common / Dover, lemon, witch)
Spider crab
Sprat / whitebait
Trout
Wild turbot

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

You should also be able to source these from responsible fishmongers, depending on the area and fishing methods used:

Less sustainable UK fish: November

Atlantic cod (line caught)
Langoustine / scampi
Seabream
Squid
Whelks
Whiting

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

Recommended seasonal fish & shellfish books

FREE!!

UK fruit and veg calendar

Meat, poultry and game in season in November

British game meat poultry in season November seasonal food — Clockwise from top left: giunea fowl, venison, pheasant, wild goose.

Game is still plentiful this month, especially venison. There are also several different types of farmed poultry raised in greater quantity for the winter market, including guinea fowl, goose and turkey.

UK meat, poultry & game: November

Capercaillie
Duck (wild)
Goose (including wild geese)
Grouse (red and black)
Guinea fowl (farmed)
Hare
Mallard
Partridge
Pheasant
Ptarmigan
Snipe
Teal
Venison (fallow deer, red deer, roe deer doe, sika deer)
Wigeon
Woodcock

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

Recommended meat, game & poultry books

Cheese in season in November

British Irish cheese in season November & imported seasonal cheeses — Clockwise from top left: Cashel Blue, mature Lincolnshire Poacher, mature Gruyère, mixed Alpine cheese fondue.

Seasonal cheese depends on the animals being milked, their grazing and reproductive cycles, the way specific cheeses are made, and their time to mature.

Quality cheeses have had longer to mature now, resulting in harder and creamier textures. Look out for longer-aged goat and sheep cheeses, mature washed-rind cheeses with orange or pink surfaces, semi-hard cheeses, hard cheeses, and medium-matured blue cheeses.

This additional time to mature results in stronger flavoured blue, goat and sheep cheeses, as well as more tangy Cheddars.

Best British cheeses: November

Cashel Blue & other medium-matured blue cheeses
Ribblesdale & other mature goat cheese
Stinking Bishop
Wensleydale
Wigmore (semi-hard sheep’s cheese)
Vintage Lincolnshire Poacher
Vintage farmhouse cheddars

November’s also when some of the best Alpine cheeses, from cows fed on herb-rich mountain pastures, are ready to hit the market.

Best imported cheeses: November

Abondance
Beaufort
Cantal
Mature Comté
Epoisses (from autumn grass fed cows)
Mature Gruyère
Mont d’Or Vacherin
Raclette
Roquefort, other medium matured blue cheeses
Saint-Nectaire

Vacherin is technically available from part-way through September until the start of May, but you’re more likely to find it in the UK in November or December.

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

Recommended cheese books

Enjoying this guide? You may also like:

What we’re eating at Golightly Gardens this November

November’s the perfect month to make a pear or apple tart, or maybe a spiced crumble. They’re easy to make, and you can put them on a lower shelf in the oven while a main course is cooking to save electricity, or make mini ones in an air fryer for a quick weekend dessert.

Root vegetables reign supreme this month too, so I think we’ll be having bangers and mash with some interesting veg mixed in with the usual potatoes. My favourites are carrot or swede mash, and of course plenty of gravy to go with it.

We’ve put mussels on the menu for next week, probably something very simple and steamed with white wine and herbs. Lots of crusty bread on the side to mop it all up too.