Winter produce guide: what's in season (and cheap) in Australia right now
Citrus, brassicas and root veg are at their best and their cheapest. What to fill the trolley with this winter — and what to cook with it.
The fastest way to cut a grocery bill has nothing to do with tickets or catalogues: buy what's in season. In winter that means citrus at its juiciest, brassicas at their sweetest, and root vegetables begging to be roasted — all at their cheapest prices of the year.
Fruit: citrus season is the whole point of winter
- Navel oranges and mandarins — the winter workhorses; Imperials early in the season, Afourers later.
- Lemons and grapefruit — abundant now, so stop paying summer prices for them.
- Kiwifruit — peak season and packed with vitamin C.
- Apples and pears — plentiful and reliable all winter.
- Avocados — winter is peak Hass season in much of Australia.
Veg: brassicas, roots and the soup drawer
- Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts — winter is when they're sweetest and cheapest; sprouts roasted with a bit of oil convert sceptics.
- Carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, parsnips, beetroot, swede — the roasting-tray and soup-pot backbone.
- Pumpkin — soup, obviously, but also roast wedges and winter salads.
- Leeks, silverbeet, spinach, kale, celery, fennel — the leafy end of winter, happiest in slow cooks and pies.
Turning the season into a cheaper week
Seasonal produce is where prices differ most between stores — the majors, and independents like Spudshed, can be dollars apart on the same kilo of pumpkin or bag of mandarins. Plan a few winter dinners — a soup, a roast, a slow cook — and Mai Pantry builds the shopping list, prices it across Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, IGA and Spudshed, and finds the cheapest way to buy the lot.