Our favourite autumn recipes
From pumpkins to pears, these seasonal recipes celebrate the arrival of autumn
All the leaves are brown… well, almost. Much like the trees, autumn’s arrival is marked by a harvest of golden-hued vegetables, including butternut squash, carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin. Ripe orchard fruits come to crop, too, with apples, plums and pears aplenty.
As the weather turns colder and the darker nights draw in, we turn our attention to the comforting embrace of soups, slow cooked stews and simple tray bakes once more. Halloween is on the horizon, followed by Bonfire Night, when we’ll be indulging in this smoky chorizo stew followed by the all-important toffee apples.
Looking for more recipe inspiration to see you right through to winter? Check out what's in season (and what we're cooking) in September, October and November.
Macaroni Cheese & Greens
The changing of the seasons may have you craving comfort food – quite frankly, we don't blame you. This take on mac 'n' cheese adds a boost of nutrition, with the addition of green beans, kale, cauliflower and peas.
Recipe: Macaroni cheese and greens
Miso Pork Meatballs and Butter Bean Mash
The miso paste in this recipe adds umami and depth to these pork meatballs, while the crispy kale gives crunch and vibrancy. On the table in under an hour, it's a winning weeknight meal.
Recipe: Miso pork meatballs with kale crisps and butter bean mash
Freekeh-Stuffed Squash
Freekeh – an ancient grain popular in Middle Eastern cooking – makes a fabulous filling for roasted butternut squash topped with tangy Greek feta and fresh herbs.
Recipe: Freekeh-stuffed squash
Slow Cooker Fish Stew
Packed with tiger prawns, cod and clams, this Portuguese fish stew will transport you to sunnier shores this autumn. Serve at the table with plenty of bread to mop up the delicious spiced sauce.
Recipe: Slow cooker fish stew
Kale pesto pasta
With zingy lemon and a spicy seed sprinkle topping, this vibrant green kale pesto pasta is guaranteed to bring brightness to the darkest autumn night.
Recipe: Kale pesto pasta
Creamy salmon gnocchi gratin
Combining smoked salmon, sprouts, parmesan and gruyère, this creamy gnocchi dish is as comforting as they come.
Recipe: Creamy salmon gnocchi gratin
Sausage and aubergine lasagne
Aubergine is in season right through to early November. Here, it acts as the pasta in this lighter take on the Italian classic.
Recipe: Sausage and aubergine lasagne
Three-ingredient apple tarts
These apple tarts only require three ingredients (that's right, three!) and taste delicious with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, custard or double cream.
Recipe: Three-ingredient apple tarts
Pork schnitzel with crunchy 'slaw
With apple, fennel and cabbage being in season in October, this fresh slaw is a fantastic way to welcome the flavours of autumn.
Chocolate and blackberry meringue roulade
Use a high-quality cocoa powder for a decadent and rich chocolate flavour in this blackberry meringue roulade dessert.
Creamy chicken sausage pasta
This creamy chicken sausage pasta dish includes both broccoli and courgettes to create a delicious midweek meal packed with good-for-you greens.
Recipe: Creamy chicken sausage pasta
Pumpkin scones
Use up your leftover Halloween pumpkin in these spiced sweet treats, making sure nothing goes to waste. Delicious with a warm cup of chai tea.
Recipe: Pumpkin scones
Vegan butternut katsu curry
Here's a tasty vegan twist on the ever-popular Japanese dish of chicken katsu curry, which features ‘escalopes’ of sweet butternut squash.
Recipe: Vegan butternut katsu curry
Fennel gratin
This deliciously creamy fennel gratin is topped with a crunchy gruyere crumb and is the perfect accompaniment to any Sunday roast.
Recipe: Fennel gratin
Toffee pear and chocolate loaf cake
Unlike most fruits, the flavour of pear actually improves after picking, as they cannot ripen fully on the tree. We’ve used Conference pears in our cake, as their grainy, sweet and juicy flesh is ideal for keeping bakes moist.
Italian sausage and squash risotto
Forget spending an evening at the stove stirring risotto; with this seasonal recipe you can sit back and relax whilst it simmers away. Sweet squash, sausages and Italian herbs are a heavenly match – and one we'll be repeating all autumn.
Celeriac, lentil and stilton salad
Packed with flavour and requiring minimal prep, this roasted celeriac, lentil and Stilton salad is one of our autumn go-to's when we're craving greens.
Vegan carrot cake
Vegan baking can be hard to get right, but this vegan carrot cake is as good (if not better) than the classic recipe. Think: spiced sponge packed full of cranberry, coconut and carrot, topped with a light almond butter icing. Delicious.
Recipe: Vegan carrot cake
Squash, sage and chestnut soup
Just as the weather turns colder, butternut squash arrives to brighten up our gardens – and our meals! In this simple soup recipe, we've combined squash with sage and chestnuts, before topping with crispy sage leaves and crumbled goat's cheese for extra flair.
Recipe: Squash, sage and chestnut soup
Slow cooked lamb and beetroot curry
We love this Nepalese twist on a classic lamb curry. By slow cooking with beetroot and fragrant Sichuan peppercorns, you create a vibrant dish full of complexity.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
Toffee pecan flapjack traybake recipe
The best strawberry recipes
Souper green soup
Glorious green fregola pasta salad recipe
