🥐 Vol-au-Vent
A vol-au-vent is a tall, hollow case of puff pastry baked until light and flaky, then filled with a creamy ragout of chicken and mushrooms. The crisp, buttery layers contrast with the soft, savoury filling. Large ones are served as a main course with a side salad, while bite-sized versions appear at receptions and parties.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ready-made puff pastry cases (about 200 g)
- 300 g chicken breast, diced
- 200 g mushrooms, sliced
- 300 ml cream sauce
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Warm the pastry cases in the oven at 180 °C for 8–10 minutes.
- Fry the chicken in the oil until cooked through, then add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream sauce, season and simmer for 3–4 minutes until thick.
- Spoon the filling into the hot cases, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
How to make it lighter
- Serve one case with extra filling on a big salad rather than two cases.
- Use more mushrooms and chicken and less sauce in the filling.
- Choose smaller cases: the pastry carries a large share of the fat.
History
The name means 'flight in the wind', a nod to the pastry's lightness; its invention is often credited to the French chef Antonin Carême in the early nineteenth century, though this is not certain.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →