British seasonal food in November
Welcome to our comprehensive guide to all the best British seasonal food in November, including fruit, veg, foraged ingredients, fish, shellfish, meat and cheeses.
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
British-grown fruit
- apples
- cranberries
- medlars
- pears
- quinces
Best imported seasonal fruit
- clementines
- 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
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Vegetables in season in November
- beetroot (stored)
- broccoli (sprouting)
- Brussels sprouts and tops
- cabbage (Savoy, red)
- cardoons
- celeriac
- celery
- chard
- chicory
- endive
- horseradish
- Jerusalem artichoke
- kale
- kohlrabi
- leeks
- pak choi and other oriental greens
- parsnips
- pumpkins and 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 seasonal veg books & box delivery
Herbs in season in November
- fennel
- marjoram
- mint
- parsley
- sage
- thyme
- winter savory
[Always available: chives, coriander and parsley grown under cover; older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, thyme.]
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Wild / foraged food in season in November
It’s well and truly wild mushroom season. The other highlight is sloes for flavouring jams, gins and liqueurs.
- sloes
- wild mushrooms (ceps / penny bun / porcini, chanterelles, field, horn of plenty / black trumpets / trompettes, puffball, truffle and more)
[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 November
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 considered to be more sustainable.
Sustainable British fish
- 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.]
Less sustainable UK fish
- Atlantic cod
- langoustine / scampi
- seabream
- squid
- whelks
- whiting
Some of the fish in the list above can be sourced sustainably from a good fishmonger, depending on the area and fishing methods used.
[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
Meat, poultry and game in season in November
- capercaillie
- duck (wild)
- goose (including wild geese)
- grouse (red and black)
- guinea fowl
- 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
UK-made cheeses
- Cashel Blue and other shorter matured blue cheeses
- Ribblesdale and other mature goat cheese
- Wigmore (semi-hard sheep’s cheese)
- vintage Lincolnshire Poacher
- vintage farmhouse cheddars
Imported November cheese
- Alpine mountain cheeses such as mature Gruyère, mature Comté and raclette
- Vacherin Mont d’Or
[Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially hard cheeses.]
Recommended cheese & wine books + delivery
Enjoyed this guide? You may also like:
- British seasonal food in October
- British seasonal food in December
- Grow your own fruit & veg on a budget
- What to sow & do in a November kitchen garden
Favourite UK November seasonal foods
The other night we had a mushroom risotto with greens on the side for a comforting and easy dinner, and I’m looking forward to making a slow-cooked stew with lots of root vegetables later in the week. I quite fancy a few satsumas for snacking on too, for that taste of sunshine and an easy peel, so I’ll add some to my shopping list.
Recommended seasonal inspiration books
Do you have any favourite November British seasonal ingredients to add to your shopping list? What will you be cooking and eating this month?
