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Discover the Best Traditional Food in France
Traditional food in France is popular worldwide as one of the most delicious. France is known as a “gourmet nation”, and you will find flavorful and traditional French dishes everywhere, in restaurants, bistros, brasseries, and cafés.
Eating is an integral part of French culture, and during your holiday in France, you cannot help but participate in it!
French cuisine is diverse and complex, and you might wonder what to eat in France. From meat mains to vibrant salads, here’s a list of famous French dishes that you absolutely need to try.
Here’s the list of popular foods in France you need to try:
- Cassoulet
- Galette Bretonne
- Quiche Lorraine
- Fondue Savoyarde
- Bouillabaisse
- Ratatouille
- Boeuf Bourguignon
- Poulet Basquaise
- Salade Niçoise
- Confit de Canard
Must-Try Traditional Dishes (and Where to Find Them)
1. Cassoulet
Cassoulet is one of the most popular foods in France. A staple of the countryside cuisine, this dish is nowadays present in the best Paris restaurants.
It’s a rich and hearty meal cooked in the “cassole”, a terracotta casserole pot that is what renders this dish as comforting as a hug. Cassoulet is made of white beans and a mix of meats, usually pork and different types of sausages. The fancier version of Cassoulet has duck or goose instead of pork.
Cassoulet is an original recipe from southwest France, and three cities compete for its invention (Castelnaudary, Carcassonne, and Toulouse) – so you will find three versions of the “traditional way” of preparing Cassoulet!
2. Galette Bretonne
The delicious savory version of crêpes, the Galette Bretonne, is a traditional recipe from the Brittany region in northwestern France.
The Galette Bretonne is made of buckwheat flour, which gives it a brownish color and a crispier texture than the original crepes. The Galette Bretonne is filled with various ingredients, including eggs, ham, mushrooms, and grated cheese.
You can find this dish in every cafè in Brittany, and it is usually served with bits of salted butter on the side. Try the Galette Bretonne while drinking a glass of local cider to enjoy it the traditional way!
3. Quiche Lorraine
A traditional French dish from the region of Lorraine, the original Quiche Lorraine‘s crust was made with bread dough instead of shortcrust dough and then filled with cream, milk, eggs, nutmeg, gruyere cheese, onions, and lardons (bacon).
This tradition has evolved, and nowadays, the dough is a lighter and melt-in-your-mouth pastry. But the filling has remained the same, and its slightly smoky flavor is what makes Quiche Lorraine one of the most popular things to eat in France.
In the Lorraine region, the quiche was originally eaten on May Day. Today, you can find it everywhere, served as an appetizer or as a main, with a side salad.
4. Fondue Savoyarde
When thinking about French cuisine, many people around the world picture this dish: the Fondue Savoyarde, which has become an iconic dish from the French Alps. It seems that fondue was first eaten in Switzerland, but it quickly rose to popularity in France’s Savoie region.
One of the best French dishes to eat in wintertime, wherever you are, Fondue Savoyarde is made with a blend of some of the best French cheeses (Gruyère, Beaufort, Emmental, and Comté), melted together into a rich, comforting dish perfect for sharing. There is a specific way to eat fondue: take a piece of bread with a fork and slide it into the warm fondue to have it coated with the lush cheese mix.
5. Bouillabaisse
You might know Bouillabaisse as being a luxurious seafood stew, but this dish has very humble origins. It was eaten by fishermen in Marseille who prepared it using the leftovers from their daily catch.
Bouillabaisse is made with a combination of fresh seafood (several varieties of whitefish, mussels, and crabs), vegetables, white wine, and aromatics (saffron, bay leaf, and dried oranges). The long hours of simmering give this stew its distinctive and rich flavor and bright orange color.
The best place to try Bouillabaisse is in Marseille, where this dish (if well done) can cost up to 200€! When you find a pricy Bouillabaisse, it means that it contains a special ingredient: the red scorpionfish, a type of venomous rockfish found only in the Mediterranean.
6. Ratatouille
If you are wondering what to eat in France as a vegetarian, start with Ratatouille. Probably the most famous food in France, thanks to the Disney movie, Ratatouille is a traditional specialty from Provençal cuisine. It is a vegan dish prepared with tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, eggplants, onions, and garlic.
Ratatouille can be enjoyed on its own as a vegetable stew with toasted garlic bread or as a side to roasted or grilled meat mains, usually lamb or chicken.
Ratatouille is the perfect dish to enjoy every season, as it is served either hot or cold.
7. Boeuf Bourguignon
Boeuf Bourguignon is a rich stew from the region of Burgundy in France. What makes this dish special and one of the most popular foods in France is the use of the red Burgundy wine to soften and tenderize the beef.
The beef bites are cooked with vegetables (mushrooms, garlic, carrots) and aromatics and simmered for as long as possible in the wine. The long cooking time makes the meat soft and succulent, and the sauce hearty and thick.
Boeuf Bourguignon is served with a side of potatoes and carrots. This dish is a staple of any menu in France!
8. Poulet Basquaise
Poulet Basquaise is a delicious specialty from the Basque Country. It is one of the best examples of authentic French ingredients and traditional French cooking techniques. If you want to try something that is the quintessence of French cuisine, this dish is for you!
The main ingredient of Poulet Basquaise is chicken. The meat is tenderised using the “piperade”, a sauce made of onions, garlic, tomatoes, and Espelette pepper (an AOP variety grown in the Basque Country).
You will find Poulet Basquaise in any bistro, and it is usually served with a fragrant portion of rice.
9. Salade Niçoise
The Salade Nic̝oise is a typical French salad from the city of Nice. Flavorful and colorful, this salad is made using local ingredients: tuna, black olives, tomatoes, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, and everything mixed with lettuce.
The salad is seasoned with a simple yet delicious traditional Provençal seasoning of olive oil, garlic, and basil. Salade Nic̝oise can be eaten on its own as a light meal or as an appetizer, but is mainly served as a side with both meat and fish mains.
10. Confit de Canard
Packed with flavors, Confit de Canard (Duck Confit) is a fantastic dish from Gascogne, southwest France. The main ingredient is duck in confit, a traditional cooking method used to preserve meat for months. The duck meat is slow-roasted in its own fat and seasoned with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs.
Traditionally, duck confit is cooked in a copper pot for up to 24 hours to make the meat juicy and tender. Confit de Canard is usually served at room temperature and accompanied by potato puree cooked in duck fat or without sauce and with some foie gras on top.
And there you have it, what to eat in France and where to find all these delicious French dishes. Which foods would you like to try right now?