A quick stroll through the market right now and it's clear that July is the BEST month for fruits and vegetables 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 in season right now, along with the BEST recipes and ideas to eat. Shall we?
Fruits and Vegetables in Season in July | Recipes and Ideas for July |
Fruits and Vegetables in Season Year-Round | by Month
Fruits and Vegetables in Season in July
Here's the tl;dr list easy to copy and paste into your grocery list for the week ahead. Peep the following section for more details, and the best recipes that are fast, fresh, easy, and of course, healthy.
- Apples
- Avocados
- Blackberries, raspberries, and all the "brambleberries"
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe, honeydew, and other melons
- Cherries
- Corn
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Figs
- Green beans
- Herbs, soft leafy ones like like basil, cilantro, and dill
- Grapes
- Mango
- Okra
- Nectarines and peaches
- Stone fruit like apricots, plums, pluots, and fam
- Pears - first of season
- Peas
- Peppers
- Tomatillos, tomatoes
- Watermelon
- Zucchini and summer squash
Recipes and Ideas for July
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, they're at their peak right now.
- Avocado Hummus
- Avocado Citrus Salad
- How to Cut Avocado in 5 Ways
- Avocado Cucumber Salad w Chili Garlic Dressing
- 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!
- Berry Chia Seed Jam with Any Berries
- add to Chia Pudding and Chocolate Chia Pudding
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Berries
- Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Berries
- Substitute any berry into Butter Mochi Cake
Blueberries. Blueberries are CRUCIAL in July because every 4th of July party needs them for their red, white, and blue charcuterie boards, flag cakes, desserts, and otherwise. June/July is the end of the season for blueberries, so if you find them, fill your basket. What blueberries you don't just pop fresh, put into these recipes:
- Blueberry Muffin Baked Oatmeal
- Candied Fruit Dessert Charcuterie Board
- 4th of July Red White and Blue Charcuterie Board
- Blueberry Avocado Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Cantaloupe, honeydew, and other melons
Cherries have a somewhat short season, as early as mid-May in California, through June, and at their absolute peak in July. With so many cherry stones, I can't do anything but eat them fresh out of hand, but if you want to get the most of the short season and put cherries in EVERYTHING, they're pretty great anywhere you'd use fresh tomatoes like fresh pico de gallo, salsa, and any kind of salad like caprese, Greek, and Italian chopped salads.
- Salmon with Cherry Salsa
- Kale "Tabbouleh" with Cherries
Corn. In the Midwest, corn out in the field is supposed to be "knee high by the 4th of July" and ready for harvest a little later in the season. But the days are getting warmer sooner, so fresh, super summery sweet corn is available in July (and sometimes as early as June).
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.
- 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.
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
Mango.
Nectarines, peaches, and all the stone fruit like apricots, plums, pluots and fam.
Okra.
Peas, Sugar Snaps.
Peppers like bell peppers, hot chiles, and shishitos
- How to Roast Hatch Green Chiles
- Fish Sauce Vinaigrette
Tomatoes
Watermelon.
Zucchini and summer squash.
- Healthy Zucchini Bread
- Easiest One Bowl Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini Parmesan
- Zucchini Baba Ghanoush
- Thomas Keller's Roasted Zucchini
- Zucchini Pistachio Pesto Pasta
Apples. You might think of apples as the quintessential fall fruit, because that's when most apples are harvested, then kept in cold storage to make them available year-round. But some local apple varieties become available as early as July! Which is, of course, perfect for making that all-American dessert for the 4th of July, Apple Pie. If you prefer the sweet crisp crunch of apples in a fresh format, try:
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—we're here!
- What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season in August
- 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 July to celebrate!
Why Trust The Delicious Life?
Sarah is a professional recipe developer, writer, and editor, with 20 years of experience cooking both at home and in professional kitchens, entertaining, and catering for private clients. She studied Nutritional Science in college and promotes happy healthy living through food.
Leave a Reply