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28 Seasonal Recipes to Make This Spring

28 Seasonal Recipes to Make This Spring

By Food & Wine

Updated April 08, 2020

Eva Kolenko

Asparagus and peas, radishes and artichokes, ramps—spring is an exciting time to be in the kitchen, and these recipes will help you make use of what’s in season. Think ricotta toasts paired with the grassy, slightly sweet taste of fava beans, and garganelli pasta covered with a garlicky scallion cream sauce. As for dessert? You’ll have to read on to find out.

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Pizza with Garlic Cream and Nettles

Fredrika Stjärne

You can use either green garlic or scallions for the garlic cream, and feel free to use baby arugula instead of nettles, too.

Lessons from Pizza Expert Mark Bello

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Spinach-and-Green-Pea Empanadas

Fredrika Stjärne

Mauricio Couly uses a mix of spinach, fava beans, green beans and a good amount of mint. He makes his own paprika-spiced empanada dough; store-bought empanada wrappers (available in the freezer section of many supermarkets and specialty food stores) work well, too.

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Spring Vegetable Stew

When fresh fava beans are available, use them in place of the cranberry beans.

Terrific Recipes for Vegetables

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Roasted Radishes with Radish Greens

Gerard Craft came up with this clever recipe one year when his local farmer had an abundance of radishes. Craft tried roasting them. The result: warm, crisp-tender radishes with delightfully bitter greens, which he finishes with butter and lemon.

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Garlic-Rubbed Pork Shoulder with Spring Vegetables

Tina Rupp

Pork shoulder is often braised or smoked, but Andrew Green rubs it with garlic and herbs, then slow-roasts the meat until it’s juicy and crusty.

Pork Cooking Guide

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Short Ribs with Mushrooms and Spring Vegetables

To layer the flavors in this dish, chef Rory Herrmann marinates beef short ribs and vegetables in red wine overnight, then uses the marinade in the braise as well. Spring vegetables help lighten the rich stew.

Incredible Soups and Stews

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Spring Panzanella with Asparagus

Recipes for panzanella (a Florentine bread salad popular in the summer) typically call for tomatoes, but in the spring, Mike Lata prefers using seasonal ingredients like asparagus and radishes.

Jacques Pépin Demonstrates How to Prepare Asparagus

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Morel-and-Asparagus Salad with Frisée and Butter Lettuce

This light, simple salad highlights poached morels and asparagus with a combination of frisée and butter lettuces.

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Beer-Braised Chicken Stew with Fava Beans and Peas

Paul Kahan is a big fan of chicken thighs because they have so much flavor and are so inexpensive—the best of both worlds. He braises the thighs in beer to make an excellent spring stew that he (naturally) pairs with more beer, such as Pere Jacques from Chicago's Goose Island Beer Company, a Belgian-style ale full of caramelized malt flavors.

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Pea Consommé with Mint

This delicate broth is full of vitamin C, thanks to the pea pods Jeremy Fox simmers. (Snow peas are just as delicious and easier to find.) He tops the consommé with shards of white chocolate because he likes the way it brings out the peas’ sweetness while adding only a little fat.

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Veal Stew with Spring Greens

This lemony stew has a delicious mix of spinach, sorrel, watercress, romaine and herbs.

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Spring Lettuce Salad with Roasted Asparagus

This top-rated salad from Amber Huffman combines mixed spring lettuces, Parmigiano-Reggiano, asparagus, and a simple dressing.

10 Ways to Get Inspired by Vegetables

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Lemon, Poppy and Chèvre Cheesecakes with Rhubarb

“I am obsessed with the chèvre from Texas’s Pure Luck Farm,” says Laura Sawicki. “I love how well it pairs with the cooked rhubarb in my cheesecakes.”

More Delicious Desserts

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Creamy Spring Onion Soup

This fresh-tasting soup can be prepared with scallions or green garlic (which is harvested before the cloves have matured and has a subtle garlic flavor). A swirl of buttermilk mixed with fresh goat cheese at the end adds a nice tang.

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Grilled Asparagus Subs with Smoky French Dressing

© JOHNNY VALIANT

Tyler Kord smokes the French dressing for his asparagus sandwiches over wood chips. This simplified version gets its smokiness from chipotles and smoked salt.

Vegetable Cooking Tips from Expert Dana Slatkin

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Sautéed Radishes with Orange Butter

Emeril Lagasse sautés radishes and their greens with bacon, shallots and orange juice until they’re perfectly crisp-tender.

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Spiced Rhubarb Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream

Lucy Schaeffer

This silky fruit dessert is delicious on its own or topped with vanilla ice cream. Just be sure to only barely cook the rhubarb, so that it retains its crispness—and plenty of tangy flavor.

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Fava Bean Pasta e Fagioli

Chef Mike Lata’s spring version of pasta e fagioli, the Italian soup, uses fresh fava beans in place of borlotti or cannellini beans, along with meaty bits of bacon and a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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Farro Salad with Radishes, Snap Peas, Olives, and Pecorino

Eva Kolenko

Farro has a sweet, earthy flavor and delightful chewy texture; it adds a wonderful hardiness to the fresh, crunchy vegetables and salty olives and cheese in this salad. If Meyer lemons aren’t available in your area, use regular fresh lemon juice and increase the honey to balance the dressing.

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Strawberry-Buttermilk Cobbler

Eva Kolenko

A mixture of spelt and almond flours, gently combined with cold butter and creamy buttermilk, creates tender, fluffy biscuits that cover this juicy strawberry cobbler filling. Use the sweetest, best-quality berries from the market; their flavor is the foundation of this seasonal dessert.

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Roasted Baby Artichokes with Parsley and Mint

Eva Kolenko

Removing the outer leaves and inner thistle of each baby artichoke reveals its lightly astringent, mildly sweet core, tender enough for quick cooking. Be careful to wash your cutting board and knife well after preparing the baby artichokes as they can leave behind a bitter residue.

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Ricotta-Fava Toasts

Eva Kolenko

The delicate, milky flavor of fresh ricotta pairs with the grassy, lightly sweet taste of fava beans. Use best-quality cheese, produce, and bread here for a toast that’s more than the sum of its parts.

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Rhubarb-and-Currant Mostarda

Victor Protasio

This slightly sweet mostarda gets plenty of gentle heat and acid from dry mustard, mustard seeds, and red wine vinegar. Dried black currants plump up as they absorb the liquid, providing a juicy bite.

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Garganelli with Speck, Peas, and Scallion Cream

Victor Protasio

Sweet spring peas and garlicky sauce flood tubular garganelli pasta, making each bite a surprise. Substitute penne if you can’t find garganelli, and don’t skip the lemon and mint at the end, which bring balance to the dish.

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Baked Spaetzle with Green Pea Pesto

Eva Kolenko

While spaetzle is traditionally boiled like pasta, here the mini dumplings are tossed in olive oil and baked with leeks until crisp and browned, then blanketed with a creamy fonduta. The herb-and-pea pesto takes the dish from comfort fare to a vibrant spring side.

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Fennel and Arugula Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Eric Wolfinger

Meyer lemon has a tartness that’s more tamed than lemon, which is why we love it with peppery arugula and crisp shaved fennel in this simple salad. Soaking the shaved fennel in ice water helps the thin slices retain their crisp.

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Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms

Eva Kolenko

A drizzle of syrupy aged balsamic balances the earthiness of the mushrooms and slight char on the asparagus.

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Wine-Poached Strawberries and Apricots

Victor Protasio

Semi-dry Riesling, which is refreshing and not too sweet, is the secret to this impressive, balanced dessert. Dried apricots lend a gentle bitterness while the strawberries add sweetness and impart the rosiest color.

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