This easy cassoulet recipe is loaded with beans, veggies, Andouille sausage, and chicken! The perfect one pot meal for those cold wintry nights!
What Is Cassoulet?
A cassoulet is a slow-cooked stew or casserole that contains both meat and beans. The origin is French, and the name comes from the pot it was cooked in (a cassole). It is meant to be eaten with good crusty bread to sop up all the sauce and juices and it pairs beautifully with a full-bodied wine.
Traditional cassoulet is often made with some sort of rich-tasting fat like duck fat and it usually has beans that have been soaked overnight. Ingredients may vary from region to region or even household to household, but a cassoulet is ALWAYS made by cooking ingredients in layers and bringing them all together at the end.
If you’d rather skip cooking tips, suggestions, handy substitutions, related recipe ideas – and get straight to the Cassoulet Recipe– simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
How To Cook Cassoulet
Traditionally Cassoulet is rich tasting and time-consuming. While I imagine the taste is stupendous, most of us have a limited amount of time to put towards our family meal. This easy cassoulet recipe does not compromise on flavor, but the method is much simpler.
This recipe starts by browning some smoked sausage. I like using andouille sausage because I love the flavor and the spice, but a regular smoked sausage, chicken or turkey sausage or kielbasa will work just fine. Once the sausage has browned it is removed and set aside. Chicken is added next. I like to use chicken tenders for this recipe. I like how quickly they brown and I think it is easy to dice them into similar size pieces (having everything the same size, ensures even cooking). A mix of vegetables is cooked after the chicken along with a white bean such as Great Northern Beans (although any bean would work). Chicken broth and tomato paste are brought to a simmer and the chicken and sausage are returned to the pan.
I topped my cassoulet with a breadcrumb mixture just before it goes into the oven. The cassoulet will stay in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and bubbles around the edges. The breadcrumbs should be perfectly toasted at this point.
Can Cassoulet Be Frozen?
Yes! If you find yourself with a big batch of cassoulet, store any leftovers in an airtight container and place in the freezer for 2- 4 months.
Cassoulet can also be made 24 hours in advance as well. Prepare as directed, however, add the breadcrumb mixture just before baking.
This cassoulet recipe isn’t the only stew to try. Check out This Southwestern Chicken Stew, or this Ropa Vieja recipe1
Yield: 6
Easy Cassoulet Recipe
This easy cassoulet recipe is loaded with beans, veggies, Andouille sausage,and chicken! The perfect one pot meal for those cold wintry nights!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb chicken tenders cut into bite sized chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 oz Andouille sausage, sliced
1 cup onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
2 whole carrots, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons Italian blend seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic
1 14.5 oz can Great Northern beans rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375.
In a large Dutch oven or deep oven-proof skillet, heat sausage in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until browned and slightly crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add chicken to the same skillet, season with salt and cook until browned. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and set aide
Add olive oil to pan and stir in vegetables. Cook the vegetables until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in Italian blend seasoning and garlic. Add the beans, broth, tomato paste and vinegar; stir
Return chicken and sausage to pan, stirring until mixed. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer.
In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese, add olive oil and stir to coat. Sprinkle the brad crumbs over the top of the cassoulet.
Bake cassoulet for 35 minutes or until thick and bubbly.
Convention has it that the cassoulet of Castelnaudary is based largely on pork and pork rind, sausage, and (sometimes) goose; the Carcassonne variety contains leg of mutton and (occasionally) partridge; and the cassoulet of Toulouse includes fresh lard, mutton, local Toulouse sausage, and duck or goose.
Originating in the South of France, cassoulet is a profoundly hearty peasant dish that typically includes white beans, duck (or goose) confit, and sausage, through specific preparations vary from town to town. It also is supposed to take a couple of days to put together, as the flavors of the meat develop slowly.
It's a traditional one pot meal. If someone wants an accompaniment, I would go with lightly dressed salad greens to balance the heavy fatty goodness of the cassoulet.
There are three types of cassoulet – the Holy Trinity. There's the 'Father' (pork and goose), the 'Son' (mutton and partridge), and the 'Holy Ghost' (sausage, mutton, and duck).
a dish of white beans cooked slowly in a small amount of liquid with meat and herbs, originally from France: I went there for a Sunday supper and they were serving cassoulet.
All the ingredients for a good cassoulet can be found in most grocery stores. Purists will argue that you need to find real tarbais beans but I have found white kidney beans work just as well. They will mention that there are 3 versions of true cassoulets (Castelnaudary, Carcassone, and Toulouse).
Great Northern and cannellini beans make fine substitutes for the Tarbais, flageolet and lingot beans used in France. Then give yourself over to the rhythm of roasting, sautéing and long, slow simmering.
In 1929, Proposer Montagné, the famous chef from Carcassonne, acknowledged the supremacy of Castelnaudary Cassoulet in his book 'Le Festin Occitan' saying, "Cassoulet is the king of Occitan cuisine."
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, transfer it into a small baking dish, top with more breadcrumbs, and bake in a 350ºF oven until heated through and the breadcrumbs are browned. You can also freeze cassoulet in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Perhaps there is no dish in Southwest France more iconic, cherished, and controversial than the cassoulet. Cassoulet was originally the food of peasants - a simple assemblage of what ingredients were available: white beans with pork, sausage, duck confit, gizzards, cooked together for a long time.
In France it would not be possible to eat cassoulet without a bottle of red wine to accompany it. Of course, when hosting a cassoulet feast it's more realistic to fortify with multiple bottles. Madiran or Malbec make perfect pairing choices with hearty cassoulet.
A proper cassoulet is loaded with fatty sausage, pork, duck fat, garlic, onion and salty-silky duck confit. The dish takes a full day to prepare, as the flavors are layered in and cooked low and slow. All of which is to say, cassoulet is no health food.
In Castelnaudary, cassoulet is prepared with duck confit, pork shoulder, and sausage. In Carcassonne, a cassoulet will typically have mutton, and the Toulouse version includes duck confit, Toulouse sausage, and a blanket of crumbs on top.
Mirepoix consists of onions, carrots and celery (either common Pascal celery or celeriac). Mirepoix is used in many dishes, such as stocks, soups, stews and sauces. It is used either raw, roasted or sautéed with butter. Mirepoix is known as the holy trinity of French cooking.
You can serve cassoulet on its own with a salad and bread on the side, but it's traditional to accompany it with something colorful . . . usually greens of some sort.
Staple ingredients in French cooking include garlic, onions, carrots, celery, fresh herbs like thyme and parsley, butter, cream, wine, and high-quality meats, seafood, and produce. Cheese and bread are also integral to French cuisine.
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