By Amy Gorin, MS, RDN
When it comes to cooking with fresh cherries, you have so many options. Get started with these delicious fresh cherry recipes!
Cherries are now in season, so take advantage of their immunity-boosting vitamin C and disease-fighting antioxidants.
Jenny McCoy, pastry-chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, in New York City, offers suggestions and tips to simplify your shopping and cooking. Whip up the delicious fresh cherry recipes that follow!
If you're reading this post during cherry off season, you can make any of these juicy cherry recipes with fresh or frozen cherries! I personally prefer sweet cherries to sour cherries, but you can cook with both varieties. The tart cherry is another superb fruit.
Cooking with Bing Cherries
Originating in the Pacific Northwest, this slightly firm deep-red gem is a common commercially sold cherry. It’s sweet with a slight tartness, and it’s available now through early August.
Good for
Eating fresh, baking into a quick bread, or using as a topper for poultry or fish. Or add to a dessert, like my Cherry and Mascarpone Pita.
Easy Recipe: Cherry-Topped Salmon
Make a tasty cherry sauce! In a bowl, mix together ¼ cup pitted, sliced cherries, ½ tbsp minced onion, ½ tbsp olive oil, ½ tsp chopped, fresh French parsley or chives, and ½ tsp red wine vinegar. Serve atop a grilled salmon fillet.
Cooking with Rainier Cherries
This golden-yellow cherry with a red blush is a cross between the Bing and the Van, another sweet cherry. Shoppers often overlook it because it’s easily bruised, but they’re missing out on the fruit’s incredibly sweet flavor. Grown in California and Washington, the Rainier is available throughout cherry season (which ends around August), ripening just after the Bing.
Good for
Good for: Eating fresh or adding to salad, such as my Citrus Quinoa Salad with Prunes
Easy Recipe: Cherry Salad
Top mixed greens with goat cheese, diced apples, and pitted, halved cherries. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Cooking with Hudson Cherries
Sweet, dark red, and notably firm, the Hudson grows toward the end of cherry season. It’s usually available in only a limited supply from a variety of states, including Michigan, so buy them when you see them!
Good for
Roasting or grilling for a snack or dessert, as the Hudson withstands high heat well.(Or add to breakfast, like my Cherry Oatmeal Bowl or my Protein French Toast.
Easy Recipe: Cherry Sundae
Love cherry desserts? In a bowl, toss pitted cherries with olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Skewer the cherries, grill for a few minutes until tender, then brush with honey. Use as a topping for Greek yogurt or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you want your ice cream sundae to be more decadent, add toppings like brown sugar, whipped cream, or chocolate chips. That chocolate cherry combo will be so tasty.
This blog post was updated in July 2020. A version of this content originally appeared in Yoga Journal.
Sources
- Jenny McCoy, pastry-chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, in New York City
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I'd love to hear from you! What are your favorite ways to cook with cherries? Do you make cherry pie or other desserts? What would you do with a 1/2 cup of cherries?
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