10 Ways to Make Comfort Food with a French Accent

Parlez-vous cassoulet?  With these recipes, you’ll get fluent in French comfort food, from simple lentil soup to classic cassoulet. There’s something for every taste with chicken and duck confit to veal and beef short ribs. Read on for the recipes.

1. Braised Lamb with Tarbais Beans & Pistou

In this typical Provençal dish, the pounded pesto-style sauce – called pistou – is served cold as a garnish to a dish such as vegetable soup. In this recipe, we braised lamb with our creamy Haricot Tarbais and topped with fresh basil pistou which adds a bright note to a warming winter stew.

braised-lamb-shoulder-white-beans-pesto (1)

2. Veal Medallions with Calvados Cream & Sautéed Apples

This easy veal recipe highlights the flavors of Normandy – Calvados, an apple brandy, sliced tart apples, cream, and mushrooms. We used veal top round cut into medallions, but it would also be delicious with chicken, poussin, or pork chops.

veal normande recipe

3. French Lentil Soup with Chicken Confit & Bacon

We love this simple recipe. Packed with our ready-to-use chicken confit and a hint of smoky bacon, this lentil soup is satisfying plus it’s quick and easy to make.

lentil-soup-with-chicken-and-bacon-recipe

4. Duck Confit & Porcini Shepherd’s Pie

A shepherd’s pie may not be so French, but when you call it Hachis Parmentier, it suddenly is. Our easy-to-make shepherd’s pie recipe with duck confit takes a French twist on classic comfort food and makes for an incredible meal.

duck-confit-shepherds-pie-2

5. Chicken with Pancetta, Mushrooms & White Wine Sauce

Chicken thighs, mushrooms, and French pancetta create quite the comforting dish when slow-cooked in a creamy white wine sauce. It’s our version of Coq au Riesling. Serve with mashed potatoes and crusty bread for a rustic, satisfying supper.

poussins-au-riesling-recipe

6. Short Rib Beef Bourguignon

Classic beef Bourguignon is surprisingly easy to make with our Angus boneless short ribs, plenty of aromatics, exotic mushrooms, and French pancetta. Serve with warm crusty bread and a bottle of your favorite red wine.

beef-short-rib-bourguignon-recipe

7. Poulet Chasseur

This classic recipe of braised chicken with bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, and wine is our favorite kind of comfort food – hearty and satisfying, yet quick and easy enough for a weeknight.

Poulet Basque Angle

8. Cassoulet D’Artagnan

Our cassoulet recipe is hearty, authentic and easy to make. The casserole of preserved duck, sausages and beans is the heart & soul of Gascon cooking, and has been described by Julia Child as “everyday fare for a peasant but ambrosia for a gastronome.”

Cassoulet for 4 in Pot

9. Duck and Cabbage Garbure Soup

This much-celebrated soup is incredibly thick with a variety of tender slow-cooked vegetables and savory preserved meats such as delectable shreds of succulent duck confit, rich smoky ham, and tasty pieces of the salt-cured French pancetta – ventrèche. Pure and simple, garbure is honest French country cooking that nourishes and deeply satisfies.

10. Chestnut Hot Chocolate

Surprise! We’re finishing with something sweet. This cocoa recipe incorporates the nutty flavor of our fully cooked French chestnuts and is inspired by European-style hot chocolate – thick, rich, and just sweet enough. It’s a decadent treat with some toasted brioche for dipping. Be sure to drink it out of a bowl, French style.

Shop dartagnan.com for all the proteins you need – and explore our French classics recipes for more ideas and inspiration.


Since 1985, D’Artagnan has been at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement, producing superior tasting products by partnering with small ranches and farms. We are committed to free-range, natural production, sustainable and humane farming practices, and no use of antibiotics or hormones. That’s why D’Artagnan products have been revered by America’s most renowned chefs for over 30 years. We offer the same high-quality products to home cooks at dartagnan.com, along with recipes and guides to help you live the tasty life.

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