How to Make a Cassoulet the French Way

Share this post

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

A cassoulet recipe is one of the great slow-cooked dishes of southwestern France, made with white beans and a mixture of meats that can include pork, sausage, duck confit or goose. A traditional cassoulet recipe takes time because the beans and meat cook slowly before the whole dish finishes in the oven.

Read on for two ways to make it. The first is a long, traditional-style French cassoulet with pork shoulder, ham hocks, duck confit and Toulouse-style sausage. The second is a much quicker sausage and cannellini bean cassoulet that takes under two hours from start to finish.

The beans are a main ingredient in both recipes. Tarbais or lingot beans are closely associated with cassoulet in France, while cannellini beans make a practical substitute and work especially well in the quicker recipe.

Why Two Cassoulet Recipes?

• The traditional recipe is a project: It uses dried beans, several cuts of pork, duck confit and sausage, with two overnight stages and a long cooking time.
• The quick recipe is more practical: Canned cannellini beans and Italian sausage reduce the work considerably while keeping the bean-and-meat idea that defines cassoulet.
• Both answer different searches: If you’re looking for a traditional cassoulet, you can make the first one, or if you want an easy cassoulet recipe or cannellini bean cassoulet, try the second.
• The traditional recipe can be made ahead: You can stop before adding and roasting the duck confit, then continue one to three days later.

What is Cassoulet?

Cassoulet is a slow-cooked white bean and meat dish from southwestern France. Its exact origin is debated, although it’s strongly associated with the Lauragais area and the towns of Castelnaudary, Toulouse and Carcassonne. The name comes from the cassole, the earthenware vessel traditionally used to cook it.

The meat varies by place and by cook. Pork and sausage are common, with duck or goose confit appearing in many versions. Toulouse-style cassoulet commonly includes pork, duck confit, Toulouse sausage and regional white beans. Castelnaudary cassoulet also centers on white beans, pork, pork rind, sausage and duck or goose confit.

Cassoulet Ingredient Notes

• White beans: Dried Tarbais or cannellini beans work in the traditional card. Tarbais and lingot beans are closely associated with French cassoulet. The quick recipe uses canned cannellini beans. For a broader guide to common bean varieties, see this bean guide.
• Duck confit: The traditional card uses 6 duck confit legs. Confit brings both meat and rendered duck fat to the dish. If you buy extra confit, you can also use it in these duck galettes.
• Pork: Pork shoulder, pork skin, salt pork, ham hocks, pancetta and prosciutto all appear in the traditional recipe. They cook in stages rather than going into the pot at once.
• Sausage: Toulouse-style fresh pork sausage belongs in the traditional card. The quick card uses Italian sausage, which is easier to find in US grocery stores.
• Aromatics: Onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, parsley, celery and bay leaf build the cooking liquid around the beans and meat.
• Breadcrumbs: Both recipes use breadcrumbs for the browned surface. Some regional cassoulet traditions omit breadcrumbs, so this is one area where recipes differ.

What are the Best Beans for Cassoulet?

White beans are essential. A cassoulet without beans becomes a different kind of meat stew. In southwestern France, lingot and Tarbais beans are traditional choices. They have thin skins and a creamy interior after long cooking.

Cannellini beans are the easiest substitute for many non-French home cooks and they’re already used in the quick recipe below. The traditional recipe starts with dried beans because they need to absorb the broth during the long simmer. The quick recipe uses canned beans because most of the cooking has already been done.

Beans also separate cassoulet from dishes such as chili con carne, where recipes may include beans or leave them out entirely.

How to Make Cassoulet

The traditional method starts the day before cooking. Season the pork and soak the dried beans overnight. The next day, cook the pork skin and salt pork, brown the pork shoulder and ham hocks, then simmer the meat with aromatics and broth. The beans cook separately at first before joining the meat.

After another overnight rest, remove excess fat and prepare the garlic and salt pork paste. The final assembly layers beans, meat and duck confit in a baking dish. Sausage and breadcrumbs go in later so they do not spend the entire long cooking time in the oven.

The quick version follows the same broad idea in a shorter format. Brown sausage, add vegetables, canned beans and broth, then simmer until the mixture thickens. A garlic, parsley and breadcrumb mixture finishes the dish in the oven.

Castelnaudary, Toulouse and Carcassonne Cassoulet Recipes

There’s no single recipe that every cook in southwestern France follows. Castelnaudary, Toulouse and Carcassonne each have their own traditions. The Castelnaudary Tourist Office describes a version based on lingot beans, duck or goose confit, Toulouse sausage, pork and pork rind. Toulouse tourism also describes duck confit, pork, Toulouse sausage and regional white beans as central ingredients in its local cassoulet.

That is why a search for cassoulet de Castelnaudary can look very similar to a Toulouse cassoulet at first glance. The differences are in the local ingredients, proportions and cooking traditions rather than a completely different dish.

Substitutions and Variations

• Beans: Use cannellini beans if you cannot find Tarbais or lingot beans.
• Sausage: Use a fresh garlic pork sausage if Toulouse sausage is unavailable. For the quick recipe, Italian sausage works as written.
• Duck: Duck confit is part of the traditional card. Chicken cassoulet is a separate variation rather than a direct swap because the fat content and cooking method are different.
• Breadcrumb topping: Leave it off if you prefer a regional style that does not use breadcrumbs.
• Quick version: The second recipe is the better option if you want a relatively fast bean and sausage cassoulet without the overnight stages.

Recommended Equipment for Cassoulet

• Deep baking dish: Use this for the final oven stage if you do not own a traditional cassole.
• Large enameled Dutch oven: The traditional recipe needs room for the pork, beans and broth.
• Large stockpot: Handy for blanching and simmering the beans.
• Large skillet: Use it for browning the sausage before the final oven stage.
• Food processor: Makes the cooked garlic, raw garlic and salt pork paste for the traditional recipe.
• Kitchen twine: Needed for the bouquet garni and pork skin bundles.

What to Serve with a Cassoulet

Cassoulet is rich enough to serve as by itself. A simple green salad with vinaigrette gives you something fresh on the plate, and crusty bread is good for the mopping up the broth.

If you want another French duck recipe for a different meal, try my duck breast à l’orange with Grand Marnier.

How to Store

• Refrigerator: Transfer leftovers to shallow containers and refrigerate promptly. Cooked casseroles and meat leftovers can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.
• Reheating: Reheat leftovers to 165°F (74°C) in the center.
• Freezing: Freeze cooked cassoulet in airtight portions for 2 to 3 months for best quality. The beans may soften slightly after thawing.
• Make ahead: For the traditional card, you can stop after the cooked meats are stirred back into the beans, refrigerate for 1 to 3 days and finish the duck, sausage and oven stages later.

USDA guidance recommends using most cooked leftovers within 3 to 4 days and reheating them to 165°F. Its freezer chart gives 2 to 3 months as the best-quality range for casseroles.

Cassoulet Recipe FAQs

Choose Your Cassoulet Recipe

The traditional cassoulet is the one to choose if you want the long French method with dried beans, duck confit, several pork cuts and sausage. The quick recipe is much easier to fit into an afternoon and gives you a cannellini bean and sausage cassoulet with far fewer stages.

Both start with the same essential idea: white beans cooked with meat until the beans absorb the cooking liquid and the dish becomes thick enough to serve as a main course.

Traditional Cassoulet Recipe

This is the long version with pork shoulder, ham hocks, pork skin, duck confit and Toulouse-style sausage. Plan for two overnight stages as well as the prep and cooking times. The ingredients won’t look exactly like the ones below, but it’s just to give you an idea.

Quick and Easy Cassoulet

This quicker cassoulet uses canned cannellini beans and Italian sausage. It takes 1 hour 45 minutes and does not need any overnight soaking or resting.

Share this post