16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (2024)

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From savory pizza to creamy tarts, these fresh fig recipes highlight the best of this summer delicacy.

By

Marie Viljoen

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (1)

Marie Viljoen

Marie is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com.

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and

Kirsten Nunez

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (2)

Kirsten Nunez

Kirsten Nunez is a writer who focuses on food, health, and DIY. She has been writing professionally for nearly 10 years and has contributed to digital and print publications such as Martha Stewart, Shape, Real Simple, Healthline, and SELF. She also creates original recipes, which have appeared on product packaging in stores.

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Updated on August 11, 2023

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16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (3)

Fresh figs are a delicacy. Their richly-colored skin, velvet texture, and floral flavors are a world away from the concentrated chewiness of dried figs. A heaping platter of ripe figs, with a couple gently squeezed open, is reminiscent of a Dutch still life—and one of the most beautiful things you can serve to friends around a supper table. Just add fruit knives and an excellent cheese.

Beyond the fruit bowl, fresh figs are versatile and surprising. They improve simple savory salads and snacks and add complexity to easy or slow-cooked entrées. Their famous sweetness is a foil for tart vinegars and a natural for decadent desserts. Rich in potassium and vitamins K and B6, they are also a nutritious ingredient.

Pounce on ripe figs when you see them in the summer and plan to use them quickly, since they don't ripen at home. Look for smooth, plump specimens when you shop; wrinkling or stickiness indicates over-ripeness and an under-ripe fig will feel woody. Don't squeeze them too hard, though: A light touch will tell you if it is ripe. Store figs for up to two days in the refrigerator, covered, in a single layer.

Read on for our favorite fresh fig recipes. They'll inspire your own delicious meals and desserts to come.

30 Cakes With Fruit Fillings and Toppings for Every Occasion

Caramelized Figs With Honey and Cheese

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (4)

This simple fresh fig recipe proves you don't have to do much to bring out the best of the fruit. It only takes 10 minutes on a hot skillet to coax out its complex flavors and syrupy texture.

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Fig-and-Plum Cake

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (5)

The best of early fall fruit is combined in one delectable cake, featuring frangipane and a buttery crust. Use dark-skinned mission figs for the best color.

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Figs and Prosciutto

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (6)

A classic that will never grow old, sweet figs and salty prosciutto make the quickest and most eye-catching of appetizers or light lunches.

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Grilled Pork Chops With Rosemary Gremolata and Figs

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (7)

Ripe figs perfumed by fresh rosemary skewers are the outstanding partner that top-quality pork chops deserve. The unusual, orange-inflected gremolata provides an intense finishing touch.

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Arugula Salad With Figs, Pine Nuts and Radicchio

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (8)

This bright, nutrition-packed salad looks as good as it tastes. Crisply bitter radicchio is made for the sweetness of fresh figs. Serve alongside a roast chicken or seared steak.

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Fresh Figs wWith Mascarpone and Warm Spiced Honey

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (9)

The flavors and textures of this quickly assembled dessert are sublime. Smooth mascarpone, cardamom-spiced warm honey, and fresh figs come together in the most delightful way.

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Broiled Green Figs With Pancetta

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (10)

Broiled green figs sprinkled with fennel seeds and wrapped in crisped pancetta are the perfect chaser for an evening's aperitif.

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Pickled Beet and Fig Salad

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (11)

Plump figs pull together the acid of pickled beets, the heat of mustard, and the pepperiness of watercress in a hearty and intensely flavored salad.

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Pizza With Fresh Figs, Ricotta, Thyme and Honey

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (12)

For an eye catching appetizer, assertively herbal thyme turns honey savory, and a careful seasoning with salt and pepper steers the sweet figs into grown up territory.

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Fig and Strawberry Tart

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (13)

This hazelnut-rich tart is an excellent excuse to combine those out-of-season strawberries you see at the supermarket with perfectly ripe figs. Live wildly—combine seasons!

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Prosciutto Crostini and Fresh Figs With Gorgonzola

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (14)

For a quick but substantial snack, raise the bar on the prosciutto-fig combination and add crusty baguette with vibrant, fresh herbs. The fresh figs tame the bite of gorgonzola.

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Fresh Fig and Feta Salad With Mint

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (15)

In this deconstructed, dramatic salad, the mouth watering saltiness of feta is tempered by the floral sweetness of fresh Smyrna figs and the bite of fresh mint. Add a hunk of bread for mopping.

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Roasted Chicken With Polenta and Balsamic-Poached Figs

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (16)

Here's a comforting start-ahead, quickly-assembled dish for cold evenings in a warm home. The rich pan drippings from a roasted chicken are blended with balsamic-poached figs for an unforgettable sauce that might make you lick your plate.

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Spiced Poached Figs

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (17)

The sweetly-tart botrytis character of Sauternes spiced with peppercorns and star anise, turns simple fresh green figs luxe.

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Fresh Fig and Almond Crostata

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (18)

A food processor is all you need to make this sweet and nutty crostata, or Italian baked tart.

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Fig Tart With Cream Cheese Filling

16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (19)

Equal parts creamy and sweet, this tart recipe is perfect for using up an abundance of fresh figs. Serve it with a generous dollop of homemade whipped cream for the ultimate treat.

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16 Fresh Fig Recipes to Make While This Special Fruit Is in Season (2024)

FAQs

What are fresh figs in season? ›

There are two seasons for domestic fresh figs; the first or "breba" season is the first few weeks in June. The second or "new wood" season typically runs from August through October. The most common variety is the Black Mission fig followed by the Brown Turkey fig and the Green Kadota fig respectivly.

What is the season for figs? ›

Typically, figs feature two main cropping seasons annually. The first, known as the “breba” crop, appears in late spring to early summer, while the second, or “main” crop, matures from late summer to early fall.

What season do you eat figs? ›

The season is incredibly short! You can find them during an early summer season, or pick up a few during the main crop that runs from late summer to early fall. You can enjoy dried figs the rest of the year, but they taste better fresh if you know to eat them!

How many figs should I eat per day? ›

How Many Figs Should I Eat a Day. A small handful, about 3 to 5 dried figs depending on the variety, provides 5 grams of dietary fiber or 20% of the Daily Value. Dried Fig benefits include being a high source of fiber and containing both soluble and insoluble fiber.

What are the best figs to eat raw? ›

Kadota figs have light green skin with pale interiors that are less sweet than other figs. Kadota figs are good raw.

Why did Jesus curse the fig tree if it was not in season? ›

By a show of leaves, it was like many people, pretending to have fruit which was not there. It was like the Pharisees who professed to be very religious, but whose lives were fruitless. Therefore, Christ cursed the fig tree as an object lesson to all not to be hypocritical.”

Did Jesus eat figs? ›

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.

What did Jesus say to the fig tree? ›

Jesus and the Fig Tree

Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!”

Can I eat the skin of a fresh fig? ›

The entire fig is edible, from the thin skin to the red or purplish flesh and the myriad tiny seeds, but they can be peeled if you wish. Always cut off the stem. Wash the figs and gently pat dry to serve whole.

Why figs should be soaked before eating? ›

Soaking figs in water overnight softens them. It is said to boost their fiber content. This makes them easy to digest and amplifies their health benefits on digestion.

Is it OK to eat figs without soaking? ›

Figs contain no fat and no cholesterol. Plus, there is very low sodium and a balanced amount of fiber, carbohydrates and sugar. Eating overnight soaked figs on a regular basis can provide numerous health benefits. These can also be eaten directly, however, soaking in water will provide you with better health benefits.

Should I refrigerate figs? ›

Since fresh figs are perishable, they need to be kept in the refrigerator, between 32ºF-36ºF. Like strawberries, which can get moldy if exposed to too much moisture, it's generally not recommended that you wash figs as soon as you bring them home from the market.

What fruit is similar to a fig? ›

The true siblings are mulberries and figs (both in family Moraceae), and at heart they are very much alike, although figs are clearly the more introverted of the two.

Can you eat too many figs? ›

The side effects of eating figs are: Because figs contain a lot of fiber, eating too many of them can cause diarrhea. Figs are high in calories, so eating a lot of them will not help lose weight. Individuals who are allergic to rubber latex or birch pollen could be allergic to figs.

Why don't they sell fresh figs? ›

The reason so few Americans have tasted fresh figs is that the fruit is delicate when ripe; truly ripe figs would never survive being shipped to grocery stores and handled by multiple customers. Happily, however, figs grow in many areas in the United States: zones 7 – 11.

What is the best fig to eat? ›

The Best Tasting Fig Varieties
  • Black Madeira.
  • Coll de Dama.
  • Hivernenca.
  • Hative d'Argentueil.
  • Paradiso.
Jan 31, 2023

Why are fresh figs so expensive? ›

Fresh figs are delicate and tend to be expensive due to shipping, so dried figs are a much more cost-effective way to experience figs. They add a perfect for a pop of sweetness in salads or desserts. Figs are also excellent cooked; roasting them coaxes out even more of their deep, honey-like caramelized flavor.

Do you eat the skin of a fig? ›

The entire fig is edible, from the thin skin to the red or purplish flesh and the myriad tiny seeds, but they can be peeled if you wish. Always cut off the stem. Wash the figs and gently pat dry to serve whole.

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