August might be the BEST month for refreshing fruits and vegetables, everything from Avocados to Zucchini. Because everything is so fresh and ripe, you barely have to prep, let alone cook, any of them! Use this list of all the fruits and vegetables at peak season right now, along with the BEST recipes and ideas to eat. Shall we?
Fruits and Vegetables in Season in August | Recipes and Ideas for August |
Fruits and Vegetables in Season Year-Round
Fruits and Vegetables in Season in August
Late summer, specifically August, is when all the fruits and vegetables that have been soaking up sunshine all summer long start to hit the farmers markets at their absolute peak. Though there are some fruits and vegetables that have been at the markets from spring like strawberries, and some that will extend into fall like apples, August is the month to get your fill of true summer-only produce like peaches, plums, cantaloupe, watermelon, figs (!!!), the sweetest, most flavorful tomatoes, corn, peppers of all kinds, and of course, zucchini. Look for those first.
The tl;dr alphabetized list below is easy to copy and paste into your grocery list for the week ahead. Peep the following sections for details on how to pick the best, ripest produce, and the best recipes that are fast, fresh, easy, and of course, healthy.
The ** fruits and vegetables are ones that are at their absolute peak, and while you might be able to find them year-round in your grocery store (thank you, modern global imports and exports!), you definitely want them right now.
- Apples
- Avocados
- Blackberries, raspberries, and all the "brambleberries" **
- Cantaloupe, honeydew, and other melons **
- Corn **
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant **
- Figs **
- Green beans
- Herbs, soft leafy ones like like basil, cilantro, and dill
- Grapes
- Nectarines and peaches **
- Stone fruit like apricots, plums, pluots, and fam **
- Pears - first of season
- Peppers **
- Tomatillos, tomatoes **
- Watermelon **
- Zucchini and summer squash **
Recipes and Ideas for August Fruits and Vegetables
Zucchini and summer squash. August is the month when everyone and their mothers (and their mothers' neighbors as is the case for me and my parents) have zucchini veritably exploding out of their gardens. And it's not just a lot of zucchini and summer squash, it's a lot of HUGE zucchini and summer squash! Pretty sure zucchini bread was invented specifically to use up all the gifts of baskets full of giant zucchini left on everyone's front porches.
- Healthy Zucchini Bread, made with oat and walnut flours
- Easiest One Bowl Zucchini Bread
- Thomas Keller's Roasted Zucchini, the viral tik tok version!
- Zucchini Pistachio Pesto Pasta
- Zucchini Baba Ghanoush
- Garlic Sautéed Zucchini
- Crispy Korean Zucchini Pancakes with Soy Dipping Sauce
Watermelon.
Cantaloupe, honeydew, and other melons are at their absolute PEAK in August. If there are melon varieties beyond the usual cantaloupe and honeydews that you haven't tasted before, now's the time to try them. Santa Claus melon, anyone?
Pro-tip: If you live in southern California and can get to a local farmers' market, look for Weiser Family Farms for the sweetest, most fragrant, drippingly ripe melons!
Nectarines, peaches, and all the stone fruit, especially plums and pluots!
- Peach Salad with Hot Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Easy Plum Cake, one bowl, made with olive oil, upside-down
Corn. Where I'm from, the Midwest, corn out in the field is "knee high by the 4th of July" and ready for harvest at their absolute peak in August. If the farmstands and produce tables are overflowing, grab extras that you can freeze to use through the fall, especially for everyone's favorite Corn Soufflé for Thanksgiving!
Cucumbers. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING more satisfying than the refreshing crunch of cucumbers in the sweltering heat of summer, made even better when dressed with a spicy, salty, umami sauce that makes you sweat a little. Japanese cucumbers, Korean cucumbers, and Persian cucumbers are great for salads because their skins are thin so they don't need peeling.
- Tzatziki with Cucumber for the MOST EPIC Mezze Platter
- Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad
- Cucumber Salad, Din Tai Fung Dupe
- Cucumber Avocado Salad with Garlic Chili Vinaigrette
- California Sushi Rolls and Summer Rolls with Avocado and Cucumber
Eggplant.
- Baba Ghanoush, Mediterranean roasted eggplant dip
Figs.
- Fresh Fig Ricotta Taste and How to Eat Figs
- Fig Arugula Salad
- Fresh Fig Ice Cream
- Fig Walnut Olive Oil Cake
- Top Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
Tomatillos, tomatoes.
Peppers like bell peppers, hot chiles, and shishitos, and if you're lucky enough to find them in that tiny, fleeting 2- to 3-week window that shifts every year, Hatch Chile Peppers from New Mexico!
Avocados. In my world, avocados are an all day, every day, all season vegetable. Guac and chips in the dead of December? Absolutely. But most varieties of avocado do have a season, which is summer. If you're getting avocados from the farmers' markets, grab what's left of them from the summer.
- Avocado Hummus
- Avocado Green Goddess Dressing/Dip
- Healthy Avocado Chocolate Pudding
- How to Cut Avocado in 5 Ways
- Avocado Cucumber Salad with Spicy Chili Garlic Dressing
- Avocado Citrus Salad
- Avocado Green Goddess Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- California Sushi Rolls and Summer Rolls with Avocado and Cucumber
Blackberries and raspberries are known as "brambleberries," which grow on large bushes called "brambles," often with sharp thorns like rose bushes. In fact, brambles and roses stem from, ha ha pun intended, the same botanical family, rosaceae. If you have access to local farms, farmers markets, and specialty growers, you might find all the cousins of blackberries and raspberries like boysenberries, cloudberries, marionberries, olallieberries, and salmonberries!
- Kale Salad with Berries
- Berry Chia Seed Jam with Any Berries
- Berry Chantilly Tiramisu, like Whole Foods, but faster and better
- Substitute any berry into Strawberry Butter Mochi Cake
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Berries
- Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Berries
Green beans.
Herbs, soft herbs like basil, cilantro, dill, and parsley.
- Italian Salsa Verde with Parsley
- Aji Verde with Cilantro
- Green Goddess Dip
- Dill Pickle Vinaigrette
- Dill Pickle Chopped Salad
Grapes
Apples. You might think of apples as the quintessential back-to-school/September/fall fruit, because that's when most apples are harvested, then kept in cold storage to make them available year-round. But some earlier apple varieties are available in August.
Pears.
- Pear Arugula Salad
- Korean pears on top of Spicy Buckwheat Noodles Salad Bibim Naeng-Myeon
- Asian pears on top of Buckwheat Noodles in Chilled Broth
Fruit and Vegetables in Season Right Now and Always
These fruits and vegetables are considered "always in season!" At least here in California!
- artichokes
- beets
- broccoli, cauliflower and fam, except brussels
- cabbage
- carrots
- flowers, edible and otherwise!
- fruit, dried
- Brownie Baked Oatmeal with Prunes
- Pinot Prune Jam
- Healthy Chocolate Spread aka "No-tella"
- Chocolate Salami for Dessert Platters
- Homemade Hoisin Sauce
- Cauliflower Sicilian-style with Raisins and Pistachios
- garlic
- herbs
- Rosemary Olive Oil Cake
- Rosemary White Bean Dip
- Olive Salsa Verde
- Italian Salsa Verde
- lemons
- Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Marcella Hazan's Roast Chicken with Lemons
- lettuces and leafy greens
- mandarins and tangerines
- mushrooms
- onions
- oranges
- Orange Olive Oil Cake
- for your Cheese and Charcuterie Boards: Candied Oranges
- for your cocktail garnishes: Dried Oranges
- potatoes
- radishes
- Pickled Radish
- Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Radish Do Chua
- Soy Sauce Pickled Radish and Onions
- Spicy Radish Salad, aka musaengchae
- Radish Kimchi, aka "kkadugi"
- strawberries
- Strawberry Salad
- Strawberry Mochi Cake
- Strawberry Ice Cream
- How to Keep Strawberries Fresh
- sweet potatoes
- Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Feta and Pomegranate
What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season, by Month
Planning ahead? Here's what fruits and vegetables are in season for the months coming up:
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in January
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in February
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in March
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in April
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in May
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in June
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in July
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in August-we're here!
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in September
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in October
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in November
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in December
You don't NEED a reason to celebrate, throw a dinner party, gather friends and family to grill, but if you do, here's an entire monthly calendar of food holidays in August to celebrate!
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