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    Home • Recipes • Meals

    Starters/Appetizers

    Collection of light recipes served as French appetizers or starters, known as l'entrée in France. Choose from the following healthy menu ideas to start off a dinner party or holiday meal.

    Looking for something specific? Browse the recipe index to refine your search.

    • white lion bowl of creamy fish soup surrounded by tartan and heather
      Cullen Skink - Traditional Scottish Smoked Haddock Soup
    • bowl of homemade vegetable soup made with fresh vegetable chunks and a short cooking time
      Homemade Vegetable Soup (Soupe de légumes)
    • bowls of bright green watercress soup
      Watercress Soup (Soupe au Cresson)
    • 3 bowls of pea soup with fresh peas and pods
      French Pea Soup Recipe with Ham (Potage Saint Germain)
    • black bowl with a thick and creamy carrot soup, thickened with rice and topped with a sprig of fresh parsley and pinch of ground coriander
      Creamy Carrot Soup (Potage Crécy) without the Cream
    • bright orange mini pumpkins baked and stuffed
      Stuffed Mini Pumpkins - The Most Versatile, Easy Recipe
    • a half Cantaloupe melon scooped out and filled with Port as a simple French starter
      Melon au Porto: Easy French Cantaloupe Recipe
    • baked tomato tart with french niçoise olives, basil and a green salad
      French Tomato Tart with Mustard - An Easy Summer Lunch from Provence
    • slices of toasted bread with cheese, nuts, lettuce and bacon
      Warm Goat Cheese Salad (salade de chèvre chaud)
    • tossed green salad with seasonal fresh vegetables such as arugula, avocado and other greens with toasted nuts and seeds
      Simple Green Salad - The Best All-Rounder, Seasonal Side
    • land and sea salad with a savoury beet macaron
      French Charcuterie Plate Land and Sea (Salade Terre et Mer)
    • stuffed courgettes with cheese
      Mediterranean Stuffed Zucchini (Courgettes farcies)
    • asparagus spears like sun rays on a tart
      Asparagus Tart with Puff Pastry
    • small individual asparagus clafoutis with parmesan sauce basil top
      Asparagus Clafoutis - Easy French Spring Recipe
    • bowl of creamy broccoli cheese soup topped with grated broccoli and served with Parmesan crisps
      Broccoli Cheese Soup
    • bowl of horseradish sauce with grated apple next to a pot of French creamed horseradish sauce and salmon
      Horseradish Sauce with Apple: Perfect for Smoked Salmon
    • sweet corn soup restaurant style like in Paris - a creamy chowder topped with herb leaves, pumpkin seeds, smoked salmon and fried corn
      Sweet Corn Soup - Restaurant Style
    • a slice out of a golden leek pie to see inside the crust
      French Leek Pie (Flamiche) - A Classic Vegetarian Recipe
    • Moroccan handpainted bowl filled with a raw carrot salad topped with fresh mint, toasted nuts and seeds next to oranges and a Moroccan teapot
      Raw Carrot Salad Moroccan Style
    • large choux bun filled with smoked salmon and runny cream with apple and dill
      Savoury Choux Buns with Smoked Salmon (Choux au Saumon fumé)
    • cauliflower cream soup topped with florets and parsley candlelit
      Cauliflower Cream Soup (Crème Dubarry)
    • close up of a shrimp cocktail with tropcial dragon fruit, avocado and apple topped with citrus caviar
      Shrimp Cocktail Recipe with Tropical Fruit
    • large round tart with pumpkin, mushrooms and topped with walnuts
      Savoury Pumpkin Tart with Mushrooms
    • cutting into fluffy smoked haddock fishcakes
      Smoked Haddock Fishcakes Recipe
    • pumpkin soup and cooked chestnuts, a French speciality
      Pumpkin Soup and Leek with Chestnuts
    • a bowl of thick curry soup garnished with 3 pan-fried seared scallops, cumin seeds, cauliflower florets, turmeric and finely chopped coriander
      Curried Cauliflower Soup with Seared Scallops
    • A ceramic bowl of a French cheese spread known as Cervelle de Canut made with cheese, cream, shallots and herbs - served with a baguette.
      Cheese Spread Recipe: Cervelle de Canut - Lyon's Fun Version of Brains
    • roasted sliced tomatoes with mozzarella stacked together
      Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Mozzarella
    • French onion tartlet tatin with salad
      Onion Tarte Tatin - With or Without Cheese
    • mint omelette
      Corsican Mint Omelette (Omelette à la Menthe)
    • French white porcelain bowl of leek and potato soup with a baguette and butter
      Leek and Potato Soup (potage Bonne Femme)
    • cup and saucer of creamy French mushroom soup with coffee
      Creamy Mushroom Soup (façon Cappuccino)
    • bowl of rocket soup with smoked garlic
      Smoked Garlic Soup with Rocket (Arugula)
    • bowl of creamy chickpea spread with extra garlic the French way, served with raw vegetables
      Poichichade: Provençal Garlic Chickpea Spread
    • beetroot salad with apple, leaves, nuts, seeds, orange and smoked mackerel
      Roast Beetroot Salad with Apple and Smoked Mackerel
    • asparagus lemon clafoutis slice
      White Asparagus Recipe: French Clafoutis with Lemon
    • blue cheese crumbled into a green salad with pear, apple and walnuts
      Roquefort Salad with Pear, Apple and Walnuts
    • purple beet risotto with purple macaron and glass red wine
      Beetroot Horseradish Risotto - with Macarons

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    Portrait of Jill Colonna, French cookbook author in Paris

    Bonjour - I'm Jill

    Enjoy reliable French recipes for real home kitchens - seasonal family food, macarons and desserts with less unnecessary sugar and more flavour.

    I’m Jill Colonna, a Scottish-French author and home cook, living and cooking in Paris for 30+ years. In 2010, I wrote one of the first macaron cookbooks in English.

    More About Jill

    Inspiration from Paris

    Join Jill's weekly Newsletter with seasonal recipes, inspiration and a dose of French life along the way.

    Latest Autumn Recipes

    • Baked apples recipe that's French, stuffed with raisins, honey and almonds and split at the top in an ovenproof dish
      French Baked Apples Recipe
    • slice of chocolate plate with eiffel tower served with a thin custard sauce
      Crème Anglaise Recipe (Classic French Vanilla Custard Sauce)

    Popular this month

    • bright orange mini pumpkins baked and stuffed
      Stuffed Mini Pumpkins - The Most Versatile, Easy Recipe
    • saute pan of fried green beans in garlic and breadcrumbs
      Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic - French Style
    • pumpkin spiced macarons
      Easy Pumpkin Spice Macarons Recipe
    • upside down caramelised apple tart glistening on a glass plate
      Tarte Tatin Recipe

    More from France

    • Guide to Lyon's restaurants and food in France's gastronomic capital
      Lyon's Best Value Restaurants in 3 Days
    • château de Monte Cristo, home of Alexandre Dumas in Port Marly near Paris
      Monte Cristo and Alexandre Dumas' Love for Cuisine

    Macarons

    • large trifle bowl made with macarons and topped with fresh vanilla cream, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries and decorated with macaron shells
      Macaron Sherry Trifle with Berries
    • plain macaron shells from the same batch baked on baking paper, a silicone mat and a macaron silicone mat showing the different formations of shell
      Macaron Silicone Mat vs Parchment Paper: Which is Better?

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