French Recipes

120 French recipes. Page 3 of 5. Compare ingredients and cooking times. Classic Artisan White Sourdough, Croque Monsieur (Béchamel Ham and Cheese Melt).

Baking Hard

Classic Artisan White Sourdough

The rise comes entirely from a sourdough starter with no packaged yeast, and 12 to 15 hours of cold fermentation in the refrigerator give the crumb a gentle sourness. The starter should have roughly doubled and be full of bubbles when it is used; having fed it the night before is not proof that it is ready. A preheated Dutch oven with the lid on traps the dough's own steam so the interior stays moist, and once the lid comes off the crust dries to a thick, crackling brown.

Prep 1020min Cook 40min 4 servings

Western Easy

Croque Monsieur (Béchamel Ham and Cheese Melt)

Bechamel spread thickly over a ham and Gruyere sandwich, then covered with more cheese, bakes in the oven and puffs golden under the broiler. Dijon mustard inside adds a sharp bite that cuts through the salty ham and rich cheese. Only half of the Gruyere is tucked inside during assembly, with the rest saved for the top. Add a fried egg on top and this Paris cafe classic becomes a croque madame.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Baking Hard

Classic Croissant

Three letter folds around a slab of cold butter build the layers, and after baking they show as thin, rolled ridges outside and a continuous open grain inside. Two separate butters are used: a little softened butter in the dough itself and a larger block for lamination. The block and the dough need to feel equally firm while rolling, otherwise the butter cracks or pushes out the sides.

Prep 120min Cook 18min 8 servings

Western Medium

Dauphinoise Potatoes (Creamy Garlic Potato Gratin)

Thin slices of potato soak up garlic-scented cream during a long, gentle bake at 170 degrees until they are almost melting, while the Gruyere on top turns golden. The layers need a short rest to set before cutting, as they slide apart when sliced straight from the oven.

Prep 20min Cook 60min 4 servings

Baking Easy

Coconut Macaroon

There is no flour in these. Shredded coconut is held together with condensed milk and egg white, and the mixture is so sticky that the pan is lined right to its edges with parchment or a silicone mat. Once cool, the bottoms are sometimes dipped in melted dark chocolate.

Prep 10min Cook 18min 12 servings

Western Hard

Duck a l'Orange

Crisp, rendered duck skin set against a glossy, bittersweet orange sauce makes this French classic work. Starting the breast skin-side down in a cold pan lets the thick fat melt out slowly and leaves the skin thin and crackling instead of greasy. While the breast rests somewhere warm, the sauce is built in the same pan from a quick caramel of sugar and red wine vinegar, then orange juice and zest reduced until glossy. Push the reduction too far and the zest turns bitter. Butter swirled in off the heat gives the sauce its shine before it is spooned over the duck, sliced on the bias.

Prep 20min Cook 25min 2 servings

Baking Medium

Cream Horn Pastry

Strips of puff pastry wound around a cone mold bake into a hollow spiral horn, which is then piped full of whipped cream folded into cream cheese. The thawed pastry stays cold and is cut into strips without rolling or stretching it, which protects the flaky layers. Sugar pressed onto the surface bakes into a crisp coating, and each bite brings the open layers and the cold cream together.

Prep 30min Cook 20min 4 servings

Western Hard

Duck Confit

Slow cooking in duck fat turns the legs tender enough to pull apart with a fork, and a final sear in a pan brings the skin back to a crackling crisp. The 12-hour salt cure in the fridge means starting the day before. Rinse and dry the legs thoroughly after curing, since water left in the folds makes the hot fat spit. Although confit began as a preservation method, this home version is not meant for long storage: refrigerate leftovers and use them within 3-4 days.

Prep 740min Cook 180min 2 servings

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Croquembouche (French Caramel-Glazed Cream Puff Tower Centerpiece)

Small custard-filled puffs, each dipped in hot caramel and stacked around a cone, make a tower served in France at weddings and baptisms in place of a wedding cake. The name means crunch in the mouth: hardened caramel cracks first, then the soft choux shell gives way to cold cream. Caramel pulled thin with a fork and wrapped around the finished tower adds fine golden threads. Guests pull the puffs off one at a time, starting from the top.

Prep 60min Cook 45min 8 servings

Western Hard

Eggs Benedict

A runny poached yolk spills into warm hollandaise and soaks the toasted English muffin underneath, with crisp bacon or ham in between. The sauce is the delicate part. Melted butter is poured as a thin stream over a gentle double boiler; pour too fast and the emulsion splits. If it starts to separate, a teaspoon of cold water whisked in brings it back. The poaching water should only show small bubbles, never a hard boil.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Baking Hard

Crunchy Chocolate Chip Baguette

Cocoa powder darkens the dough and keeps it a little bitter, so the chocolate chips folded through it read as pockets of sweetness. They go in near the end, before the dough warms up, and only briefly; long kneading melts them and streaks the crumb.

Prep 120min Cook 25min 2 servings

Western Hard

Eggs Florentine

Spinach wilted briefly in butter takes the place of bacon or ham, sitting between a toasted English muffin and a soft poached egg under hollandaise. Moisture is what ruins it: squeeze the spinach hard and keep the toasted halves spread apart so their steam does not turn them soggy. Fresh eggs hold a neater shape in the poaching water, and the hollandaise needs a gentle bain-marie, since too much heat splits it.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Baking Medium

Dacquoise (Almond Meringue Disc with Butter Cream Filling)

Two flat discs of almond meringue sandwiching buttercream make a dacquoise, the kind Korean cafes sell bite-sized and individually wrapped. The thin outer shell dries enough to crackle under a finger, while the almond fat keeps the inside chewy. This filling is a plain buttercream of butter, milk, and vanilla, which makes it easy to swap in matcha or pistachio.

Prep 25min Cook 18min 4 servings

Western Medium

French Beef Stew

Deeply browned chuck and the dark bits it leaves in the pot, lifted with red wine, form the backbone of this French braise. A thin dusting of flour rather than a heavy paste helps the surface brown instead of steam. Browning in batches matters too: a crowded pot steams the meat instead of searing it. Potatoes join late, after the beef has had its long simmer, and soften without falling apart. Like most braises, it improves when reheated the next day.

Prep 25min Cook 120min 4 servings

Baking Hard

Dark Chocolate Baguette

Instead of the long, thin baguette shape, this dough is rolled into short, plump loaves like sweet potatoes, which keeps more moisture in the crumb. Steam and a 220°C oven give a thin, firm crust, and the cocoa bitterness comes through ahead of the sugar.

Prep 120min Cook 25min 2 servings

Western Medium

French Omelette

Pale yellow with no browning outside and barely set, almost custardy curds inside, a French omelette gets rolled into a neat oval. The French call that soft center baveuse. With so few ingredients, heat control and how you move the pan decide nearly everything. The eggs are beaten only until yolk and white are even, without whipping in bubbles, and poured in while the butter is still foaming, before it browns. From the moment the eggs hit the pan, the whole thing should be done within 90 seconds; too much heat colors the surface and tightens the texture. Keep additions to herbs such as chives rather than heavy fillings.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 5min Cook 6min 1 serving

Baking Hard

Doenjang Caramel Apple Galette

A small spoonful of doenjang, Korean fermented soybean paste, goes into the brown sugar caramel spread under the apples, but the aim is for it to sit behind the sweetness as a faint salty, savory depth rather than taste like doenjang. Pea-sized bits of butter left in the dough make the crust bake up flaky, and the cinnamon apples soften in the oven.

Prep 35min Cook 40min 4 servings

Western Easy

French Toast

Thick slices of bread soak up a vanilla and cinnamon egg mixture, then brown slowly in butter until golden outside and soft in the middle. Day-old, slightly dry bread absorbs it more evenly, and medium-low heat with no pressing lets the center warm through before the outside darkens.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 10min Cook 10min 2 servings

Baking Medium

Earl Grey Milk Tea Cheesecake

Two Earl Grey tea bags steep in warm cream that then goes into the cream cheese filling, so the cheesecake tastes like milk tea under the richness of the cheese. The cream is only warmed at the edges, never boiled, and the bags come out without squeezing. Baked in a water bath over a pressed digestive-biscuit base, the filling sets smooth and even.

Prep 25min Cook 40min 4 servings

Western Medium

Galette Complete (Buckwheat Crêpe with Ham Cheese Egg)

The edges of a thin buckwheat crepe are folded into a square, leaving ham, melted Gruyère and a still-wobbling yolk showing in the middle. In the Breton tradition the yolk stays runny rather than fully set.

Prep 20min Cook 15min 2 servings

Baking Hard

Chocolate Eclairs

French pastry shops usually fill eclairs with vanilla custard; this version uses whipped cream and tops the long choux shells with melted dark chocolate. With a plain cream filling, the bitter chocolate and the crisp shell come through more clearly. The eggs are beaten in one at a time, stopping once the paste looks glossy and drops slowly from the spatula.

Prep 40min Cook 35min 12 servings

Western Easy

Garlic Butter Mussels

White wine, butter, and the juices the mussels release become one broth in the same pot, and baguette is there to soak it up. Opening shells tell you the mussels are done, so watch under the lid rather than the timer, and discard any that stay shut.

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Baking Easy

Financier (Brown Butter Almond Mini Cake)

Browned butter does most of the work: cooked until the foam settles and the solids turn hazelnut brown, it gives these little almond cakes a toasted, nutty smell that plain melted butter lacks. Only egg whites go into the batter, along with almond flour and a spoon of honey. The inside bakes up dense and moist while the edges turn dark and crisp.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 12 servings

Western Easy

Jambon-Beurre (Classic Butter and Ham Baguette)

Baguette, butter, and ham are almost the whole sandwich, so butter temperature and how the ham is layered show in every bite. Butter soft enough to dent with a finger spreads thinly without tearing the crumb. The baguette is split with the knife held low and opened by hand, never hollowed out. Thin, lightly salty ham suits it best; fold it loosely instead of pressing it into a slab, and tuck sliced cornichons between the folds and along the edges so each bite gets some acidity. If the sandwich has been chilled, give it 10 minutes at room temperature so the butter softens again.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 8min 0 2 servings