Cuisine · France

French cooking

Butter, wine, stock, and patience — the four-ingredient alphabet of French technique. Weekend projects next to 10-minute bistro classics.

Sort by

Aïoli (Traditional Provençal Garlic and Olive Oil Sauce) with garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil and egg yolk — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceEasy

Sauces and Dips

Aïoli (Traditional Provençal Garlic and Olive Oil Sauce)

Aïoli is the classic Provençal garlic and olive oil sauce — a thick, glossy, intensely garlicky emulsion made from raw garlic, egg yolk, and extra virgin olive oil. Its name comes from Occitan: alh (garlic) and òli (oil). The authentic 'aïoli véritable' uses no egg and relies purely on garlic's emulsifying compounds, but Larousse Gastronomique and modern French restaurants now standardize the egg-yolk version as 'aïoli'. In Provence, this sauce is the centerpiece of Le Grand Aïoli — a Friday lunch of boiled vegetables, salt cod, and hard-boiled eggs all dipped into a communal bowl. Vegetarian, gluten-free, keto-friendly. Active work 15 minutes, no cooking. Yields 250 ml, serves 8.

15 min220 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

Baked Potatoes with Cheese with potato, cheese and butter — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Vegetable and Mushroom Dishes

Baked Potatoes with Cheese

Known in France as Gratin Dauphinois — layers of thinly sliced potatoes baked in cream with garlic and cheese (gruyère or emmental), creating a delicate, creamy texture inside and a crispy golden crust on top.

48 min480 kcal7 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

Béarnaise Sauce with egg yolks, butter and tarragon — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceEasy

Sauces and Dips

Béarnaise Sauce

Béarnaise is hollandaise's sophisticated sibling — a rich, silky French butter sauce flavored with a tarragon-and-shallot reduction in white wine vinegar, then emulsified with egg yolks. The classic pairing with grilled steak, but equally stunning on roasted vegetables, fish, or eggs Benedict.

20 min200 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

Béchamel Sauce with butter, flour and milk — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceEasy

Sauces and Dips

Béchamel Sauce

Classic French béchamel — one of the five mother sauces. Butter, flour, and milk, whisked into a velvety white sauce that forms the base of lasagna, gratins, and croque monsieurs. Fifteen minutes, three ingredients, endless possibilities.

15 min120 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick

Beef Bourguignon with beef, red wine and mushroom — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceAdvanced

Meat Dishes

Beef Bourguignon

Tender pieces of beef stewed in red wine with vegetables, mushrooms and aromatic herbs. A classic of slow cooking that creates a unique taste and aroma.

165 min600 kcal4 serves

💪High protein

Beef Stew with beef, potato and carrot — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceAdvanced

Meat Dishes

Beef Stew

Beef stew is a one-pot braise of chuck beef, potatoes and carrots simmered in beef broth with tomato paste, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. The beef is browned in batches first, then cooked for about 90 minutes until the collagen melts into a thick, glossy sauce. It tastes better the next day, and works with any root vegetables you have on hand.

120 min563 kcal4 serves

💪High protein

Beet Cheese Salad with beets, goat cheese and walnuts — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceAdvanced

Salads

Beet Cheese Salad

Beet and goat cheese salad (salade de betteraves au chèvre in French) is roasted beets, soft goat cheese and toasted walnuts on salad leaves, dressed with a honey and balsamic vinaigrette. The beets take 45 to 60 minutes in the oven, which is most of the 70 minutes; the rest is slicing and a dressing shaken in a jar. The parts are layered rather than tossed, so the goat cheese stays white instead of turning pink.

70 min290 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

Beurre Blanc (Classic French Loire Valley White Butter Sauce) with unsalted European butter, dry white wine and shallots — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceEasy

Sauces and Dips

Beurre Blanc (Classic French Loire Valley White Butter Sauce)

Beurre blanc is a French sauce from the Loire Valley, around Nantes: a reduction of dry white wine, white wine vinegar and finely chopped shallots into which cold butter is whisked until the sauce turns pale, glossy and creamy. By the most common account it was invented around 1890 by Clémence Lefeuvre, a cook near Nantes. It is served warm over poached or pan-fried white fish, scallops, lobster, asparagus and poached eggs; the traditional partner is Loire pike. The sauce is light yellow and slightly sharp from the wine and vinegar, with a soft sweetness from the shallots.

15 min250 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

Biscuit Roll with wheat flour, butter and sugar — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Flour and Confectionery Products

Biscuit Roll

A thin sponge cake made tender with potato starch, rolled around a rich butter cream filling. The starch keeps the cake flexible enough to roll without cracking, and the crumb stays delicate even the next day.

60 min430 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian

Blancmange with milk, sugar and gelatin — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceEasy

Sweet Dishes

Blancmange

Blancmange is an exquisite French dessert — a delicate and light jelly made of milk or cream thickened with gelatin, garnished with toasted almonds and fresh berries.

20 min350 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free

Bouillabaisse with fish, seafood and saffron — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceAdvanced

Soups

Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse is a famous fish soup from Provence, originating from the port city of Marseille. It is a flavorful broth with various types of fresh fish and seafood, flavored with herbs and spices.

95 min450 kcal4 serves

🌶️Spicy🌾Gluten-free💪High protein

Brandade de Morue (Provençal Salt Cod and Olive Oil Spread from Nîmes) with salt cod loin, garlic and whole milk — France recipe

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Sauces and Dips

Brandade de Morue (Provençal Salt Cod and Olive Oil Spread from Nîmes)

Brandade de Morue is the southern French classic from Nîmes (Languedoc-Roussillon), an emulsion of desalted cod, olive oil, milk, and garlic. The name comes from Occitan 'brandar' — to stir, to shake — describing the vigorous beating that turns flaked cod and oil into a creamy spread. First documented by Charles Durand in 1830, the original Nîmes version contains no potato — that addition is a 19th-century Parisian shortcut. This recipe follows Durand's purist tradition: cod-collagen emulsion, no shortcuts. Spread on toasted baguette, baked into a gratin, or used as a dip with raw vegetables. High in protein, naturally gluten-free, low in carbohydrates (keto-friendly when no potato is added). Active time 40 minutes plus 24-48 hours of soaking the salt cod. Yields about 600 g, serves 8 as appetizer with crostini, salad, and chilled rosé.

40 min310 kcal8 serves

💪High protein🥑Keto

Nearby flavors

Four kitchens with overlapping ingredients and similar rhythms to French cooking.

Italian58 recipes Spanish13 recipes Swiss1 recipes