The Best Ingredients to Cook With in Canada This Winter (Plus Recipes)

The underrated Brussels sprout is a long-season crop, meaning it reaches maturity in late fall to early winter, as many cultivars can handle colder temps before harvest. The small sprouts (high in nutrients like fibre and vitamin c and k) are also extremely versatile in recipes. Proof: these 20+ creative ways to cook them.

While most pears spotted at your local grocery store are imported and harvested in late fall, look out for Ontario’s relatively new native variety: the “Cold Snap” pear. Though harvested in October, it has a longer storage life than its juicy counterparts and is available all winter long.

Native to Canada’s Atlantic provinces, these tiny, tart red berries are harvested in autumn and preserved well into the winter, perfect for all your holiday baking needs, from cranberry sauce to cake.

Cabbage thrives in cooler weather, with many winter varieties harvested in November through to March, making it a staple veggie to stock up on this season.

Kale is another cold-hardy winter veg that, just like carrots, turns much of its starch into sugars when hit with frost. This gives the leafy greens a sweeter taste that’s less bitter than when typically harvested in summer. We’ve also rounded up 30 ultra-tasty ways to cook with kale.

This large, bulbous root veggie is a cross between a turnip and cabbage. The quality and flavour of rutabagas are also heightened when the roots are exposed to frost, prior to harvesting. Learn more about the winter crop and how to cook with it.

Parsnips are yet another underrated root vegetable you need to get behind this season, and experiment with in the kitchen, whether mashed with potatoes or added to a hearty vegetable soup.

Celeriac (also known as celery root) is in fact a type of celery, but it’s grown for its large, bulbous root that tastes like a cross between celery and parsley. The veggie can be shredded for salads or fritters, boiled and mashed, or sliced and added to a cheesy potato gratin (the ultimate winter comfort food).