Cassoulet
A comforting chicken built around dried white haricot or navy beans, duck legs and pork rind or pig ear β roughly 70 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and large pot. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention.
What you'll need
Shopping list (6)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
π Unit converter
How to make it
- Soak the dried beans in plenty of cold water overnight, then drain and rinse them before cooking.
- Place the beans in a large pot with the pork rind, bouquet garni and cumin, cover generously with fresh water, bring to a boil and simmer gently for about 45 minutes until just tender, then drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
- Meanwhile, heat the duck fat in a heavy casserole and brown the duck legs and sausage on all sides, then set them aside.
- In the same pot, soften the diced onion and carrot, stir in the tomato paste and pour in the white wine, scraping up any browned bits from the base.
- Layer the beans, pork rind, duck legs and sausage in the casserole, then pour in enough of the reserved bean liquid to almost cover, and season with salt and pepper.
- Cover and cook in a 160 C (325 F) oven for about 2 hours, until the duck is meltingly tender and reaches at least 74 C (165 F) internally.
- Uncover for the final 30 minutes so a golden crust forms on top, breaking it down once into the beans, then rest briefly and serve hot.
You'll use: Oven Β· Large pot Β· Saucepan
Ingredient substitutions
- White Wine
- chicken or vegetable stock + 1 tsp vinegar
Tips & common questions
How long does Cassoulet take to make?
About 70 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 7 steps and 13 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of white wine?
Try chicken or vegetable stock + 1 tsp vinegar. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Cassoulet is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Bowl of cassoulet.JPG by BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top β how we source recipes.