35 Traditional French Recipes, From Regional Specialties to Bistro Classics Bring the best of French cooking to your kitchen with these enduring favorites. By Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann is an editor, baker, and confectioner with more than 15 years of experience in content creation, recipe development, and pastry production. She's obsessed with the fine details and ingredients that take dishes from tasty to outright otherworldly. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines and Emily Ziemski Emily Ziemski Emily Ziemski is a recipe developer, editor, and food writer with a focus on sustainability and wellness. Previously a senior food editor at Well+Good and food editor at Food52, she's best known for the creation of the Dirty Martini Salad Dressing (for which she apologizes). Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 11, 2026 Add Us On SAVE ALL RECIPES NEW! Save as a collection on MyRecipes Close Credit: Cara Cormack French cooking celebrates carefully chosen ingredients and time-honored techniques, creating elegant dishes where simple flavors shine. Here, we’ve gathered a sampling of our traditional French favorites: rustic coq au vin, towering cheese soufflé, crisp-skinned duck confit, and more. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy cooking your way through these classics. Keep all of your recipes at your fingertips. With the MyRecipes app you can easily save and organize your favorites from anywhere, including Instagram and TikTok, in one convenient place. Get the free app. 01 of 35 Boeuf Bourguignon Food & Wine / Photo by Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Gabe Greco A great boeuf bourguignon requires two things: time and technique. An overnight marinade tenderizes the beef, while a low-and-slow braise melts it into succulent perfection. Get the Recipe Save 02 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 03 of 35 Classic Duck Confit Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Confit may sound daunting, but it’s a French preservation technique built on simplicity. Duck is cooked slowly in its own fat for several hours, resulting in meltingly tender meat with rich, concentrated flavor. Get the Recipe Save 04 of 35 Ratatouille 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 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. Get the Recipe Save 05 of 35 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, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, and a bounty of caramelized onions. Use Emmental or Gruyère cheese to create the golden, gooey topping. Get the Recipe Save 06 of 35 Tarte Tatin Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle With its caramelized apples and exquisitely buttery crust, this classic French tarte Tatin recipe from Benoît Guichard placed first in the pastry category at the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. Get the Recipe Save 07 of 35 Coq au Vin Food & Wine / Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Priscilla Montiel This essential French dish translates to “rooster in wine” and is a celebration of rich, hearty flavors, with tender chicken braised in a robust red wine sauce alongside bacon, mushrooms, and onions. Get the Recipe Save 08 of 35 Best-Ever Cheese Soufflé Cara Cormack Chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s cheese soufflé includes Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano along with a touch of sour cream and dry sherry. Pair it with a vinaigrette-dressed salad and baguette for an elegant lunch. Get the Recipe Save 09 of 35 Pan Bagnat (Niçoise Salad Sandwich) Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Think of pan bagnat as a Niçoise salad made for travel. Its savory tuna juices soak beautifully into the crusty bread, which comes packed with eggs, tomatoes, radishes, and briny olives. Get the Recipe Save 10 of 35 Poulet Basquaise Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne This deeply flavorful braised chicken from France’s Basque Country gets its character from sweet peppers, plenty of onions, white wine, and the gentle heat of piment d’Espelette. Get the Recipe Save 11 of 35 Grilled Onion Lyonnaise Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Shell Royster Salade Lyonnaise pairs bitter, crisp frisée with salty bacon, a warm vinaigrette, and a barely cooked poached egg. Justin Chapple puts his spin on the French bistro favorite with sweet grilled torpedo onions for an extra smoky-sweet element. Get the Recipe Save 12 of 35 Tartiflette Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Combining the best of a gratin and a casserole, this French Alp dish is equal parts cozy and hearty thanks to a mix of sturdy potatoes, sweet caramelized onions, smoky bacon, and creamy, melty cheese. Get the Recipe Save 13 of 35 Lobster Thermidor 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 creating a golden brown crust. Get the Recipe Save 14 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 15 of 35 Classic Pot-au-Feu Food & Wine / Photo by Carson Downing / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans For this dish, winemaker David Duband braises two cuts of beef — shank and rump roast — with marrow bones and then separately cooks leeks and carrots with more marrow bones until everything is deeply flavorful and tender. Get the Recipe Save 16 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 17 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 18 of 35 Vichyssoise Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Sautéed leeks lend their buttery allium flavor to potatoes and half-and-half for this perfectly rich, velvety soup that’s traditionally served chilled. Crunchy garlic croutons and shaved Pecorino Romano cheese top it off for an especially compelling bowl. Get the Recipe Save 19 of 35 Kouign Amann Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen This buttery, flaky laminated pastry balances a deeply caramelized exterior with plenty of salt and a touch of cinnamon. High-quality European-style butter is the key to recreating this Brittany specialty at home. Get the Recipe Save 20 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 21 of 35 Duck à l’Orange Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless The origins of duck à l’orange are debated, but the dish is closely linked to canard à la bigarade, a French preparation made with bitter Seville oranges. However it evolved, the combination of crisp-skinned duck and bright, bittersweet orange sauce has made it a lasting symbol of French cuisine. Get the Recipe Save 22 of 35 Sauvignon Blanc–Steamed Mussels with Garlic Toast Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Called moules marinières in France, these mussels are steamed in Sauvignon Blanc and served in a sauce made from the cooking liquid, butter, and parsley. Get the Recipe Save 23 of 35 Buckwheat Crêpes Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Jennifer Wendorf / Prop Styling by Christina Daley The Brittany region of France is famous for savory buckwheat crêpes, known locally as galettes. Fill these with salty ham, nutty Gruyère, and a perfectly sunny-side-up egg for the ultimate classic. Get the Recipe Save 24 of 35 Chicken and Mushroom Fricassee Food & Wine / Photo by Brie Goldman / Food Styling by Skyler Meyers / Prop Styling by Alexandria Juhl Writer and recipe developer Joy Manning’s modern, lightened-up adaptation of chicken fricassee uses just a fraction of the dish’s typical cream without sacrificing flavor. Made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and plenty of mushrooms, it comes together in half an hour in a single pan. Get the Recipe Save 25 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 26 of 35 Scallop Grenobloise Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis A specialty of Grenoble in southeastern France, this sauce combines nutty brown butter with lemon, capers, and herbs for a bright, briny contrast to sweet, delicate scallops. Get the Recipe Save 27 of 35 Chanterelle Omelets with Fines Herbes Sauce © Andrew Purcell Thomas Keller’s delicate one-egg omelet is a picture of elegant French cooking. The creamy chanterelle filling matches beautifully with an herb sauce made from pureed parsley, chives, chervil, and tarragon. Get the Recipe Save 28 of 35 Poulet au Vinaigre (Chicken in Vinegar Sauce) Greg DuPree This recipe from nouvelle cuisine icon Paul Bocuse was named one of Food & Wine’s 40 best recipes in 2018. Vinegar, tomatoes, and butter transform simple braised chicken into a dish with tender meat and a rich, tangy pan sauce. Get the Recipe Save 29 of 35 Gargantuan Gougères © Lucy Schaeffer Daniel Boulud’s oversized gougères put a dramatic spin on the classic French cheese puff. Made with Gruyère and a touch of piment d’Espelette, these airy pastries are equally suited to an appetizer spread, bread course, or afternoon snack. Get the Recipe Save 30 of 35 Strip Steak Frites with Béarnaise Butter © Con Poulos This elegant take on steak frites from chef Andrew Carmellini borrows the signature flavors of béarnaise sauce, pairing seared strip steak with a tarragon- and shallot-infused butter. Tangy fries made from vinegar-brined potatoes complete the classic French bistro-inspired meal. Get the Recipe Save 31 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 32 of 35 Roasted Pepper Pissaladière Food & Wine A Provençal specialty from the Nice region, pissaladière is a rustic flatbread traditionally topped with caramelized onions, olives, and anchovies. Andrew Zimmern’s version adds roasted peppers to the mix, creating a savory, briny dish with plenty of punch. Get the Recipe Save 33 of 35 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. Get the Recipe Save 34 of 35 Brown Butter Sole with Herb Salad © John Kernick Inspired by the buttery simplicity of sole meunière, this 30-minute recipe from chefs and brothers Michael and Bryan Voltaggio pairs delicate sole with brown butter and fresh herbs. Get the Recipe Save 35 of 35 Hachis Parmentier Abby Hocking Hachis Parmentier is essentially the French version of shepherd’s pie, where layers of seasoned beef and creamy potatoes are baked until golden brown. Get the Recipe Save Explore more: Food World Cuisines European Cuisines French Cuisine Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit