These easy French recipes will help you create simple but unforgettable meals in 45 minutes or less. Assemble a summery Niçoise salad with Julia Child, warm up camembert and wild mushrooms with Daniel Boulud; make shrimp stew à la marseillaise with Melissa Clark, and whip up a frog legs–inspired take on chicken breast with Jacques Pépin. These are the favorite French dishes we make again and again.
Steak au Poivre with Red Wine Pan Sauce
Cara Cormack
This recipe calls for a rib eye steak trimmed and tied with butcher twine. The rich pan sauce — made with red wine, butter, broth, and fond (aka the delicious browned bits still stuck to the pan) — complements the steak’s peppery bite. It is, after all, encrusted with peppercorns!
Branzino with Mesclun and Tomato-Herbes de Provence Vinaigrette
Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Mild, sweet branzino (also known as loup de mer, or the “wolf of the sea”) is scoured before it’s pan-fried. A cloud of mesclun greens form the base of an herby salad tossed in a tomato vinaigrette.
Niçoise Salad
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Stylist Barrett Washburne
A feast of a salad, this classic recipe from Julia Child incorporates tinned tuna and anchovies, olives and capers, hard boiled eggs and steamed potatoes, as well as fresh green beans and tomatoes. Enjoy on a sunny day with a glass of rosé Champagne.
Boursin Omelet
Victor Protasio
This omelet, albeit simple, is anything but basic. From Chef Michael Tusk’s San Francisco bar à vin, Verjus, this easy recipe is an homage to cheese and butter. It’s perfect with a crisp green salad and a cold glass of Chardonnay.
Chicken Provençal
Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Max Rappaport
This tomato-drenched one-skillet chicken braise from Provence serves up all the classic flavors of southern France: fresh rosemary, garlic, olives, and anchovy paste. Serve with the best crusty bread you can find (or bake).
Croque Monsieur
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling Debbie Wee
One of the few sandwiches that requires a fork and knife to eat, the robust Croque Monsieur is also extremely dinner-worthy. Ham and Gruyère are slathered with a creamy Mornay sauce; add an egg and its a Croque Madame.
Scallops with Fennel Grenobloise
© John Kernick
Quick-cooking scallops are an elegant and easy main, especially here with sweet sautéed fennel complemented by a lemony butter sauce flecked with briny capers. Best of all: this tasty dinner can be served up in just 12 minutes.
Fromage Fort
Photo by Huge Galdones / Food Styling by Christina Zerkis
An easy, delicious, and economical appetizer or snack, fromage fort is a traditional cheese spread made the leftover odds and ends of cheese mixed with white wine, garlic, and herbs. Jacques Pépin updated his family recipe after his wife, Gloria, suggested he used a food processor to speed up the preparation time; now it takes as little as 10 minutes.
Ham Steaks in Madeira Sauce
Greg DuPree
Inspired the signature dish of famous French chef Alexandre Dumaine, called jambon à la morvandelle, Julia Child developed this recipe for mushroom and Madeira-basted ham, which she called a “fast entrée for fancy people.”
Goat Cheese Soufflé
Chloe Crespi
Chef Ludo Lefebvre layers tangy goat cheese, warm cayenne, and earthy thyme and nutmeg in this classic French cheese soufflé, an airy confection of béchamel folded ever-so-gently into whipped egg whites.
Chicken Dijon
© Johnny Valiant
This mustardy chicken stew from food writer Melissa Clark cooks up in just 45 minutes thanks to the use of drumsticks, which cook quickly and evenly. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the tangy, crème frâiche-thickened sauce.
Chicken Breast with Garlic and Parsley
© Abby Hocking
Jacques Pépin’s riff on frog legs — which uses boneless chicken breast in their stead — simply tosses the meat in super-fine flour before adding garlic and parsley to the pan. In just 20 minutes, enjoy this weeknight-friendly meal with lemon wedges and a glass of cold wine.
Seared Cod with Spicy Mussel Aïoli
© Tina Rupp
Store-bought mayonnaise is the MVP of this simple but sublime dish from chef Eric Ripert. The mussels and cod cook in minutes, and the whole dinner can be on the table in just 30 minutes.
Marseille-Style Shrimp Stew
Johnny Valiant
Melissa Clark spreads garlicky rouille on toasts just so that they can be dipped in this fragrant shrimp stew, inspired by the seaside city of Marseille. and perfumed with fennel, orange, cloves, and saffron.
Warm Camembert with Wild Mushroom Fricassee
© Frances Janisch
This baked appetizer from Chef Daniel Boulud contrasts warm gooey cheese with crunchy walnuts, wild mushrooms, and fresh herbs. Ready in just 30 minutes, it tastes like a dish that took much longer.
Leek and Gruyère Tart
Tina Rupp
This quick tart combines store-bought frozen puff pastry with finely sliced leeks, coarsely shredded Gruyère, and paper-thin prosciutto. Bake for 20 minutes to yield an elegant and simple centerpiece to a meal, best paired with an herby salad and a berry-flavored California Pinot Noir.
Lemony Chicken Fricassee with Shallots and Morels
© Tina Rupp
In this fricassee from Chef Katy Sparks, a whole chicken sizzles in butter until crisp. Morels and shallots are added to the pan, and a sauce rich with lemon zest, lemon juice, and more butter is cooked down to citrisy perfection. Serve with pencil-thin asparagus.