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French Recipes

Classic and approachable French recipes — coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon, crêpes, soufflés, and bistro favorites.

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Fan Favorite

Crusty French Bread

Super easy with a Dutch oven and soooo tasty with a dab of butter.

45 min150 cal5g proteinServes 64,353 saves

Melanie Rosenblatt

Ingredients

2 1/4 tsp Active dry yeast
1 tsp Sugar
1 1/4 cups Warm water
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups All-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)

Instructions

1Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
2Let the yeast proof for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is foamy.
3Add kosher salt and flour to bowl. Mix with your hands or a sturdy spatula until all flour is incorporated and dough has just started to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
4Lightly flour all sides of your dough and turn it over inside the mixing bowl to coat with flour on all sides. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise on the counter for about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
5When dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board.
6Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the cutting board. DO NOT PUNCH THE DOUGH DOWN.
7Sprinkle a bit of flour across the top of the dough, then begin shaping it into a round loaf. Pull each corner of the dough in towards the center and repeat until the dough feels tight. Flip the dough over and tap it into a round loaf.
8Flour a proofing basket or a medium bowl and place your loaf into it seam-side down. Cover with a tea towel and let rise another 30 minutes or so while you preheat the oven.
9While bread is rising, place an empty dutch oven (with the lid on) in your oven and heat to 460 degrees Fahrenheit.
10Use oven mitts to pull the dutch oven out and remove the lid.
11Tip your bread dough gently out of the proofing basket. Make sure the seam side is up.
12VERY CAREFULLY use the sides of the parchment to lift the bread up and place it into the hot Dutch oven.
13Place the dutch oven lid back on the pot, and slide back into your hot oven.
14Cook bread for 30 minutes.
15After 30 minutes, remove the lid. Continue cooking, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes more until the bread has a beautiful brown crust.
16Use a long spatula to lift the bread out of the dutch oven onto a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
17Slice, slather with butter, and enjoy!

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Why Learning French Cooking Techniques Makes You a Better Cook

French cooking isn't about complexity — it's about technique. Mastering the French mother sauces, learning to properly brown butter, understanding how to build a fond and deglaze it: these skills transfer across every cuisine you'll ever cook.

Start with the approachable classics: French onion soup, vinaigrette made properly with a whisk, crêpes, a simple chicken with mustard cream sauce. Each of these teaches something fundamental about flavor building and sauce-making that no recipe from any other tradition will teach you quite as clearly.

On Pepper, home cooks return again and again to classic French recipes, making the fundamentals of classical cuisine an everyday affair.

Quick Tips

1
Start with Mise en Place
French cooking depends on having everything prepped before you turn on the heat. Chop, measure, and organize all your ingredients first — it keeps you from scrambling mid-recipe and produces better results.
2
Cook Wine Down Properly
When a French recipe calls for wine, let it reduce by at least half before adding stock or cream. Raw wine tastes sharp and alcoholic; properly reduced wine adds depth and sweetness.
3
Use a Dutch Oven for Braises
Dishes like coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon need the consistent, even heat of a heavy Dutch oven. A thin pot creates hot spots that scorch the bottom and leave the top underdone.
4
Finish Sauces with Cold Butter
The classic French technique of whisking cold butter into a sauce at the end — beurre monté — creates a glossy, velvety finish. Pull the pan off the heat first so the butter emulsifies rather than melts flat.