What’s in season during Autumn

What’s in season during Autumn

As the weather changes, so do the fruits and vegetables in the produce aisle. Cooler weather signals the abundance of favourites like pumpkin, apples and pears, but what other fruits and vegetables are available? Here’s a list of some popular autumn fruits and vegetables which are in all their seasonal glory, plus lots of seasonal recipe ideas like toasty banana bread, mushroom ragu on a creamy bed of polenta, cheesy cauliflower mac and cheese and more!

Autumn fruits

Though many of these fruits are available all year round, you'll find that they're at their best now - especially apples and pears, which will be freshly harvested instead of coming from cold storage. Click the fruit names for more recipes using them!

• Apples

• Bananas

• Limes

• Lemons

• Grapes

• Pears

• Passionfruit

• Kiwifruit

• Navel oranges

• Imperial mandarins

• Persimmons

• Rhubarb

• Figs

• Pomegranates

• Finger limes

• Custard apples

• Dates

• Guava

Autumn vegetables

• Beans

• Broccoli

• Pumpkin

• Leeks

• Eggplant

• Cauliflower

• Carrots

• Bok choy

• Spinach

• Capsicums

• Mushrooms

• Fennel

• Silverbeet

• Brussels sprouts

• Kale

• Chestnuts

Why it's better to buy seasonal produce

Choosing in-season fruits and vegetables is an excellent idea for a few reasons.

1. It's cheaper - when fruit and vegetables are in season, they're abundant. This means they're at better prices, and you can get some great bargains.

2. It's more nutritious - seasonal fruit and vegetables are allowed to mature at optimum conditions and are fresher and therefore have more vitamins and antioxidants.

3. It supports local suppliers - if it's in season, what you'll see in store has usually been grown locally instead of imported.

4. It's more sustainable - buying local, seasonal produce means that it hasn't had to travel as far or be kept under special conditions for a long time.

Autumn recipes

Get lots of ideas for using seasonal autumn produce with the recipes below, or check out this collection of Autumn Recipes.

Bake your bounty of autumn eggplants with a sticky glaze until they're creamy and tender.

This pasta bake screams autumn with both pumpkin and spinach piled into giant pasta shells.

This beautiful vegetable curry is full of autumn produce, from tender baked eggplant to fresh assorted mushrooms.