Find inspiration and ideas for seasonal cooking for March including lists of produce to buy, what to use up, and simple seasonal eating recipes for meal planning.
Make sure to grab your free printable menu planning page to help you focus on cooking through the seasons.
This article is part of a year-long series on how to cook seasonal foods for each month as a resource for meal planning, saving money, and helping the environment.
Each month of the seasonal cooking series includes:
- What's in season for that month.
- What you may have in your freezer and pantry to use up if you preserve food.
- Favorite recipes using seasonal produce from An Oregon Cottage to help you plan to eat seasonally.
- A free printable weekly menu planner for the month with areas to record what's in season for you and what you have to use up!
You can find all the months of this seasonal eating series here.
I think of March as a transitional month - most of the month really is still winter, but it seems like spring.
We do start seeing some overwintered plants start producing like purple sprouting broccoli and spinach - if we have that going in the garden (many years I don't).
But by the end of the month the wonderful first vegetable and fruit of spring - asparagus and rhubarb - start producing. Then it really starts to seem like spring!
Here are tips to help you eat more seasonally and use this resource page with the free printable meal planner:
You can read the first section of this month for answers to the questions, "What is seasonal cooking," "Why is easting seasonal important" - and a big caution we need to take into account for eating "seasonally."
- Use the lists and recipes you find here for March to make a menu according to what you are harvesting/buying.
- Harvest from your own garden or visit farmer's markets for the produce you need.
- OR use the shopping lists when super market shopping, noting the sales in the produce aisle.
- Try new things that are in season.
- Add any new recipes you like and keep them in a binder to cycle through the following season.
It's easy to lose track of produce's seasonality since most are carried all year long in stores - use this resource article and the free printable weekly menu planning page to help:
Download the menu page, print it out, and use it to write down the seasonal foods you need to use and buy, as well as the recipes you'll make that week.
PRO TIP: Download every month and you'll have a custom seasonal menu binder you can refer to year after year!
Note: If you're already a subscriber, you can find this in the VIP library!
March Seasonal Eating
For most of the month, it's mainly the same produce- canned, fresh, & frozen- that we've been eating since February (and January...).
And it's also time to start using up what we have left from last year in our freezers and pantries before the new gardening season is in full swing.
I've got a few of my favorite recipes to use up some of our preserved foods below - check them out and add them to your planning printable.
Seasonal Produce For March
In Season Fruits:
- Apples (stored)
- Citrus (lemon, orange, grapefruit)
- Pears (stored)
- First Strawberries (some areas)
In Season Vegetables:
- Asparagus
- Avocados
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Carrots, parsnips (stored)
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Chard/Kale
- Garlic (stored)
- Green Onions
- Leeks
- Baby Lettuce (covered)
- Mushrooms
- Onions (stored)
- Pea & Pea shoots (in some areas)
- Potatoes (stored)
- Purple-sprouting broccoli
- Radicchio
- Rutabagas, turnips
- Spinach
Freezer and Pantry Preserved Foods
- Tomato products (Roasted Tomato Sauce, Addictive Tomato Chutney, canned plain tomatoes, seasoned sauce and garden salsa)
- Frozen corn and frozen green beans
- Frozen blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries
- Pickled foods: cucumbers, beans, and asparagus
- Sauces and condiments: Plum sauce, chutneys, jams, etc.
- Oil-packed dried tomatoes
- Frozen chopped sweet peppers
- Dried herbs
Seasonal Eating Recipes for March
Slow Cooker Italian Vegetable Beef Soup (+ Instant Pot Option)
Soups like this are a great way to use up produce in all forms - frozen, canned, and fresh.
Mediterranean Fish Bake - Easy, Healthy Dinner Recipe
This one-dish dinner uses up potatoes and tomatoes. The flavors of the olives and feta make the fish and vegetables taste amazing.
Long-Cooked Green Beans with Onions & Bacon (Cooking with Unblanched, Frozen Green Beans)
This easy green bean recipe - "long cooked" just means 15-20 minutes - is the BEST way to use up your bags of unblanched frozen green beans. You will not believe how good these are!
Slow Cooker Chicken Chili (with Stovetop Option)
This chili uses corn, peppers, and white beans from the freezer (or from cans if that's what you have). It's a great spring menu option as we're thinking about using up our freezer inventory.
Roasted Beet Salad With Goat Cheese
If you have any packages of roasted beets from the fall, while they do last surprisingly long in the freezer, it is time to use them up in things like this delicious salad.
Quick & Easy Roasted Corn Salsa (using frozen corn)
This corn salsa/salad is another favorite way to use up corn from the freezer. It's good as a dip like I show above, and also topping tacos, salad, and nachos.
What do you like to eat in March?
Don't forget to download and print out your free seasonal meal planning page:
Looking for more seasonal cooking ideas for March? Check out these March dinner menu ideas for four weeks of easy entrees and sides!
This article has been updated to be more relevant and useful - it was originally published in 2012.
