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What to eat in France? Top 5 French Sandwiches

Last update: Fri Feb 14 2025
Top 5 French Sandwiches
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Croque-monsieur
Croque-monsieur infographic
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According to Larousse, this classic French hot sandwich consists of a thin slice of ham and melted cheese tucked between two pieces of sliced bread. The original first appeared on Parisian menus in 1910, and some claim it was invented by accident, when French workers left their lunch near a hot radiator, only to come back later and discover that the cheese in their sandwiches had melted.


If you want to taste an authentic croque, the cheese must be Gruyere (mixed with bechamel in order to get Mornay sauce) and the whole sandwich needs to be sautéed in butter until it is crispy and golden brown. The croque-monsieur is so popular that the famous novelist Proust even wrote about it in his 1918 masterpiece In Search of Lost Time

MOST ICONIC Croque-monsieur

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02

Sandwich

NICE, France
4.0
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Pan bagnat is a specialty sandwich of Nice, consisting of a round bun with a crispy exterior and a soft interior that is filled with Niçoise salad, another signature dish from Nice. When translated, the name of the sandwich means bathed or wet bread, since the idea is to leave the sandwich rest in the refrigerator after the preparation in order for the flavors to soak into the bread.


The root of the name comes from the Italian pane bagnato, due to the influx of Italian immigrants to Nice in the 19th century. Flavorful and easy to prepare, pan-bagnat remains a lunch staple both in Nice and throughout France.

MOST ICONIC Pan bagnat

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03

Sandwich

NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS, France
4.0
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The Welch or Welsh complet is a French take on the Welsh rarebit. The dish is made by boiling beer in a pot, adding cheese (usually cheddar) to the pot, then pouring the mix over a slice of toasted bread and ham. It's then cooked until it becomes golden, followed by the addition of a fried egg on top.


A teaspoon of mustard is often, but not always, added to the dish. The Welch is a specialty of the northern parts of France and it's usually served in the breweries of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. This dish makes for a perfect hangover meal, and there are also some variations such as le beef Welsh, made with chopped steak, and le Welsh du QG, which consists of a potato pancake with ham, cheese, mustard, and eggs that's cooked in beer.

04

Sandwich

PARIS, France
3.8
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Although the combination of ham and butter on a baguette may seem simple, the jambon-beurre (ham-butter) sandwich is an iconic staple of Parisian gastronomy. More than a billion of these sandwiches were sold in France in 2013 alone, making it one of the most popular snacks in the country.


The secret is in using only the finest baguettes and the best ham and butter. Thanks to jambon-beurre, France is the only country in the world where a sandwich can match or even surpass the sale of hamburgers.

MOST ICONIC Jambon-beurre

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Merguez frites is a Parisian street food staple, a sandwich that consists of a cheap baguette stuffed with charred, cumin-laced merguez lamb sausages, fiery harissa, and heaps of pommes frites. The influence of North African cuisine is evident in the key ingredient of this sandwich - the spicy lamb sausages known as merguez.


Apart from these basic ingredients, some people also like to add ketchup or Dijon mustard as extra condiments, while the others sometimes don't even serve it on a baguette, but use a hot dog bun instead. Merguez frites is especially popular in Montmartre and the Marais.

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French Sandwiches