These Jacques Pépin Recipes Are Like Going to French Cooking School for Free (2024)

Chef Jacques Pépin has been part of Food & Wine's history since his soufflé recipe appeared in the very first issue of Food & Wine in March of 1978. Since then, he's taught us not just the art of a perfect soufflé, but how to make show-stopping duck, crêpes, omelets, gnocchi Parisienne, and other French essentials.

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Maman's Cheese Soufflé

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This soufflé recipe came from a brilliant "mistake" made by Jacques Pépin’s mother. When she got married, she was 17 and his father was 22. She did not know how to cook, except for a few simple dishes that she had learned from her mother. Yet, she liked to cook and was willing and fearless. Pépin's father liked cheese soufflé, so his mother graciously obliged. She had never made a soufflé before, but a friend told her that it consisted of a white sauce (bechamel), grated cheese, and eggs — a cinch!

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Gnocchi Parisienne

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Taking gnocchi a step further and baking them might just be the ultimate reward. They transform into pillowy puffs, crisp and golden on the outside with light, custardy centers. Piping the gnocchi in a pastry bag will give you uniform results, but you can also spoon them into the simmering water to cook. The shapes will be irregular, but the results are equally delicious.

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Crêpes Suzette

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While restaurants traditionally make the buttery, orange-flavored sauce for this famous dessert tableside from start to finish, Jacques Pépin finds it easier to prepare largely in advance when entertaining. He flambés the liquor in front of his dinner guests and pours it over the platter of crêpes while still flaming.

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Leeks with Tomato Vinaigrette

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Braising leeks over low heat renders them very tender and amplifies their mild, sweet onion essence. Sliced grape tomatoes (a diversion from Jacques Pépin’s classic approach of skinning and dicing tomatoes) and a Dijon vinaigrette put a tangy, juicy spin on this dish.

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Fromage Fort

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Fromage fort is the ultimate way of using leftover cheese. Jacques Pépin's father used to combine pieces of Camembert, Brie, Swiss, blue cheese, and goat cheese together with his mother's leek broth, some white wine, and crushed garlic. These ingredients marinated in a cold cellar for a week to a week and a half (he liked it really strong). This milder version is made in a food processor and takes only seconds. It's delicious with crackers or melted onto toasts — and it also freezes well.

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Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce

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This is the quintessential beef stew. Jacques Pépin's mother served it at her restaurant, Le Pélican, where she made it with tougher cuts of meat. Jacques likes the flatiron — a long, narrow cut that's extremely lean but becomes tender and stays moist. He doesn't use stock, demiglace, or even water in his stew, relying on robust red wine for the deep-flavored sauce.

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Chicken Liver Pâté

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Jacques Pépin's recipe for chicken liver pâté is silky-smooth, inexpensive, and simple to make — and perfect with a co*cktail or glass of wine before a meal.

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Gruyère Cheese Soufflé

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To get the most crust with the cheesiest flavor, Jacques Pépin uses a wide, shallow gratin dish, then creates a lattice on top with thin slices of American cheese. A soufflé ramekin would work, too.

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Grand Marnier Soufflé

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In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best. In the inaugural issue of the magazine, legendary chef Jacques Pépin shared his recipe for the perfect soufflé. This ethereal citrus-scented dessert is as good today as it was in 1978, proving that some dishes are timeless.

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Jacques Pépin's Favorite Pound Cake

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The French call pound cake quatre-quarts ("four-fourths") because it is made with equal parts flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. Jacques Pépin's mother, aunt, and cousin all have their versions. He likes to fold in candied citrus peels to make a French fruit cake; he also loves plain slices dipped in espresso. This recipe originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of Food & Wine, in a story about Pépin's favorite holiday desserts.

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Duck à l'Orange

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Because a single duck rarely has enough meat to feed more than two or three people, Jacques Pépin prepares two ducks side by side when serving this classic dish to guests. And because he's roasting whole ducks, he cooks them until they're well done, which results in the crispiest skin and best flavor. This recipe is a perennial favorite from his 2011 book, Essential Pépin.

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Brandade de Morue au Gratin (Whipped Salt Cod Gratin)

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The Provençal dish known as brandade de morue is a great example of how to elevate modest ingredients like salt cod and potatoes — in this case, by whipping them with milk, olive oil, and garlic until luxuriously silky. Jacques Pépin's extra step — documented in Essential Pépin — of serving the dish au gratin (browned, with cheese on top) makes it that much more delicious.

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Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

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You can serve the boulettes ("small balls") on their own with a salad, or brush them with barbecue sauce and serve with mashed potatoes. Here, they're topped with a quick-cooking tomato sauce dotted with tangy green olives.

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Quick-Roasted Chicken with Mustard and Garlic

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For this delicious, mustardy chicken, Jacques Pépin splits the chicken and cuts between the leg and shoulder joints to halve the cooking time.

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Country Apple Galette

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Jacques Pépin loves to serve this delicate apple tart as a buffet dessert, since it's beautiful, easy to slice, and simple to eat, pizza-style, while standing. The miraculously easy and versatile pastry dough comes together in a food processor in less than 20 seconds and can be filled with all sorts of fruits or vegetables. Because the tart is freeform, the pastry can be rolled into either a round or a rectangle.

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Roast Capon with Mushroom-Armagnac Sauce

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Capons are very large, neutered roosters that often have an intense chicken flavor. In this recipe, Jacques Pépin roasts the bird simply, then makes a mushroom-Armagnac sauce enriched with cream, vermouth, and the pan juices from the capon.

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Roasted Fingerling Potato and Pressed Caviar Canapés

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For this easy, impressive hors d'oeuvre, Jacques Pépin tops roasted fingerling potatoes with sour cream and slender diamonds of pressed caviar. Boiled, sliced red potatoes also work.

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Choucroute Garnie

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Families in Alsace generally eat choucroute garnie during the wintertime, because it's such a hearty, filling dish. Jacques Pépin has adapted the recipe to make it quicker and easier — calling for store-bought sauerkraut instead of the homemade kind, for instance, and suggesting peanut oil as a substitute for duck or goose fat, which may be less accessible. He always serves two or three types of mustard with the choucroute — a hot Dijon, a grainy Pommery, and often a tarragon-flavored mustard as well.

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Roasted Goose with Crispy Skin

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Separate the skin from the meat, then steam the goose before roasting — an adaptation of a Chinese technique that helps the bird baste in its own fat and ensures crispy skin.

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Peas and Carrots with Two Onions

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This delicious old-fashioned dish features peas and carrots in a lightly thickened, buttery thyme-infused sauce.

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Maple-Baked Sweet Potatoes

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Parboiling the sweet potatoes shortens the baking time and keeps them moist. Once tender, they can be broiled briefly to achieve a browned top.

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Chocolate Tartlets with Candied Grapefruit Peel

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Orange is the classic choice with chocolate, but candied grapefruit peel has a little bitterness that is also enjoyable. Jacques Pépin prefers using a deep, strong, dark chocolate with about 70% cocoa — the richer the better.

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Carbonnade à la Flamande (Flemish Beef Stew)

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This classic Belgian beef stew is known for its sweet-sour combination of caramelized onions and beer. Any dark Belgian-style ale would be a good choice here. As with most stews, the dish will taste even better a day or two after it's made.

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Apricot Pâte de Fruit

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According to Jacques Pépin, "Pâtes de fruits, or fruit jellies, are very popular around the holidays — and usually expensive." In France, pâtes de fruits are sold in high-end pâtisseries or pastry shops. The French roll them in sanding sugar, which has large crystals that cling to the candy without melting. Table sugar also works, as long as the jellies are rolled in it just before serving.

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Grapefruit Granité with Mangoes and White Rum Mojito

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Unlike traditional granita, which is stirred frequently as it freezes so that light ice flakes form, Jacques Pépin freezes his granité in a block until it is completely firm, then softens it in the fridge until it's slightly slushy before scooping it into bowls. The sauce for his light, tropical dessert is a riff on the mojito, the minty co*cktail.

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My Merguez with Pork and Grilled Tortilla Bread

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This Jacques Pépin recipe is from the 2007 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. "Along with other North African dishes, merguez is very popular in France. That little lamb sausage is a classic at any backyard barbecue or picnic there, as popular as the hot dog is in the U.S.," he says. Pépin makes his merguez with a combination of lamb and pork, forgoing the casings to form the meat mixture into small patties.

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Black Olive Tapenade with Figs and Mint

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What makes this tapenade special is the clever mix of oil- and brine-cured olives and the surprise of sweet, fresh, and tangy notes from the dried figs, mint, and capers.

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Omelet with Pressed Caviar and Sour Cream

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In a superlative combination of fish eggs and chicken eggs, Jacques Pépin stuffs a classic French omelet with sour cream, chives, and diced pressed caviar. For an extra indulgence, he also drapes the omelet with long, thin strips of pressed caviar.

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Chicken Breast with Garlic and Parsley

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This super-fast weeknight dish from Jacques Pépin is a riff on a classic preparation of frog legs. Pépin dusts the chicken with Wondra, a super-fine flour, before cooking to give the chicken a crispy crust.

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Plum Galette

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This tart is a favorite dessert at Jacques Pépin's house. You can make it with any seasonal fruit, such as rhubarb, peaches, cherries, or apricots. The dough is buttery, flaky, and very forgiving — it comes together in 10 seconds in a food processor.

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Wine-Braised Pork with Chestnuts and Sweet Potatoes

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Legendary chef Jacques Pépin sears pork shoulder to make a terrific crust, then braises it slowly with stock, wine, chestnuts, and sweet potatoes until it’s meltingly tender.,

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Chicken and Peanut Stew

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Jacques Pépin created this hearty stew with ingredients he found at the Livingstone Farmers Market. Peanuts are a southern African staple and figure prominently in local dishes.

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Garlicky Cherry Tomato and Bread Gratin

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The cherry tomatoes in Jacques Pépin's simple gratin add color to a winter menu and hold their shape well during cooking.

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Chicken Bouillabaisse with Rouille

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Jacques Pépin’s chicken stew is fast and easy to assemble, and it cooks in about 30 minutes.

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Summer Fruit Soup

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Jacques Pépin cleverly uses strawberry jam and black currant liqueur to sweeten this dessert. He stirs them into white wine, then adds plums, cherries, grapes, and berries and quickly poaches them. Basil adds a light, savory note.

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White Bean and Ham Stew

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This hearty stew called garbure, from southwestern France, is loaded with vegetables, beans, and meat, the exact ingredients depending on availability. Jacques Pépin's version includes ham hocks and cabbage and is topped with toasted bread smothered in melted Gruyère cheese. Traditionally, anyone eating the stew would add some red wine to the last few spoonfuls of broth and sip it straight from the bowl.

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Pan-Seared Skirt Steak with Anchovies and Lime

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Jacques Pépin's mother-in-law, who was from Puerto Rico, seasoned her steaks liberally with lime juice before and after cooking, then served them with a sauce that included anchovies and garlic. This is Pépin's sped-up version.

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Fresh Raspberry Tart

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To make sure the pastry stays crisp and flaky, arrange the raspberries on top no more than 30 minutes before serving. The jam not only sets the berries in place, it also adds flavor intensity and gives them a beautiful shine.

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Skillet Apple Charlotte

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A classic apple charlotte has a crust of buttered bread slices filled with caramelized apples. In this quick version, apple wedges are sautéed with honey and maple syrup, topped with buttered toast, and turned out of the pan like a tarte Tatin.

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Crunchy Cabbage Salad

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Sometimes Jacques Pépin makes this simple salad with just one color of cabbage; sometimes he arranges it in alternating rows of color. The tangy-salty anchovy dressing would also be delicious on other crisp salad greens, such as escarole or chicory.

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