Fruit and Vegetable Recipes
Recipes that put fruit and vegetables first: moussaka, tabbouleh, guacamole, kimchi, winter soup and baked apples, plus the produce worth knowing.
Fruit and vegetables aren't the side act here. In these recipes they're the star: eggplant melting into moussaka, a mountain of parsley in tabbouleh, apples baked soft in their own caramel. Most are cheap, many are vegan already, and every one of them makes eating your greens feel like a treat rather than a chore.
Vegetables as the main event
- Moussaka. Layers of eggplant, spiced sauce and a golden topping. Swap the meat for lentils and it's just as hearty.
- Winter vegetable soup. Sweet potato, carrot, parsnip and peas, partly blended so it's creamy without cream. Vegan-friendly and very cheap.
- Green curry. A Thai curry that's happy with any vegetables you have, from eggplant to bok choy.
- Stir-fry. The fastest way to cook a pile of vegetables and keep their crunch. Broccoli, mushrooms and spinach all love a hot wok.
- Bibimbap. A rice bowl topped with a rainbow of seasoned vegetables. Pretty enough to photograph, easy enough for a Tuesday.
Fresh and raw
- Tabbouleh. In Lebanon it's a herb salad first and a grain salad second. Fresh herbs, tomato, lemon and a little bulgur.
- Greek salad. Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and olives. Make it when tomatoes taste like summer.
- Guacamole. Avocado, lime, chilli and coriander, mashed together in minutes.
- Kimchi. Korea's spicy fermented cabbage. Make one big jar and it lifts meals for weeks.
Small and crunchy
Fruit, baked and fresh
- Baked apples. Apples halved and baked under an oat and walnut crumble until they sit in their own caramel.
- Apple pie and cherry pie. Fruit at its most generous, wrapped in flaky pastry. Frozen cherries work fine.
- Fig and prosciutto bruschetta. Ripe figs, ricotta and a drizzle of honey on garlic toast. A 15-minute starter for fig season.
- Quince. Hard and golden raw, ruby-red and jammy after a long, slow cook.
- Mulberries and rosehips. Fruits you might find growing in a backyard or a laneway. Eat mulberries straight from the tree; turn rosehips into tea or syrup.
- Bananas. Almost all Australian bananas grow in Far North Queensland. Freeze the brown ones for smoothies.
Get the most from your produce
Good knife work makes vegetables faster and more fun to prepare, so start with our chopping vegetables and knife skills guides. Wash fresh produce under running water before you eat it, and skip the soap; our food safety guide explains why. Wondering whether to pay extra for organic? Our organic food guide walks you through Australian labels. And for more ideas, see our salads and smoothies collections.