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    Home • French Food Guides

    French Market Guide to Produce

    stalls of fruit and vegetables at a French market
    Our local farmers' market in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, just outside Paris
    Contents
    • What is a Typical French Market?
    • Famers' Markets in Paris
    • Fruits and Vegetables in Season by Month in France
    • Fruit
    • Vegetables (légumes)

    What is a Typical French Market?

    French farmers' markets are the beating heart of the country’s food culture. The French don’t just eat with the seasons—they live by them. Local produce means fresher, tastier, and more vitamin-packed fruit and veg. While you might spot strawberries at Christmas elsewhere, in France, that’s a seasonal faux pas. Out-of-season fruit? Might as well munch on a turnip.

    At a typical French market, it’s not just about shopping—it’s a social ritual. Locals swap recipe tips, cooking ideas, and even expressions. Ever heard someone called 'une grosse légume'? That’s a “big vegetable” (aka a VIP)!

    This guide takes you through a classic French marché, where fresh, local, and seasonal reign. It’s not just sustainable—at actually has move flavour, too.

    Famers' Markets in Paris

    Paris is home to over 80 farmers’ markets - both open-air and covered. (Just don’t mix them up with the Paris Bourse. Though even the stock market has foodie roots—just ask a financier cake.)

    The most popular Parisian markets brim with seasonal fruit and veg. Some come straight from the growers (maraîchers/producteurs), others via Rungis, the largest wholesale food market in France.

    Markets in France typically pop up at least once a week. Here in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, we’re spoiled with three market days! In Paris, you’ll find markets rotating across the city’s arrondissements nearly every day.

    For markets in Paris, see the Mairie de Paris's guide for location and days of the week.

    Fruits and Vegetables in Season by Month in France

    Always use seasonal produce - they're fresher, cheaper and healthier. The following fresh fruits and vegetables are in high season for May at the French market:

    • French fruits: apple, banana, blueberry, cherry, kiwi, lemon, lime, passion fruit, pineapple, rhubarb, and strawberry.
    • French vegetables: artichoke, asparagus, avocado, beetroot, carrot, chard, courgette/zucchini, cucumber, herbs, lettuce, mushroom (champignons de Paris and morels), onion, peas, potatoes, radish, spinach, tomato, watercress.

    Discover your guide to many below, including their seasonal recipes.

    Fruit

    • stalks of rhubarb in a crate at the market
      Rhubarb (Rhubarbe)
    • punnets of strawberries
      Strawberries (Fraises)
    • baskets of different varieties of apples in France
      Apples (Pommes)
    • bunches of fresh green bananas with French flag stickers
      Bananas (Bananes)
    • crate of Corsican clementines in a French market
      Clementine Oranges
    • baskets of different fresh lemon varieties in a French market
      Lemons & Limes (Citrons/Citrons vert)
    • crates of fresh tomatoes in all shapes and colours at the French market in Provence
      Tomatoes (tomates)
    • stand of pineapples with typical cone-like bodies and green spiky stalks
      Pineapples (Ananas)
    • a stall selling roasted chestnuts at a French Christmas market with a sign saying Marrons Chauds next to a nutcracker.
      Chestnuts (Chataîgnes)
    • crates of pears at the french market
      Pears (Poires)
    • purple yellow and pink oval plums
      Plums (Prunes)
    • crates of fresh peaches, doughnut peaches and nectarines at a French market
      Peaches and Nectarines (Pêches)
    • piles of chopped fresh figs in front of whole figs on leaves
      Figs (Figues)
    • bowl of raspberries next to raspberry bushes
      Raspberries (Framboises)
    • crates of fresh apricots
      Apricots (Abricots)
    View more fruits

    Vegetables (légumes)

    • French Charlotte potatoes at the market
      Potatoes (Pommes de Terre)
    • crates of green and white asparagus at the market
      Asparagus (Asperges)
    • basket of French potimarron pumpkins, most popular in France
      Pumpkin & Squash (Potiron & Courges)
    • bunch of orange and mixed coloured carrots at the market
      Carrots (Carottes)
    • bunches of fresh herbs at the French market (with a sign in French saying herbes fraiches)
      Fresh Herbs (Herbes Aromatiques)
    • cauliflowers in bowls at the French market
      Cauliflower (Chou-fleur)
    • bunch of fresh watercress with dark green leaves
      Watercress (Cresson)
    • crate of Parisian chestnut mushrooms at the French market
      Mushrooms (Champignons)
    • French leeks at the supermarket
      Leeks (Poireaux)
    • Savoy curly cabbages at the French market
      Cabbages (Choux)
    • crate of French onions from Roscoff
      French Onions (Oignons)
    • crate of fresh peas in their pods at the French market
      Peas (Petits Pois)
    • crate of green beans with a French flag at the farmers' market
      French Green Beans (Haricots Verts)
    • French breakfast radishes, long cylindrical pink radishes with white tips and root
      French Radishes (Radis)
    • beetroot with stalks and leaves
      Beetroot (Betteraves)
    View more vegetables

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    As a cookbook author and founder of Mad About Macarons since 2010, I’ve spent 30+ years perfecting foolproof French recipes in Paris—so you don’t have to! Expect step-by-step guidance, lower-sugar treats that don’t skimp on flavour, plus insider food and market guides to help you taste France like a local. If I can do it, so can you - no fancy techniques required!

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