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Main dish · French

Blanquette de Veau: The Method That Does Not Fail

Blanquette is one of the French dishes beginners fear most. Wrongly: it is a simple simmer with a sauce thickened at the end. The only difficulty is not letting the cream boil.

By The Occasional Chef kitchen Jun 19, 2026 Updated Oct 19, 2026 · How we write times Add to meal plan Add to shopping list
Creamy blanquette de veau in a cast iron pot with carrots and mushrooms

Method

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  1. Put the veal in a large Dutch oven. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, simmer 3 minutes, a gray foam will form. Drain the veal and rinse under cold water. This step (blanching) gives the blanquette its pale color and its name.
  2. Return the veal to the clean pot. Cover with cold water. Add the carrots in chunks, the celery, the studded onion, the leek and the bouquet garni. Salt lightly.
  3. Bring to a simmer (never a full boil, the veal proteins would toughen). Cook covered for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat is very tender.
  4. Meanwhile, sauté the sliced mushrooms in a knob of butter over high heat, 4 minutes until browned. Salt at the end of cooking. Set aside.
  5. When the veal is cooked, strain and keep the broth. Measure out 2 1/2 cups (600 mL).
  6. Make the white roux: melt 3 tbsp (40 g) butter in a saucepan, add the flour all at once, whisk 1 minute without letting it brown. Gradually whisk in the hot broth. Let it thicken 5 minutes over low heat.
  7. In a bowl, mix the egg yolks and the creme fraiche. Pour this mixture into the sauce off the heat, whisking. Never boil after adding the cream and yolks.
  8. Add the lemon juice. Taste, adjust salt and white pepper. Return the veal and mushrooms to the sauce. Reheat over very low heat without boiling.
  9. Serve with white rice (absorption method) or fresh pasta.
Cook's tip

The absolute rule: once the cream and yolks are in, never boil. If you need to reheat, do it over very low heat, at a barely visible simmer. A sauce that boils splits and is hard to rescue.

Nutrition

Estimate per serving.

520Calories
42 gProtein
18 gCarbs
30 gFat

Quick answers

How long does it take?

Plan on 110 minutes in total: 20 minutes of prep and 90 minutes of cooking.

How many people does this recipe serve?

It serves 4. Ingredient amounts scale with the number of servings.

Any tip to get it right?

The absolute rule: once the cream and yolks are in, never boil. If you need to reheat, do it over very low heat, at a barely visible simmer. A sauce that boils splits and is hard to rescue.

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