14 Egg Dishes From France You Should Know About

When it comes to eggs, the world is your oyster. Humans have been eating eggs since time immemorial, in all different cultures across the globe, and they're incorporated in some way into almost every cuisine on the planet.

French cooking is no exception. The culture and techniques of French cooking have more of a global influence than perhaps any other. French chefs elevated cuisine into an art form that spread around the world through colonization and mass media, with American chefs like Julia Child preaching the gospel of French cooking. Needless to say, the French know what to do with eggs.

Whether they're scrambled, boiled, served in the shell or poached in wine, these French recipes show the potential of the humble egg, and its place in both simple and complex recipes. So, let us egg you on to keep reading and learn some egg-cellent French egg recipes you should know about.

You may have heard of shepherd's pie or cottage pie, both classic dishes served across the British Isles, but have you heard of Hachis Parmentier? This French-style meat pie is similar to its cousins across the English Channel — and, like Shepherd's Pie, many variations exist with slightly different ingredients.

But a few things do make Hachis Parmentier distinctly French. It calls for finely chopped minced meat (beef, pork, or a combination of both) instead of ground beef and (of course) white wine in the meat mixture to add depth of flavor. You either mix eggs into the meat mixture with herbs, garlic, and salt or chop up a hard boiled egg and put it in that way. Either way, you'll end up with a savory, hearty dish that is one of France's favorite comfort foods. So, next time July rolls around, celebrate Bastille Day with one of France's most underrated dishes.

France is beloved for its distinct regions, each with its own culture, customs, and cuisine. The Basque region, located in the country's southwest corner, is certainly no exception. 

The Basque dish eggs pipérade is made by cooking a tomato stew and adding bell peppers and onions. You can play with how you want to add the eggs: plop them in and cook them in the stew itself, or scramble on the side and place them on top if you want a drier end result.

While egg dishes cooked with tomatoes and peppers are found in many different cultures, eggs pipérade contains a unique ingredient: piment d'espelette. This pepper, originally from Mexico, gives a pipérade a slight kick (its spice level is significantly lower than cayenne, but packs a bit more of a kick than paprika) that differentiates the dish from most French cuisine, which is usually not spicy. So, if you're looking to shake up your breakfast routine, these veggie-infused Basque eggs will not disappoint.

Sometimes you don't need to dress an egg up with fancy ingredients to make it delicious. An egg can be a treat on its own, and no dish celebrates the mighty egg itself better than oeufs à la coque. 

Rumor has it that King Louis XV, who ruled France in the 18th century, loved oeufs à la coque so much that he carried his golden eggcup around with him. Coque mean shell in French, and this dish is so named because the soft-boiled egg is served in the shell alongside toasted fingers of bread called mouilletes, which are to be dipped into the egg to get every bit of eggy goodness.

The key to making great oeufs à la coque is mastering the art of the simple soft-boiled egg, which sounds easy, but there are some rules you need to follow. First, bring your eggs up to room temperature, put them in a sauce pot and cover them with water, then heat the water until it comes to a simmer and let the eggs cook for six minutes. Next, submerge your eggs in a cold water bath to halt the cooking process. Then, for the mouilettes, toast a piece of bread and slice it up into little strips, spread some butter, and enjoy the eggs like a French royal.

Quiche Lorraine is one French egg dish that has successfully made its way across the Atlantic. Named for the Lorraine region of France where it originated, this classic egg dish is made by baking a mixture of eggs, cream, cheese, and bacon or ham inside a pie crust. In the US, quiche can often be found as a snack in a nice coffee shop or served alongside a simple salad at an upscale brunch, but there's nothing more French than making quiche Lorraine yourself at home.

The key to a great quiche Lorraine is a great crust. While you can always buy a frozen one at the store, making your own is the way to go. One of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when cooking quiche is using the wrong crust. Ideally, you should make a simple shortcrust without too much sugar, roll it into a pie tin and blind bake it before you add the egg mixture so that the crust doesn't become soggy. When you take a bite of a steamy, homemade quiche Lorraine, you won't regret having made the extra effort.

The croque madame is so ubiquitous in Paris that you can hardly walk by a brasserie in the summer without seeing somebody slicing into one of these delicious French sandwiches. There are two types of croques you'll find on the menu at French restaurants: the croque monsieur and the croque madame. Though they're both essentially ham and cheese sandwiches, the difference between a croque monsieur and a croque madame comes down to whether or not it has an egg on top; the madame does, and the monsieur does not.

Maybe a sandwich doesn't sound too special, and there are some variations on how they're made, but essentially, ham and a cheese (usually emmental, gruyère, or comté) is put between two slices of bread, buttered (heavily, we're talking about French food here), and put on the grill until the outside is nice and crunchy. Croque, after all, means "crunchy bite" in French. 

For a croque madame, an egg is then fried and, with the yolk still runny, served atop the sandwich so that when you slice into it, the crunchy sandwich is covered in the rich, creamy egg yolk. This is a simple delicacy you won't want to miss.

There's scrambled eggs, and then there's brouillade (sometimes known as ouefs brouillé). These French scrambled eggs differ from their American cousins in a couple of crucial aspects. First, the French are famously bold in their use of fat, so don't be shy when buttering up your pan. Next, keep the stove on very low heat; the eggs need to cook super slowly, and you need to take them off the heat as soon as they hit a porridge-like consistency.

Finally, more fat. Once the eggs have reached the desired texture, mix in a bit more butter, some crème fraîche, and add a bit of parsley or chives as garnish if you really want to feel like you're eating at a fine Parisian bistro. Lastly, don't forget to toast up some nice French brioche bread so you can sop up every bite of this decadent scramble.

Chances are you've had an omelet before, but have you had an omelette? The first difference between American and French omelettes is that the American version is typically stuffed with cheese, meat, or vegetables. The French omelette, on the other hand, is very simple: just eggs, butter, and maybe some fresh herbs. It has more to do with the technique than ingredients.

First, mix a couple of eggs in a bowl with a fork and melt your butter in a pan over low heat. Pour the egg mixture in, and stir it with the fork. Let it cook a bit and then, depending on how runny you want your omelette (typically, at the consistency of a thin custard), take the pan off the heat and tilt it with the handle, using your fork to pick up one of the edges of the omelette and fold it over, tucking the omelette into one corner of the pan. Serve hot, with a garnish of fresh herbs.