Seasonal Cooking in October: Squash, Apples and Game

In October, 75 vegetables and salads are in season in Switzerland according to the seasonal calendar of the Swiss vegetable growers (gemuese.ch): squash, leek, cabbages, fennel, parsnip, salsify, beetroot, celeriac, spinach and the first winter salads such as lamb’s lettuce and sugarloaf chicory. Among the fruit there are apples, pears and the last grapes. It is also the month of game, which arrives after the September hunt, and of chestnuts (Marroni) in Ticino and the Bergell valley. Below you will find what to buy, seven October dinners and a seasonal shopping list.

Updated October 2026, the October edition of the monthly series on seasonal cooking. Sources: seasonal calendar of gemuese.ch (Swiss vegetable growers’ association, read on 5 October 2026); fruit seasons from gemuese.ch and schweizerbauern.ch as in our seasonal calendar; 2026 hunting dates from gr.ch, ti.ch and weu.be.ch; game data from Proviande (via lid.ch, 24 October 2024) and from LID (cited by the Luzerner Zeitung, 5 October 2019); chestnut data from the Luzerner Zeitung (2 October 2018) and from the list of living traditions in Switzerland; Thursday promotions: Migros press release of 26 January 2026 (since 5 February 2026, also Denner) and foodaktuell.ch of 21 January 2025 (Coop’s switch).

Which vegetables are in season in Switzerland in October?

A practical rule for planning: the vegetables in the first row and the cabbages keep well for a week or more in a cool place, so you can buy them all on the big shopping day. Leaves and the last summer vegetables belong in the first dinners of the week. The picture for the whole year is in the seasonal fruit and vegetable calendar.

Which fruit is in season in October?

According to the periods that our calendar takes from gemuese.ch and schweizerbauern.ch, October is when grapes (season from September to October) and fresh pears from the harvest (August to October) come to an end, while Swiss apples are picked in autumn and then stay available all year from storage. Squash is botanically a fruit but a vegetable in the kitchen, and is in season from August to December. October is therefore the best month to put dishes with apples and pears in the plan: compotes, savoury and sweet tarts, salads with cheese.

When is game in season, and where does it come from?

The game season in Switzerland opens with the September hunt. In 2026 the high hunt in Graubünden runs from 3 to 13 and from 21 to 30 September, in Ticino from 5 to 19 and from 23 to 27 September; in the canton of Bern, by contrast, hunting runs from 2 August to 28 February (sources: gr.ch, ti.ch, weu.be.ch). That is why Swiss hunted meat reaches butchers and restaurants in October. Almost 90% of the game sold in Switzerland is sold in the autumn months (LID, cited by the Luzerner Zeitung on 5 October 2019).

A good part does not come from the Swiss hunt, though: in 2023 the domestic share was “a good 35%” according to Proviande figures reported by lid.ch on 24 October 2024. If you want game from the regional hunt, ask for it explicitly at the counter. Cuts, origins and typical prices are in our guide to game meat prices in Switzerland. For a weekly plan, one game dinner is enough: a stew or ragù can be prepared ahead and tastes even better the next day.

Chestnuts in October: the Ticino and Bergell tradition

In Ticino and the Bergell valley, October is the chestnut month: the Sagra della castagna in the Valle di Muggio takes place on the second Sunday of October, and the chestnut festival in the Bergell at the start of October (list of living traditions in Switzerland). The chestnuts (Marroni) sold in Switzerland, however, mostly come from Italy: on 2 October 2018 the Luzerner Zeitung put the Swiss harvest at about 100 tonnes and imports at about 2'500 tonnes a year. Prices for hot roasted chestnuts and for chestnuts per kilo are in the guide to chestnut and Marroni prices. In the kitchen, pre-cooked chestnuts go into soups and braises or alongside Brussels sprouts, with no peeling needed.

Seven October dinners: a sample plan

Thursday is not by chance: the weekly promotions of Coop (since January 2025) and of Migros and Denner (since 5 February 2026, Migros press release) start on Thursday, so on shopping day dinner is made mostly from pantry ingredients. If nobody has time on one evening of the week, move the tray of roots: it can be prepared the night before and goes in the oven in a few minutes. More quick ideas are in the guide to quick weeknight dinners.

The seasonal shopping list for October

1. Vegetables that keep: a whole or half squash, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, potatoes, onions, leeks, one Savoy cabbage, one red cabbage.
2. Vegetables to use soon: lamb’s lettuce or sugarloaf chicory, spinach, the last tomatoes.
3. Fruit: apples for eating and for sauce, pears, perhaps the last grapes.
4. Protein: a stewing cut of game or beef, sausage, dried or tinned chickpeas, cheese for grating.
5. Pantry: risotto rice, short pasta, polenta, pre-cooked chestnuts, walnuts. What to always keep at home is explained in the pantry staples list.

Before you write the list, check the fridge and the pantry, then see which of these products are on promotion this week: which products and in which store changes every week, and the plan can adapt without changing the seasonal vegetables. The full method in five steps is in the guide on how to meal plan in Switzerland.

How do I find and plan seasonal recipes with Rappn?

In Rappn’s Kitchen you open “Explore” and search for a seasonal ingredient, for example squash or cabbage, under “Search recipes...”; the filters “Categories”, “Time” and “Difficulty” narrow the choice. When a recipe convinces you, answer “When are you cooking it?”, choose the day and the meal and tap “Add to plan”: in “Plan week” you see the days with their dinners already decided and how many days are covered. From the plan you send the ingredients to a cart such as “Weekly shop”, and for each item on the list you see which stores have the product on offer. The recipes come from external publishers named in the app; Rappn is free and has no commercial agreements with any supermarket.