Easy French Cassoulet Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What do the French eat with cassoulet? ›

You can serve cassoulet on its own with a salad and bread on the side, but it's traditional to accompany it with something colorful . . . usually greens of some sort.

Cassoulet, a hearty slow-simmered stew of sausage, confit (typically duck), pork, and white beans, is one of the great hallmarks of French country cuisine. The best versions are cooked for hours until the beans and meat meld into a dish of luxuriant, velvety richness.

Saucisse de Toulouse - The Best Sausage. Toulouse Saucisse (Toulouse Sausage) is a fresh sausage made in Toulouse, France, in the southwest. It's a classic French pork sausage cooked with white wine and onions. Cassoulet is a fantastic way to use it.

[kasulɛ ] masculine noun. sausage and bean hotpot. Collins French-English Dictionary © by HarperCollins Publishers.

Conran suggests Polish kielbasa as a Toulouse substitute, but the smoky sort I use makes everything taste like a frankfurter, so I'd steer clear – basically, you need something with a very high meat content, and preferably a hefty whack of garlic.

The Best Beans for Cassoulet

Cassoulet is traditionally made with dried white beans like flageolet or regional specialty beans like these ones from Tarbais. It might be a stretch to locate these beans in your local market, but great northern beans, navy beans, or cannellini beans are all great alternatives.

All the ingredients for a good cassoulet can be found in most grocery stores. Purists will argue that you need to find real tarbais beans but I have found white kidney beans work just as well. They will mention that there are 3 versions of true cassoulets (Castelnaudary, Carcassone, and Toulouse).

The cassoulet needs to bake uncovered to develop a crisp crust. Baking sheets All of the ingredients for a cassoulet are cooked before being combined and baked again. The meat can be cooked in any number of ways; here, the pork and lamb stew meat is roasted on rimmed baking sheets so that it browns.

There are three types of cassoulet – the Holy Trinity. There's the 'Father' (pork and goose), the 'Son' (mutton and partridge), and the 'Holy Ghost' (sausage, mutton, and duck).

Which southern city is renowned for cassoulet? ›

The official cassoulet recipe (and regional variations)

Castelnaudary is widely regarded as France's capital of cassoulet, and it's the only place in the world that can claim to hold the official recipe.

If you like cassoulet, you'll love fabada. It's leaner, smokier, and—crucially—takes a fraction of the time to prepare.

Andouillette (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃dujɛt]) is a French coarse-grained sausage made from the intestine of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings.

Storing Cassoulet

If refrigerated in an airtight container it should last up to 4 days, with its flavor peaking around the third day. To freeze, transfer the casserole to an air tight container and allow to fully cool before freezing to ensure it lasts up to 3 months.

In the Dutch oven, arrange a layer of the bean mixture at the bottom, then the various meat, broth, and wine. End with remaining beans. Cover the top with breadcrumbs and dot with 3 tablespoons duck fat. Bake until beautifully browned and bubbly and most of the liquid has cooked away, about 1 1/2 hours.

It might be patisseries such as macarons, caneles, beignets, crêpes or pastries such as pain au chocolat or croissant or just some bread and butter with jam without forgetting some fruits and a drink (fruit juice, tea, a bowl of milk, hot chocolate...)

It's baked and served in a deep, handmade earthenware vessel called a cassole, with traditional sloping sides.

A French dinner would usually begin with a starter/appetizer such as escargot or even foie gras on toast. If you fancy recreating your own French starter, our collection of foie gras is a great place to start, take a look for yourself here. The main dish can be a combination of fish or meat with vegetables.