British seasonal food in October – what to eat now
Here’s the latest comprehensive guide to the best British seasonal food in October. The leaves are turning red, yellow and brown, the nights are drawing in, and the temperature’s starting to cool.
October’s hearty star ingredients are perfect for comfort food when it’s cold and rainy, lending themselves to soups, stews, pies, crumbles, baked fruits and any main course served with mashed potato and gravy.
Look out for seasonal treats such as pears, nuts, pumpkins and mussels at their absolute best.
Here’s what’s in peak condition at the market, on your allotment, in your delivery box or on the supermarket shelves this month.
Fruit in season in October
Apples and pears are the big crop this month, and this year there’s a glut of quinces to cook with. Also look out for ripe figs and the last few berries.
Here’s what’s available and at its best:
British-grown fruit in October
Apples
Blackberries
Figs
Grapes
Pears
Plums
Quinces
Raspberries
Imported seasonal fruit: October
Figs
Grapes
Nuts in season in October
- Cobnuts and hazelnuts
- Sweet chestnuts
- Walnuts
Recommended seasonal fruit & preserves books
Vegetables in season in October
There’s still plenty of choice among the vegetables:
British seasonal veg: October
Aubergine
Autumn cabbage (green, red)
Broccoli (calabrese, autumn sprouting)
Brussels sprouts
Cardoons
Celeriac
Celery
Chard
Chicory
Chillies
Courgettes
Cucumber
Endive
Fennel (Florence / bulb)
Jerusalem artichoke
Kale
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Leeks
Marrow
Pak choi
Parsnips
Peppers
Pumpkins & winter squashes
Radishes (summer, winter)
Salsify
Scorzonera
Spinach
Spring onions
Swedes
Sweetcorn
Sweet peppers
Turnips
Tomatoes
Watercress
Available most months in good condition: button mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, maincrop potatoes, onions, rocket.
Recommended veg cookbooks
FREE!!
UK fruit and veg calendar
Herbs in season in October
- Chervil
- Chives
- Coriander
- Dill
- Fennel
- Lovage
- Marjoram
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Sorrel
- Summer savory
- 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 October
It’s a great month for wild food and foraged ingredients. In particular, look out for a wide variety of wild mushrooms.
UK foraged food: October
Bullaces
Crab apples
Damsons
Elderberries
Samphire (rock)
Sloes
Wild mushrooms (ceps / penny bun, chanterelles, field, horn of plenty / black trumpets / trompettes, puffball, truffle & many 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 October
October is one of the best months of the year for seafood as cooler seas arrive, including most shellfish, white fish and flat fish.
Stars of the season include mussels, haddock, and sustainably caught cod and squid.
Sustainable types of fish & shellfish
Seasonal fish varies greatly around the UK, and from year to year, but here’s a rough guide to what’s on sale now:
Sustainable British fish: October
Brill
Clams
Cockles
Coley / saithe
Crab (spider)
Dab
Flounder
Gurnard (grey, red)
Haddock
Hake
Herring / sild
Langoustine / scampi
Lobster
Mackerel
Monkfish
Mussels
Oysters (native)
Plaice
Pollock
Pouting / bib
Prawns
Sardines / European pilchard
Scallops
Sole (common / Dover, lemon, witch / Torbay)
Sprat / whitebait
Trout
Wild turbot
[To the best of my knowledge the list above excludes critically endangered fish, but this information is subject to change. Visit The Good Fish Guide from the Marine Conservation Society to check their latest lists.]
Fish in season, less sustainable
Some of the fish in the ‘less sustainable’ list below are fished responsibly in certain areas of the UK. You should still be able to source these from a reliable fishmonger:
Less sustainable UK fish: October
Atlantic cod
John dory
Red mullet
Squid
Whiting
Wild seabass
Wild seabream
Wild sea trout
Whelks
Winkles
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 October
Hunting season now opens for a wider number of species.
UK meat, poultry & Game: October
Capercaillie
Goose
Grouse (black, red)
Guinea fowl
Hare
Lamb (hogget, late season)
Mallard
Ptarmigan
Snipe (common)
Teal
Partridge (grey, red-legged)
Pheasant
Venison (fallow buck, red stag, roe buck, sika stag)
Wigeon
Wild duck
Woodcock
Always available in good condition: beef, chicken, pork, rabbit, farmed venison, wood pigeon.
Recommended meat, poultry & game books
Cheese in season in October
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.
Quality cheeses have had longer to mature now, resulting in harder and creamier textures, and sometimes nutty or sweeter flavours. Look out for longer-aged goat and sheep cheeses, washed-rind cheeses with orange or pink surfaces, semi-hard cheeses, younger hard cheeses, and medium-matured (3 – 6 months) blue cheeses.
Some inspiration for your October cheeseboard:
Best British cheeses: October
Blue cheeses, medium-matured (e.g. Beenleigh Blue, Dorset Blue Vinny, Pevensey Blue)
Caerphilly
Farmhouse Cheshire
Double Gloucester
Stinking Bishop
Wigmore
Vintage cheddars
Best imported cheeses: October
Abondance
Beaufort
Cantal
Roquefort, other medium matured blue cheeses
Saint-Nectaire
Early Vacherin*
*Official Mont d’Or Vacherin season is technically early September to early May, but it isn’t so easy to find in the UK outside October – December.
Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially hard cheeses.
Recommended cheese books
Enjoying this guide? You may also like:
- British seasonal food in September
- British seasonal food in November
- Grow your own fruit & veg on a budget
- Christmas prep in October – get organised
What we’re eating at Golightly Gardens
I’m a huge fan of autumn fruits, so over the next couple of weeks I’ll be making a pear crumble with a chopped hazelnut crust, and baked figs with honey and cinnamon.
It’s also time for a huge batch of roasted pumpkin, with rosemary, red onions, garlic and chilli. It’s so easy, but it’s delicious. We’ll eat some of that straight away with gnocchi and parmesan on top, and I’ll put the rest into the freezer for easy midweek side dishes. Throw in some sweetcorn and feta and you have a tasty one-pot meal.
If we go out for dinner, I’ll probably have mussels or sole, or maybe some smoked haddock and winter greens. It’s such a good month for fish and seafood, can’t wait.
Bon appetit!
Recommended seasonal inspiration 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.
Have any of the ingredients from this British seasonal food in October list caught your eye?
What’s your favourite recipe for this time of year? Let us know in the comments below.
