French recipes
Easy French Recipes: Coq au Vin, Onion Soup and Crème Brûlée
French home cooking depends more on a few patient techniques than on rare ingredients. Coq au vin is about browning chicken well and braising it gently in red wine. French onion soup needs onions cooked slowly in butter until deep brown, crème brûlée is custard baked low and slow in a water bath, and green beans almondine gets its flavour from brown butter and toasted almonds. Creamy Dijon pork chops rely on a quick pan sauce of white wine, cream and mustard made in the same skillet.
Each recipe uses supermarket ingredients and gives exact quantities, timings and doneness checks. Alongside the classics are French-inspired favourites: chicken cordon bleu rolled around ham and Swiss cheese and baked rather than fried, baked brie with honey and walnuts, molten chocolate lava cakes and dark chocolate truffles. Several suit entertaining because the work happens ahead: coq au vin and the onion soup base keep for up to 4 days in the fridge, crème brûlée custards wait for up to 3 days before you torch the tops, and the truffles keep for a week.
9 recipes · Updated
Quick answer
Savour's French recipes include green beans almondine, the quickest at 22 minutes, creamy Dijon pork chops (35 minutes), coq au vin (about 1 hour 50 minutes) and French onion soup (just under 2 hours). For a party, baked brie takes 23 minutes and chocolate lava cakes 29, while crème brûlée (about 5 hours) and dark chocolate truffles (2 hours 50 minutes) are mostly chilling time.
- Recipes
- 9
- Average total time
- 1 hr 37 mins
- Quickest
- Green Beans Almondine (22 mins)
- Rated Easy
- 5 of 9
- Average calories
- 378 per serving
- Newest
- Easy Dark Chocolate Truffles
All French Recipes (9)
Frequently Asked Questions
What ingredients do I need to cook French food at home?
Keep butter, olive oil, flour, onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and good chicken and beef stock on hand. For these recipes you will also want dry red and dry white wine, heavy cream, eggs, Dijon mustard, bacon and a melting cheese such as Gruyère, plus dark chocolate with 60-70% cocoa for the lava cakes and truffles.
Which French recipe should I start with?
Green beans almondine (22 minutes) and baked brie (23 minutes) are quick, easy places to begin. For a main dish, try creamy Dijon pork chops, a one-pan dinner in about 35 minutes, or French onion soup: it has few ingredients, and the only real skill is patience while the onions brown. Coq au vin and crème brûlée take longer but are straightforward if you follow the doneness checks.
Can I cook these French recipes without wine?
For coq au vin, braise the chicken in 1 litre of chicken stock with 2 tbsp red wine vinegar in place of the wine and stock. It makes a good braised chicken, though the sauce is lighter in colour and flavour. For creamy Dijon pork chops, use more chicken stock in place of the white wine, and for French onion soup, deglaze the pot with a splash of the beef stock instead. Green beans almondine, baked brie, chicken cordon bleu, crème brûlée, the lava cakes and the truffles contain no wine.
Which French recipes can I make ahead?
Coq au vin and the French onion soup base both keep for up to 4 days in the fridge and freeze for up to 3 months, and coq au vin tastes even better the next day. Crème brûlée custards keep for up to 3 days in the fridge; add and torch the sugar topping just before serving. The truffles keep for a week in the fridge, lava cake batter can wait in its ramekins for a day before baking, and breaded cordon bleu rolls freeze unbaked for up to 3 months.