French cooking showcases best-quality ingredients in technique-driven recipes to produce elegant dishes that allow simple flavors to shine. Here, we’ve gathered a sampling of our traditional French favorites: the white wine-braised chicken stew coq au vin blanc, a smoked salmon take on Lyonnaise salad, the buttery, Cognac-infused pot pie poulet en croûte, and more. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy cooking your way through these classics.
Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche
Food & Wine / Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell
With an all-butter crust, a whole pound of sautéed spinach, and an entire log of crumbled goat cheese, this savory egg custard tart is an absolutely divine addition to any brunch spread.
Coq au Vin Blanc
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Priscilla Montiel
Food blogger Anina Belle Giannini’s version of the classic French chicken and vegetable stew leans on a dry white wine like Chardonnay instead of the traditional red. With browned chicken pieces, bacon lardons, and a rich, buttery sauce, it remains wonderfully indulgent.
Smoked Salmon Lyonnaise Salad
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless
Peppery baby greens can be grown year-round, so there’s no bad time to make this classic French bistro salad featuring boiled eggs, crispy bacon, smoked salmon, and homemade garlic croutons. Caramelized shallots and Dijon mustard in the punchy dressing bring acidity that deliciously cuts the richness of the bacon, eggs, and salmon.
Mille-Feuille
Food & Wine / Photo by Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Chelesa Zimmer / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Also known as a Napoleon, this decadent stacked French dessert layers on the butter — first in the flaky puff pastry, then in the rich, vanilla-flecked pastry cream.
Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce
This is the quintessential beef stew with red wine. Jacques Pépin’s mother served it at her restaurant, Le Pélican, where she made it with tougher cuts of meat. Jacques likes the flatiron — a long, narrow cut that’s extremely lean but becomes tender and stays moist.
Chanterelle Omelets with Fines Herbes Sauce
© Andrew Purcell
Thomas Keller’s delicate one-egg omelet is a picture of elegant simplicity. The creamy chanterelle filling matches beautifully with an herb sauce made from pureed parsley, chives, chervil, and tarragon.
Lobster Thermidor
Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell
Rich cremini mushrooms in a wine-infused sauce balance the natural sweetness of lobster in this traditional French recipe, with Parmesan cheese adding a golden-brown crust.
French Onion Soup
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Natalie Ghazali
Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s take on the timeless French onion soup, called “soupe à l’oignon” in France, includes beef stock, dry sherry, Worcestershire sauce, and plenty of caramelized onions. Use Emmental or Gruyère cheese for the golden, gooey topping.
Ratatouille
Photo by Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Greg Luna / Prop Styling by Stephanie Hunter
“True ratatouille is a simple dish: rich, tender, and transcendent when made well,” writes Parisian cookbook author Rebekah Pepplar. Made with peak-season tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, and eggplant, this iconic vegetable stew distills the flavors of summer into a single bowl.
Poulet en Croûte
Cedric Angeles
This chicken pot pie, courtesy of a French winemaker, is a simple, comforting one-dish meal perfect for a brisk, wintry day, or when company’s coming. Lean on frozen puff pastry for the golden, flaky crust — look for one made with all butter if possible.
Vichyssoise
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver
Buttery, sweet sautéed leeks team up with starchy potatoes and half-and-half for this perfectly rich, velvety soup that’s traditionally served chilled. Crunchy garlic croutons, shaved Pecorino Romano cheese, and a scattering of sliced scallions top it off for an especially compelling bowl.
Baguette
William Dickey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Tucker Vines
With its crisp crust and tender center, the baguette is perhaps the most quintessentially French menu item. It’s made with just four simple ingredients — five, if you count the requisite smear of best-quality butter.
Chicken Chasseur
Cara Cormack
Simply seasoned pieces of chicken are browned until golden, then simmered with a garlicky, olive-spiked tomato pan sauce and served with crusty baguette for this bold braise from southern France.
Tarte Tropézienne (Brioche Cake with Pastry Cream)
Christopher Testani / FOOD STYLING by CHELSEA ZIMMER / PROP STYLING by CLAIRE SPOLLEN
Seek out high-fat European-style butter to make both the tender brioche and the vanilla pastry cream in this classic Provençal cake topped with crunchy pearl sugar.
Ham Steaks in Madeira Sauce
Greg DuPree
The legendary Julia Child was a champion of ham. For this recipe, she was inspired by a French dish called jambon à la morvandelle, featuring ham steaks basted in a mushroom and Madeira sauce. Child called the dish one of her “fast entrées for fancy people.”
Alain Ducasse’s Gougères
Diana Chistruga
Silky pâte à choux dough forms the base for these airy, cheesy, puffy little bites from the culinary icon. While the dough is often used for sweet applications like éclairs, we like this recipe, which enriches it with Gruyère and black pepper for a savory party snack.
Pan Bagnat (Niçoise Salad Sandwich)
Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
The pan bagnat is essentially a Niçoise salad in sandwich form. To make it, tuna is pureed with red wine vinegar, olive oil, anchovies, and garlic to form an umami-rich spread that matches well with the olives, sliced eggs, tomatoes, red onion, and radishes.
Crêpes Suzette
Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Victoria Granof / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
Jacques Pépin’s lacy crêpes are dipped in a buttery, orange-flavored sauce and piled into a skillet before they’re doused in Grand Marnier and Cognac, then flambéed. We can already hear your guests’ oohs and ahhs.
Creamy Chicken-and-Mushroom Fricassee
© Tina Rupp
A combination of tender chicken, earthy mushrooms, and rich, creamy sauce creates a mouthwatering meal. It’s perfect for a special occasion or a cozy night in — serve it with a side of mashed potatoes or rice to soak up all of the delicious sauce.
Toulouse-Style Cassoulet
© Tina Rupp
Paula Wolfert’s incredible cassoulet is a pork lover’s dream, containing ham hocks, pork shoulder, pork skin, salt pork, pancetta, prosciutto, and French-style fresh pork sausages — plus duck confit.
Gruyère Cheese Soufflé
© Christina Holmes
Jacques Pépin’s golden soufflé packs in three cheeses: Grated Parmesan lines the baking dish, nutty Gruyère is folded into the béchamel-egg white mixture, and strips of American cheese form the pretty lattice top.
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.