23 Restaurant-Worthy French Recipes You Can Make at Home

Turn your home into a French bistro.

Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

There's something effortlessly elegant, cool yet casual about a meal in a French bistro. These recipes are here to help you capture that spirit at home. From traditional stews, braises, and soups to vegetable sides and a handful of desserts, you can mix and match to serve up a bistro-style meal from beginning to end. Don't forget to read the helpful tips and tricks from our contributors, recipe developers, and readers as you save your favorites.

My dinner party picks? A French onion soup starter, steak au poivre (with homemade frites, of course) and a simple green salad for the main, and chocolate mousse for dessert. Mais oui!

French Onion Soup

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: French Onion Soup

"Gruyère and Parmesan are the classics for French onion soup. However, if you don't have them, you can use Gouda, Swiss, Fontina, or mozzarella." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Poached Egg and Bacon Salad (Salade Lyonnaise)

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: Poached Egg and Bacon Salad (Salade Lyonnaise)

"Salade Lyonnaise is a traditional French salad from Lyon, made with frisée or curly endive, hot bacon, and a freshly poached egg." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Easy Steak Au Poivre

Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

Get Recipe: For the Best Possible Steak, Cook It Like the French Do

"Things happen fast in this recipe, so have your ingredients prepped and ready to go before cooking your steak." —Sara Haas, Recipe Developer

Quiche Lorraine

Simply Recipes / Lori Rice

Get Recipe: Quiche Lorraine

"Onions or shallots can be used in place of the chives. Use about 1/2 cup, finely chopped, and sauté in butter first before spreading over the bottom of the quiche crust with the bacon." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Traditional Cassoulet

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Get Recipe: Traditional Cassoulet

"This is not a recipe you can make in one day. Prepare the components a day or two in advance: soak the beans, cut the vegetables, thaw the duck, if frozen, and make the breadcrumbs. Give yourself about 5 hours before you serve the cassoulet to cook, assemble, and bake." —Sally Vargas, Recipe Developer

Lyonnaise Potatoes

Simply Recipes / Alexandra Shytsman

Get Recipe: Lyonnaise Potatoes

"When pan-frying the potatoes, don’t move or flip them more than necessary; only flip when they’re deeply golden on the bottom. The potatoes need to make prolonged contact with the hot pan to get properly browned." —Alexandra Shytsman, Recipe Developer

Easy Duck Confit

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Get Recipe: Easy Duck Confit

"Duck confit makes a savory and satisfying main course, but you can use it as an ingredient in other dishes such as pasta with slow roasted duck confit. As a main dish, it works great with sides roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, or even a simple green salad." —Hank Shaw, Recipe Developer

2-Minute French Bistro Salad Dressing

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

Get Recipe: This 2-Minute Salad Dressing Will Make You Feel Like You’re in a French Bistro

"This recipe yields about 1 cup of dressing—enough for dinner, plus extra to keep in the refrigerator for five to seven days. Proportionally scale the recipe up or down based on how much dressing you need." —Jennifer Zyman, Recipe Developer

Croque Monsieur Sandwich

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: Croque Monsieur Sandwich

"If you top this sandwich with a fried egg it becomes a Croque Madame." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Moules Marinières (French Mussels in White Wine Sauce)

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: Moules Marinières (French Mussels in White Wine Sauce)

"When purchasing mussels be sure they smell like the ocean, not fishy. Don't buy any whose shells are cracked or open or any that refuse to close their shells when you handle or tap them, those are likely dying or dead." —Elise Bauer, Founder

5-Minute Chocolate Mousse

Simply Recipes / Coco Morante

Get Recipe: 5-Minute Chocolate Mousse

"You don’t really need to add any toppings to the mousse (Wini never did), but a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate shavings are a nice option if you’d like to fancy it up a bit." —Coco Morante, Recipe Developer

Coq au Vin

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Get Recipe: Coq au Vin

"Coq au vin is delicious the next day. Like many stews, coq au vin improves on day two as its flavors to meld together. Store coq au vin covered in the refrigerator for up to five days. Bring to a boil in the stove, then simmer for 5 minutes, continuing to cook until the chicken is just heated through." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Get Recipe: Vegetarian French Onion Soup

"If you can’t find boxed mushroom broth in your grocery store, look for mushroom bouillon. It’s a seasoned mushroom concentrate. Simply mix it with hot water to make the mushroom broth." —Sharon Lehman, Recipe Developer

Steak au Poivre (French Peppercorn Steak)

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: Peppercorn Steak

"Note that some peppercorns are hotter than others. While most peppercorns you find at the grocery store will work in this recipe splendidly, if you're unsure of the heat of your peppercorns, crack a few first and give them a taste." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Nicoise Salad

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

Get Recipe: Nicoise Salad

"Use quality canned albacore in oil tuna for Salad Niçoise. Get solid tuna; we don't recommend chunk light for this recipe." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Homemade French Fries

Simply Recipes / Karishma Pradhan

Get Recipe: Homemade French Fries

"Soaking potatoes is critical to achieving a light golden-brown crust on your fries. Soaking removes excess starch from the potatoes and prevents excess browning. Otherwise, the exterior of the potato will brown too quickly before the inside cooks." —Karishma Pradhan, Recipe Developer

Pear Tarte Tatin

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: Pear Tarte Tatin

"The recipe calls for our Sour Cream Pie Crust recipe as the pastry, but you can use a thawed frozen puff pastry sheet as well." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Bouillabaisse

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Get Recipe: Bouillabaisse

"Use firm fish for fillets such as sea bass, red mullet, haddock, halibut, cod, conger, or red porgy. Small whole fish can be added as well. Also traditional are mussels, squid, and crab." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Crème Brûlée

Simply Recipes / Alison Conklin

Get Recipe: Crème Brûlée

"Skim the foam off the top of the custard after straining it but before pouring it into ramekins. This will give you a perfectly smooth surface for brûléeing the sugar." —Summer Miller, Senior Editor

French Green Beans with Butter and Herbs

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: French Green Beans with Butter and Herbs

"Use fresh herbs if available. If not, you can used dried, but use a quarter as much." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Chantilly Potatoes

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

Get Recipe: For the Best Mashed Potatoes, Make Them Like the French Do

"This recipe calls for an 8x8-inch baking dish, but you can use any other 2 to 2 1/2 quart baking dish you have on hand. Just make sure there is a little bit of room as the potatoes will rise slightly as they bake." —Devan Grimsrud, Recipe Developer

Beef Bourguignon

Simply Recipes / Laura Heller

Get Recipe: Beef Bourguignon

"If you can find it, use a pinot noir for this recipe. It is the dominant wine used in Burgundy, France, and it is what gives this dish its name." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Cherry Clafoutis

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Get Recipe: Cherry Clafoutis

"Oh my, this was good. A nice custard like filling and not too sweet. I made it with 1/2 and 1/2 instead of milk and used frozen dark cherries that I had allowed to thaw and drain in a colander for several hours. Next time, I might make a little sauce with the juice that collected under the frozen cherries." —Anne, Simply Recipes Reader

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