Blanquette de Veau (Creamy Veal Stew)
France's favourite family stew: veal gently poached with vegetables, then bathed in a velvety white sauce of cream, egg yolk and lemon, with mushrooms and little onions.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Blanch the veal
Put the veal in a large pot and cover with about 2 litres of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and let it bubble for 2 minutes; a grey foam will rise to the top. Drain and rinse the meat under cold running water so the final sauce stays clean and white.
- 1.2 kg veal
- 2 litres water
✅ Done when: grey foam has risen and the meat looks pale after rinsing
Poach gently
Rinse the pot, then return the veal along with the carrots, clove-studded onion, leek, celery, , salt and peppercorns. Cover with the remaining 2 litres of cold water, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook partly covered on low heat for 1½ hours, skimming off foam occasionally.
- 1.2 kg veal
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion with cloves
- 1 leek
- 1 celery stick
- 1
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 peppercorns
- 2 litres water
✅ Done when: veal is fork-tender and easily pierced with a knife
Cook the onions and mushrooms
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Strain the stock
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Make the white sauce
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Enrich with cream and egg
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Combine and serve
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Blanch the veal
Put the veal in a large pot and cover with about 2 litres of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and let it bubble for 2 minutes; a grey foam will rise to the top. Drain and rinse the meat under cold running water so the final sauce stays clean and white.
- 1.2 kg veal
- 2 litres water
✅ Done when: grey foam has risen and the meat looks pale after rinsing
Poach gently
Rinse the pot, then return the veal along with the carrots, clove-studded onion, leek, celery, , salt and peppercorns. Cover with the remaining 2 litres of cold water, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook partly covered on low heat for 1½ hours, skimming off foam occasionally.
- 1.2 kg veal
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion with cloves
- 1 leek
- 1 celery stick
- 1
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 peppercorns
- 2 litres water
✅ Done when: veal is fork-tender and easily pierced with a knife
Cook the onions and mushrooms
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Strain the stock
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Make the white sauce
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Enrich with cream and egg
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Combine and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Blanquette comes from blanc, white: the meat is never browned, so the dish stays pale and delicate. It started in 18th-century bourgeois kitchens as a way to use leftover roast veal in a white sauce, and later became a stew made from fresh meat.
It is a true family dish in France, often cooked for Sunday lunch, and still regularly tops polls of the French public's favourite dishes.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Tender veal in a silky, lemony cream sauce: gentle, comforting flavours that remind many French people of their grandmother's kitchen.
💡 Fun Fact
The blanquette is so tied to French identity that it features in the famous OSS 117 spy comedies, where the hero is obsessed with it.
Paris and the Île-de-France
48.86°N, 2.35°E
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