May Recipes: in the Kitchen as Spring Hits Its Stride

The Calendar Year may get paid commission for purchases made after clicking a link on this page. 
This website is for inspiration purposes only. The content provided is meant to spark creativity and ideas, not to serve as professional advice or as endorsement.

Longer days, better produce, and finally — finally — the urge to eat outside.

May is, honestly, one of the best months of the year for food. Spring is fully here, the produce is genuinely exciting, and there’s a warmth in the air that makes cooking feel fun rather than just necessary. In the UK, there are bank holidays to plan around. In the US, Memorial Day kicks off the unofficial start of summer. Across much of the world, markets are once again filling up with beautiful ingredients. May is also when asparagus peaks, strawberries start appearing, and the first courgettes and broad beans begin to show up. There’s a lot to work with this month.

Bank Holiday and Long Weekend Cooking: Feed a Crowd Without the Stress

May has more than its fair share of public holidays, depending on where you are. In the UK, there are two bank holiday weekends. In the US, Memorial Day at the end of the month is a big deal. Either way, long weekends mean cooking for more people, often outdoors, without wanting to spend the entire time in the kitchen.

A big sharing dish is the way to go here. A slow-cooked pulled pork shoulder feeds a crowd easily, can be prepped the day before, and works in buns, tacos, or alongside salads. Similarly, a large lamb shoulder, roasted low and slow until it falls apart, is one of those dishes that look effortless but are genuinely spectacular. For something more relaxed, a big mezze spread of hummus, flatbreads, roasted peppers, olives, and falafel is perfect for a long weekend lunch where people can graze and help themselves. It’s especially good if you have people with different dietary preferences to cater for.

Nigella Lawson’s website has brilliant sharing and feast ideas. For Memorial Day cookout inspiration, Food Network’s Memorial Day collection covers everything from sides to mains to desserts.

Peak Asparagus Season: Make the Most of It

If you didn’t get your fill of asparagus in April, May is your last real chance. British asparagus season typically runs from late April to the summer solstice in late June, but May is when it’s absolutely at its peak, most plentiful, most affordable, and most flavourful.

The simplest preparations are really the best. A bundle of asparagus roasted in a hot oven for 10 minutes with olive oil, sea salt, and a squeeze of lemon needs nothing else. Served alongside a soft-boiled egg for dipping, it makes one of the best light lunches you can imagine.

Asparagus soup is another May classic. It’s very quick to make, a beautiful bright green colour, and tastes clean and fresh in a way that feels perfectly seasonal. A swirl of cream and some chives on top makes it look considerably more impressive than the effort involved.

Griddled asparagus with parmesan shavings and a little balsamic reduction is a classic Italian preparation that works brilliantly as a starter for a spring dinner party.

Great British Chefs continues to have the best asparagus recipe collection online in terms of range and quality. For asparagus soup specifically, The Kitchn has a straightforward and reliable recipe.

Strawberries and Early Summer Fruit: The Season Begins

By late May, British strawberries start appearing, and this is genuinely one of the great food moments of the year. There is an enormous difference between a locally grown, in-season strawberry and the ones imported year-round. Once you’ve eaten a warm, sun-ripened strawberry straight from a punnet at a farm shop, there’s no going back.

Eton mess is one of the most iconic British strawberry desserts, crushed meringue, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries tumbled together. It sounds chaotic, but looks beautiful and tastes extraordinary. It also has the bonus of being almost impossible to do wrong.

Strawberry shortcake is the American equivalent and equally worth making. Fluffy biscuits (in the American sense), whipped cream, and macerated strawberries — it’s a classic for very good reason.

On the less traditional side, strawberries work brilliantly in a simple balsamic and black pepper combination that sounds odd but really brings out their flavour. A strawberry-and-cucumber gazpacho is also a lovely spring starter if you want to try something a bit different.

BBC Good Food’s strawberry recipe collection is extensive and reliable. For strawberry shortcake, Sally’s Baking Addiction has an exceptionally well-tested version.

Broad Beans and Fresh Peas: The Sweetest Things

Broad beans and fresh peas are two of the most genuinely exciting May ingredients and also two of the most underused in everyday cooking. They take a little bit of preparation, but the flavour payoff is completely worth it.

Fresh broad beans need to be podded from the outer pod, then, if you want the best result, blanched briefly and the grey skin slipped off to reveal the bright green bean inside. It’s a bit meditative and very worth doing. The flavour of a double-podded broad bean is sweet, fresh, and unlike anything from a tin or frozen bag.

Broad bean and mint crostini is a beautiful May starter; the beans are roughly mashed with olive oil, lemon, and mint, then piled onto toasted bread with some ricotta. It’s simple, seasonal, and really impressive.

Fresh pea and ham soup is a British classic that’s worth making properly when peas are at their best. Sugar snap peas eaten raw as part of a salad are also a revelation at this time of year.

Ottolenghi’s website handles spring vegetables like broad beans and peas brilliantly. Riverford also has excellent, seasonal preparation ideas for both.

Outdoor Eating and Al Fresco Recipes: Finally

May is when outdoor eating becomes a realistic possibility rather than just an optimistic fantasy. Whether it’s a proper garden barbecue, a picnic in the park, or just eating lunch on the back doorstep, food tastes better outside. Fact.

For picnic food, transportable dishes are the priority. A good frittata travels well and can be eaten at room temperature. Try a spring version with asparagus, peas, and feta. A hearty pasta salad with roasted vegetables and a good dressing is another reliable picnic staple. Homemade sausage rolls are always popular and hold up much better than sandwiches.

For barbecues, May calls for something a bit more considered than just burgers. Spatchcock chicken marinated in harissa and lemon cooks more evenly and quickly than a whole bird. Corn on the cob cooked directly in the embers or on the grill is one of those simple things that’s genuinely wonderful outside.

In the US, Memorial Day is the symbolic start of BBQ season and a big deal for outdoor cooking. Sides like coleslaw, potato salad, and baked beans are as important as the main event.

Serious Eats is the most reliable source for proper barbecue technique. For picnic food ideas, Olive Magazine has a lovely collection every year.

Light and Fresh Weeknight Dinners: Embracing the Season

As the days get longer and lighter in May, heavy weeknight dinners start to feel wrong. The season is calling for quick, fresh dishes that don’t require standing over a hot stove for an hour.

A simple grilled salmon fillet with a herb yoghurt sauce and some quickly wilted spinach comes together in under 20 minutes and feels very right for a May evening. Prawn stir-fries with spring vegetables and a light soy-and-ginger sauce are equally fast and satisfying.

Grain salads that can be made ahead are brilliant for busy May evenings — a farro salad with roasted courgette, fresh herbs, and a lemon dressing can sit in the fridge for a couple of days and just gets better as the flavours meld.

Shakshuka — eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce — is a year-round winner but particularly good in spring when you start using fresh herbs and lighter spices. It’s one of those dishes that works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, which is always useful.

Minimalist Baker is excellent for quick, fresh weeknight recipes. For fish dishes specifically, Rick Stein’s website is a wonderful and trustworthy resource.

Courgettes Are Coming: Get Ready

Courgettes (zucchini in the US) start appearing towards the end of May, and they’re one of the most versatile spring and summer vegetables. If you grow them yourself, you’ll already know how prolific they can be — but even buying them, they’re cheap, easy to cook, and work in an enormous range of dishes.

Courgette fritters are a brilliant way to use them, grated, squeezed dry, mixed with egg, flour, and herbs, then pan-fried until golden. They’re lovely with a yoghurt dip and make a great starter or snack. Courgette, lemon, and ricotta pasta is another simple but genuinely delicious combination.

Raw courgette, thinly shaved with a peeler into ribbons, makes a beautiful salad with lemon, parmesan, and fresh mint. It sounds minimal, but the flavour combination is really lovely and feels very seasonally appropriate.

In the US, zucchini bread is a classic and worth attempting if you haven’t. It’s similar in concept to banana bread — a quick, moist loaf that beautifully uses up a glut of the vegetable.

Cookie and Kate handle courgette and vegetable-forward cooking really well. For zucchini bread, Once Upon a Chef has a version that’s consistently well-reviewed.

Spring Baking and Desserts: Lighter and Fruit-Forward

May baking shifts noticeably towards lighter sponges, fruit-topped tarts, and things that showcase the emerging seasonal produce. It’s the start of the fruit season, and the baking should reflect that.

A French-style strawberry tart, with a crisp pastry case, vanilla crème pâtissière, and fresh strawberries arranged on top, is one of the most beautiful things you can make in May. It looks like it came from a patisserie but is genuinely achievable at home with a bit of patience.

A rhubarb and strawberry crumble uses two ingredients that overlap briefly in May and work brilliantly together — the tartness of rhubarb balanced by the sweetness of early strawberries, under a buttery oat crumble. It’s seasonal cooking at its most straightforward and satisfying.

Lemon and elderflower is another beautiful May flavour combination. Elderflower cordial appears in the shops around this time, and a few tablespoons stirred into a lemon drizzle cake or used in a simple syrup for a trifle makes something really special.

BBC Good Food’s spring desserts have lovely options across the range. For the French strawberry tart, Clotilde Dusoulier’s Chocolate & Zucchini is a brilliant French food blog with excellent guidance on patisserie.

May is genuinely one of the most exciting months to be cooking. The produce is exceptional, the weather is (mostly) cooperating, and there are plenty of occasions to cook for, from casual bank holiday lunches to outdoor barbecues to simple weeknight dinners that finally feel light and fresh. I hope something here sparks an idea or two. Happy cooking.