Food Holidays & Occasions 26 French Recipes for Bastille Day, From a Fruit Tart to Steak Frites Whether you're planning a picnic or backyard get-together, this classic summertime French fare will get your Bastille Day festivities underway. By Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann is an editor, baker, and confectioner with more than 15 years of experience in content creation, recipe development, and pastry production. She's obsessed with the fine details and ingredients that take dishes from tasty to outright otherworldly. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on July 12, 2024 Close Photo: Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling Bastille Day commemorates the 1798 Storming of the Bastille, a key turning point in the French Revolution. In France, it's celebrated much in the same way as Americans observe Independence Day — as an opportunity to savor summer with friends and family over a casual yet delicious seasonal menu. To get in on the festivities, start your morning with a buttery slice of toasted brioche or ham-and-cheese-filled buckwheat crêpes. Perhaps pack some pan bagnat for a picnic lunch along with a variety of dips and spreads. For dinner, keep things simple with steak frites made in the air fryer or quick-cooking branzino fillets. And for the finale, try an easy plum galette with ice cream or go all out with a grand strawberry-studded Fraisier Cake. These are our best Bastille Day recipes for a delicious celebration. 01 of 26 Pan Bagnat Aubrie Pick Bastille Day is a fine occasion for a picnic — and this specialty from Nice is just the thing to load into your basket. Essentially a Niçoise salad in sandwich form, the real beauty of pan bagnat is that it can be made ahead and actually benefits from resting a couple hours so the vinaigrette can permeate all the layers. Get the Recipe 02 of 26 Chicken Liver Pâté Diana Chistruga Jacques Pépin's silky-smooth chicken liver pâté is simple to make. Also picnic-ready, it's perfect with a cocktail or glass of wine before a meal. Get the Recipe 03 of 26 Grilled Onion Lyonnaise Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Shell Royster This riff on a classic salade Lyonnaise takes the iconic dish from great to even greater. Top the finished salad of frisée; crisp, meaty bacon lardons; grilled red torpedo onions; and a mustard vinaigrette with poached eggs. Get the Recipe 04 of 26 Air Fryer Steak Frites Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey Yes, you absolutely can use your air fryer to make restaurant-level steak frites with herbed compound butter. The tender steak browns on top as it cooks, while the fatty pieces around the edges cook down to be irresistible bites. While the steak rests, cook the fries, then top everything with the herb-packed compound butter. Get the Recipe 05 of 26 Buckwheat Crêpes Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Jennifer Wendorf / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Why not start Bastille Day with these nutty, savory crêpes from the Brittany region of France? They're topped with ham, Gruyére, and a sunny-side-up egg. To ease your workload in the morning, prepare the batter the night before or cook and freeze the unadorned crêpes in advance. Get the Recipe 06 of 26 Vichyssoise Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Topped with crunchy garlic croutons, shaved pecorino Romano cheese, and a scattering of sliced scallions, this chilled potato-leek soup deserves a spot in your summer rotation. Get the Recipe 07 of 26 Socca with Zucchini and Olives Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Socca, aka farinata, is a crisp, tender pancake made from chickpea flour. Unlike the versions in Nice, which are cooked in copper pans, this one is baked in a cast-iron skillet before it's topped with a summery marinated squash salad. Get the Recipe 08 of 26 Fraisier Cake Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling If you want to go all out for Bastille Day, this classic French cake is the one to make. It typically consists of a genoise sponge cake, mousseline cream, strawberries, and a marzipan topping. In our version, we skip the marzipan and let the mousseline cream be the star. With its fluffy and creamy texture and vanilla flavor, the cake is the perfect foil to sun-ripened strawberries. Get the Recipe 09 of 26 Ratatouille Slab Pie Photo by Johnny Autry / Food and Prop Styling by Charlotte Autry The beautiful lattice top on this vegetarian showstopper encases vibrant summer squash, eggplant, tomatoes, and fresh herbs. Precooking the vegetable filling is key to concentrating flavor and releasing moisture that could otherwise cause a soggy crust. Get the Recipe 10 of 26 Radish Tartines with Green Butter Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Kathleen Cook Varner Radish and turnip greens are whipped with sweet butter, garlic, and lemon zest to create a delicious, silky spread for these tartines, while the spicy, paper-thin radishes and turnips make the ideal topping. Finished with crunchy sea salt, these are a great appetizer or light lunch. Get the Recipe 11 of 26 Branzino with Mesclun and Tomato–Herbes de Provence Vinaigrette Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen The sweet, delicate flavor of branzino pairs beautifully with a summery tomato and mixed herb vinaigrette for a meal that comes together in just half an hour. Get the Recipe 12 of 26 Midsummer Fruit Tart Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle Celebrate Bastille Day with summer's best fruit in this tart from Julia Child. Its sugar cookie-like base and tangy, creamy cheesecake filling make it the perfect vehicle for showcasing whatever peak-season fruit you fancy. Get the Recipe 13 of 26 Bacon, Cheddar, and Onion Quiche Food & Wine / Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell While bacon, onions, and cheddar aren’t exactly surprising ingredients in a classic quiche, the addition of crème fraîche and chopped dill make this recipe from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten feel entirely fresh and elegant. Get the Recipe 14 of 26 Salmon Niçoise Salad Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Missie Crawford Tender salmon, briny olives, crisp-tender green beans, and satisfying potatoes all soak up the zippy, perfectly balanced dressing in this variation on a classic tuna Niçoise. Don't skip the anchovy garnish — it provides pops of umami saltiness that take this salad over the top. Get the Recipe 15 of 26 Scallop Grenobloise Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis Beautifully seared scallops with a golden crust are served in a classic French sauce popping with acidity from lemon, brininess from capers, and slight warmth from mildly piquant jalapeños. Get the Recipe 16 of 26 Ham-Jam Sandwiches Victor Protasio Full of concentrated fruit flavor and bright acid from the Gamay grape-based wine, homemade Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam provides the perfect contrast to the goat cheese and butter here. Slathered on a baguette and topped with ribbons of salty prosciutto, this summertime all-star is both easy and elegant. Get the Recipe 17 of 26 Plum Galette Carson Downing / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans Embrace the rustic charm of a galette to showcase seasonal fruit. The dough in this recipe is buttery, flaky, and very forgiving — and it comes together in 10 seconds in a food processor. Don't forget the ice cream! Get the Recipe 18 of 26 Blackberry Kir Royale Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon It's not a celebration until the Champagne flutes come out. With just two ingredients plus a garnish of fresh blackberries, this party-ready cocktail comes together in minutes. Get the Recipe 19 of 26 Bouillabaisse Chloe Crespi Photography Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s bouillabaisse starts with a quick-cooking, but deeply flavored, seafood broth. Layering a base of aromatics with fresh snapper, scallops, shrimp, and a mix of Pernod and dry white wine creates a long-simmered flavor in under an hour. Get the Recipe 20 of 26 Le Grand (Saffron) Aïoli Con Poulos This make-ahead poached vegetable and shrimp spread is both gorgeous and refreshing on a summer day. Garlicky aïoli infused with saffron provides a pop of flavor and color as a delicious dip for those crisp-tender veggies and succulent bites of shrimp. Get the Recipe 21 of 26 Almond, Elderflower, and Lime Travel Cakes © Kate Mathis These sweet bites are easy to pack up for parties and picnics. Enriched with almond paste and bathed in lime icing that's laced with St-Germain, pastry chef William Werner calls his creation "gussied-up pound cakes." Get the Recipe 22 of 26 Extra-Rich Brioche © Con Poulos A slice of brioche is satisfying any time of day. Enriched with buttermilk, eggs, and lots of glorious butter, this tender loaf is pure luxury. Enjoy it on its own slathered with more butter and jam or use it to make French toast or sandwiches. Get the Recipe 23 of 26 Poulet au Vinaigre (Chicken in Vinegar Sauce) Greg DuPree Chef Paul Bocuse's irresistible chicken boasts big, bold flavor with a focus on overall lightness; it comes together with just a handful of ingredients and simple directions. This version swaps fresh tomatoes for tomato paste, uses lower-acid rice wine vinegar in place of red wine vinegar, and significantly reduces the amount of butter. Get the Recipe 24 of 26 Black Olive Tapenade with Figs and Mint © David Malosh Jacques Pépin’s tasty tapenade combines two types of olives with dried figs and mint. This goes well as a sandwich spread, a side for crudité, or a topping for crostini. Get the Recipe 25 of 26 Provençal Vegetable Soup © David Malosh This vegetable-packed soup from star chef Eric Ripert gets exceptional flavor from pistou, the pesto-style basil puree that’s served with it. To make a vegetarian version, omit the ham and substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. Get the Recipe 26 of 26 My Merguez with Pork and Grilled Tortilla Bread © David Malosh "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.," says Jacques Pépin. He forms his sausages into small patties to serve as an appetizer, but they can also be layered onto a toasted baguette along with bell peppers and onions for a typical Bastille Day offering. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit