National dish

What is the national dish of France?

France has no official national dish, but the one most often named is pot-au-feu: cheap cuts of beef simmered for three to five hours with carrots, leeks, turnips and an onion studded with cloves. The broth is served first, then the meat and vegetables with coarse salt and mustard. Blanquette de veau, beef bourguignon and steak frites are also regularly cited.

Updated 2026-10-124 min read

Does France have an official national dish?

No. No French law or decree names a national dish, and lists of France's national dishes are long: pot-au-feu, beef bourguignon, blanquette de veau, steak frites, cassoulet, escargots and crêpes all appear on them.

Pot-au-feu is the one that comes up most often. The Oxford Companion to Food calls it "a dish symbolic of French cuisine and a meal in itself", the chef Raymond Blanc calls it "the quintessence of French family cuisine", and National Geographic has called it the national dish of France. Modern France also eats a great deal of couscous, which is often cited as one of the most widely consumed dishes in the country today.

What is in pot-au-feu?

Pot-au-feu means "pot on the fire". Its base is beef, and specifically the cheap cuts that need long cooking: shin, cheek, short rib, chuck. Many cooks use two kinds, because a gelatinous cut like shin makes the best broth while a leaner cut slices better. Paul Bocuse called for six different cuts.

The usual components:

Beef: two or more slow-cooking cuts, sometimes with chicken, veal or pork added.
Something cartilaginous: oxtail or a marrow bone, whose marrow is eaten spread on toast.
Vegetables: carrot, turnip, leek, onion, often celery root, sometimes potato.
Aromatics: a bouquet garni of parsley, thyme and bay, black pepper, and an onion studded with cloves.
Cabbage: optional, and argued over. Escoffier included it; Bocuse and Julia Child left it out.

How pot-au-feu is made and served

The meat goes into a large pot of water, traditionally cold water for a richer broth. The pot cooks at a slow, steady simmer for three to five hours with the lid ajar, skimmed at the start. The vegetables go in only for the time they need to cook. One old trick is to halve an onion and blacken it under the grill: it colours and flavours the broth.

Cooks still argue about the start. Beef put into cold water gives a fuller broth; beef dropped into boiling water keeps more flavour in the meat. Paul Bocuse and the 19th-century chef Jules Gouffé both started cold. Many French cooks prefer pot-au-feu reheated the next day.

It is served as two courses. The broth comes first, often with rice, pasta or toasted bread. Then the meat and vegetables, with coarse salt, strong Dijon mustard, gherkins or horseradish. Leftover meat traditionally becomes hachis parmentier, a mince and mashed potato bake.

The same gentle-simmer logic runs through blanquette de veau, another dish on every list of French national dishes: veal poached at a bare simmer for 1 h 30 with carrot, leek and a bouquet garni, then finished in a pale sauce of butter, flour, cream and egg yolk.

Where pot-au-feu comes from

Meat cooked in a pot with vegetables is very old in France: in the 13th century it was called "viande au pot". The Académie française dates the name pot-au-feu to the 17th century. In older kitchens the pot simmered continuously, with new ingredients added as others were taken out, and one pot in Perpignan was reportedly kept going from the 15th century until the Second World War.

Every region has its own version:

The dish is also tied to Henry IV, who in 1600 declared that no peasant in his kingdom should lack the means to have a hen in his pot. That poule-au-pot, a stuffed chicken cooked in broth, is still made as pot-au-feu à la béarnaise. Vietnamese pho has been said to be inspired by French cooking, its name possibly a respelling of "feu"; see our article on the national dish of Vietnam.

À l'albigeoise: veal knuckle, salted pork knuckle, confit goose and sausage on top of beef and chicken.
Provençal: lamb or mutton replaces part of the beef.
Aux pruneaux: beef and lightly salted pork knuckle cooked with prunes soaked in Armagnac.
À la languedocienne: the basic pot-au-feu with a piece of fat bacon added.

Other dishes to know from France

France's food is regional, and two of the best-known plates sit at opposite ends of the country.

Salade niçoise, from Nice, is a composed salad of salted tomato wedges, green peppers, red onion, tuna, anchovies, black olives and basil. Nothing is cooked except the eggs, and the only dressing is olive oil poured on just before serving.

Tartiflette, from Savoy in the Alps, layers boiled potatoes with lardons, onions and crème fraîche under a whole reblochon cut in half through its thickness, then bakes for 20 to 25 minutes until the rind browns.

You will find all three recipes, with ingredients and step-by-step methods, on our page about the food of France.

For the neighbouring kitchens, see our guide to Western European food.

The recipes

Questions people ask

What is the most famous dish in France?

There is no single official answer. Pot-au-feu is the dish most often called France's national dish, alongside beef bourguignon, blanquette de veau, steak frites and cassoulet.

How do you pronounce pot-au-feu?

Roughly "pot-oh-FUH". The name means "pot on the fire".

What is served with pot-au-feu?

The broth is served first with rice, pasta or toasted bread. The meat and vegetables follow with coarse salt and strong Dijon mustard, and often gherkins or horseradish.

How long does pot-au-feu cook?

Three to five hours at a slow, steady simmer, depending on the cuts. The vegetables are added later so they do not overcook.

Is pot-au-feu the same as poule-au-pot?

They are close relatives. Poule-au-pot, linked to King Henry IV, uses a stuffed chicken and is also known as pot-au-feu à la béarnaise.

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