What’s in Season – September Produce and Recipes

As we head into Fall, what’s in season in September says goodbye to sweet fruits and hello to heartier September produce—perfect for shorter, cooler days.

Leaving the summer behind, seasonal foods in September have spent the warm and sunny season growing and are now ready to harvest. Indeed, the early fall months are all about harvesting—bringing in the goodness that will keep our bodies happy and healthy through the colder months.

As the weather gets cooler, my kitchen gets busier as I preserve fruit, make jams and spreads, or pull together comforting soups and stews that become staples of the freezer. If you’re like me and preparing to pack the freezer, keep an eye out for these September seasonal foods.

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Table of Contents

• Fruit
• Squash
• Vegetables
• More seasonal produce guides

Fruit

Apples: The apple season is long, and September is one of the peak months for these versatile fruits. Though you’ll likely see every color and shape at the grocery store, a few varieties are at their best during this month. Look out for Russet, Gala, McIntosh, Pink Lady, Honey Crisp, Cortland, and Empire apples. Snack on them raw or use them to make delicious autumnal desserts. I like fried apples and apple crisp during this time of the year.

Apple Juice (With and Without Juicer)

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Grapes: Peak harvesting season comes this month—for some, to make wine, and for others, a non-alcoholic option! Whether you go for green, red, or black, you can enjoy them for jams and jellies, for eating on their own, or for making candied grapes or tanghulu candied fruit.

If you harvest grapes yourself, make sure to collect some of their leaves. They are perfect for making stuffed grape leaves.

Grape Juice (5 Methods)

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Figs: This juicy Mediterranean fruit is one of those wonderful September fruits that bridges the gap between sweet and savory. You can enjoy the plump and juicy fruit raw, cutting or sprinkling over salads, drying them, or cooking into jam. But keep in mind that they’re only in season for the month of September and will leave the market shelves as quickly as they arrive.

Simple Fig Jam Recipe

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Stone fruit: Nectarines, peaches, and plums are less sweet than during the summer. They are best for peach smoothie, peach iced teas, made into peach syrup, or canned peaches for preserving. They also work great for desserts like peach cobbler, peach crumble, and cakes, or for one of those warmer-than-average days, peach ice cream.

Peach Lemonade

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Pumpkin: If one piece of produce could epitomize the fall, it would be the pumpkin—whether carved and lit with candles or incorporated into the season’s favorite pumpkin spice latte.

Pumpkin is a wonderfully versatile fruit that lends itself well to both savory dishes and desserts. Some of my favorite ways to use pumpkin are creamy pumpkin soup, pumpkin burgers, mashed with other root vegetables, and, of course, homemade pumpkin pie.

One-Pot Turmeric Ginger Pumpkin Soup

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Vegetables

Eggplants: Firm and plump, the eggplant makes a great transition vegetable for cooking. You may have spent August grilling eggplants, but they do just as well in the oven or when used to make other dishes, like Baba Ganoush or Zaalouk. The ideal eggplant has a deep purple color and should be firm to the touch, with no soft spots or wrinkles in the skin.

How To Cook Eggplant (Baked, Broiled & Air Fryer Eggplant)

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Peppers: You’ll find sweet bell peppers in the grocery store all through the year, but they are truly at their best during this month. The colors are important—all bell peppers start life green, so they tend to be the most bitter, whereas yellow, orange, and red tend to be sweeter, with red being the sweetest and highest in Vitamin C. You can enjoy them raw, dipped into hummus, as stuffed peppers, or easily made into red pepper pasta sauce. To preserve an abundance, you can learn how to roast peppers and store them in the freezer.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

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Chili peppers: September might be getting colder, but ripe chili peppers will certainly bring the heat! Jalapeno, Serrano, Scotch Bonnet, and Birds Eye are in season, among other hotter varieties. Proceed with caution – some chili peppers can get eye-watering hot if your palate isn’t used to it. If you don’t want to use it raw, try making chili pepper sauce or red chili pepper flakes for cooking and adding spice to your meals.

Homemade Chili Sauce

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Green Beans: Of all the September seasonal foods, green beans might have the most varieties and be one of the easiest to grow at home – popular ones include ordinary green beans, haricot vert (French beans), and romano beans, all of which are vibrant green and make excellent side dishes.

How to Boil Green Beans Perfectly

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Tomatillos: Otherwise known as a Mexican husk tomato, tomatillos are a light green color and have a distinctively acidic flavor. When cooked, they take on a slightly sweeter flavor, which is why the tomatillo is most commonly used in salsa verde, a Mexican dip that pairs tomatillo with serrano pepper, garlic, fresh herbs, and spices.

Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa (Salsa Verde)

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More seasonal produce guides

If you try any of these recipes for cooking with August seasonal produce, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I’d love to see your recipe recreations—tag me on Instagram @Alphafoodie!