This Frisée Salad features frisée greens tossed in a red wine-mustard vinaigrette, topped with poached eggs, bacon, and crispy baguette croutons. A traditional French salad that will transport you to a Parisian café.
When I lived in Paris, I frequented the French produce markets and was always entranced by the selection of greens. Sweet Little Gem heads, delicate mâche, peppery arugula and watercress. And in the cooler months, radicchio and frisée. The frisée heads were massive, and my vegetable vendor would wrap them in a cone of paper so I looked like I was carrying a beautiful green bouquet on my way home.
One of my favorite things to make with this crunchy, slightly bitter green is this salad. I fell in love with it at a neighborhood bistro, but soon began to recreate it on my own. It’s a simple recipe, once you know the tricks for working with poached eggs. Follow along below, and you might just find your new favorite salad recipe you can make year-round (and picture yourself in Paris!).
Table of contents
Why Make This Recipe
- Classy and Elegant: This salad is truly stunning, and would be fantastic as part of a brunch spread or a special occasion lunch.
- Easy to Make: Once you get the hang of poaching eggs, you’ll want to make them all the time. And the rest of this salad is super easy!
- Great Flavor Combination: Bacon and eggs are, of course, fantastic together. But the combination of those with the mustardy salad dressing, slightly bitter greens, and crispy baguette croutons just puts this dish over the top.
What is Frisee Salad?
Frisee salad is a classic French salad that uses frisée greens as the base of the salad. The greens are tossed with a vinaigrette and then topped with a poached egg and lardons (crispy bacon chunks). The vinaigrette I’ve chosen for this recipe is an easy red wine-mustard vinaigrette, but many traditional frisée salads use a white wine or sherry-based vinaigrette that includes warm rendered bacon fat (from cooking the bacon topping). Croutons are often added as well.
Frisée Salad Ingredients
- Shallots: I love to use shallots in my salad dressings, as they are more mild than a yellow or red onion. But, you could substitute an onion instead—a sweet onion or red onion is probably your best choice. And make sure to chop them finely, as their flavor is stronger than shallots.
- Olive Oil: For salad dressings, I love to use a high-quality olive oil. You can really taste the difference in the final dressing. Look for cold-pressed if you can find it!
- Baguette: You can make this recipe with any kind of crusty bread. And, this recipe works great for day-old bread, so don’t throw out a loaf that is not fresh enough to eat.
- Frisée Lettuce: Frisée is a member of the chicory family (like endive and escarole), and has a light peppery flavor. It is sometimes called curly endive. Frisée has a lacy texture that combines nicely with other greens, and is great in sandwiches too. Its texture really stands up to this salad, but if you can’t find frisée, look for other hardy greens such as escarole, red radicchio, or endive.
How to Make Frisee Salad
- First, prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, and 1.5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Then drizzle in 4.5 tablespoons of olive oil, whisking constantly, until the dressing comes together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. If you are using bacon slices, stack together and cut into ¼-inch slices. Then sauté bacon slices or lardons in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, until crispy, 8-10 minutes.
3. Remove bacon from pan and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Add baguette cubes to the pan, turning the heat down slightly. Sauté until croutons are golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Season baguette cubes with salt and pepper to taste. To prepare the salad, rinse frisée lettuce and pat dry. Toss lettuce with half of the vinaigrette, then divide among four plates.
5. Bring a large saucepan or deep skillet of water to a simmer. Crack each egg into a small bowl by itself, then hold each bowl just over the simmering water and tip the egg in. Stir the water a bit with a spoon to make sure the eggs aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 3–4 minutes, depending on how runny you like your poached eggs.
6. Then remove with a slotted spoon and place either directly on each salad plate, or, on a paper towel-lined plate so you can remove some of the moisture before adding to your salad. Top each plate with crispy bacon and croutons. Serve with remaining vinaigrette drizzled on top.
Frisee Salad Recipe FAQs
While parts of this salad can be made in advance, this is really a salad that is best put together at the last minute. You can make the vinaigrette in advance, and keep that in the refrigerator for up to a week (take it out to get it to room temperature before serving). And you can rinse and dry the greens several hours in advance, and then wrap in paper towels and keep in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. But unfortunately, the bacon, baguette croutons, and poached eggs really need to be made not long before serving.
A Lyonnaise salad is very similar to this dish! It’s a classic French salad that originated in the city of Lyon, France, though it is a very popular lunch dish in cafés and bistros all over France. This salad features bitter greens with bacon and poached eggs, and a warm vinaigrette created from the rendered bacon fat.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
If you are nervous about poaching eggs, I have some tips that might help you. Remember that poached eggs are a rustic dish, so if your eggs end up with lots of wispy whites around them, it’s really ok! Some people recommend adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the boiling water, which does help to keep the egg whites together a little better (and doesn’t make them taste like vinegar!).
Also, creating a vortex in the water by stirring it before you add the egg does also help keep the egg together—but, it is difficult to do this when you are poaching multiple eggs at once. If you’re just poaching one, definitely try it! Deeper pots are also generally better to use than shallow pans, but again, it can be difficult to find a wide, deep pan for poaching multiple eggs (and that’s a ton of water used). Finally, poached eggs work best with the freshest eggs possible since the white tends to become more liquidy as the egg ages.
You can decide how runny you want the yolk of your poached egg. I like a 3-minute poach, because the yolk is nice and runny. As you cut into it, the yolk mixes in with the vinaigrette, which then coats every bite of your salad. But you are certainly welcome to poach your egg for longer (around 4 minutes) if you like a thicker yolk!
Be careful that you dry your frisée quite well after rinsing it, as water tends to hide in its frizzy leaves. Using a salad spinner for this is a great idea! Tear greens into bite-sized pieces by hand so as to not crush them. Also, note that if frisee is too bitter for you on its own, you can pair this with some milder greens as well.
Finally, watch the heat on your bacon fat while making the croutons. After cooking the bacon, the fat may be so hot that it starts to burn the croutons rather than turning them golden brown. Reduce heat if necessary. And, if your bacon has not given up a lot of fat, you can add olive oil or butter to toast your bread cubes.
Other France-Inspired Recipes
If you enjoyed this Frisée Salad, you might enjoy some of my other French recipes like:
- Quiche Florentine
- Easy Sole Meuniere
- Vin Chaud
- Green Beans Almondine
- French Lentil Soup
- Braised Leeks with Crispy Bacon
- Hachis Parmentier
French salads are some of my favorite recipes. Try this Asparagus and Eggs Salad next. Or this Salade de Tomates or Fig Goat Cheese Salad. All delicious!
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Classic Frisée Salad Recipe (with Baguette Croutons)
Ingredients
For the Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 4 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Salad
- 7 ounces thick-cut bacon slices or lardons
- ½ baguette cubed (day-old preferred)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 head frisée lettuce
Instructions
- Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the shallots, mustard, and red wine vinegar in a small bowl.
- Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly, until the dressing comes together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- If you are using bacon slices, stack together and cut into ¼-inch slices.
- Sauté bacon slices or lardons in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, until crispy, 8-10 minutes.
- Remove bacon from pan and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add baguette cubes to the pan, turning the heat down slightly. Sauté until croutons are golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season baguette cubes with salt and pepper to taste.
- To prepare the salad, rinse frisée lettuce and pat dry.
- Toss lettuce with half of the vinaigrette, then divide among four plates.
- Bring a large saucepan or deep skillet of water to a simmer.
- Crack each egg into a small bowl by itself, then hold each bowl just over the simmering water and tip the egg in. Stir the water a bit with a spoon to make sure the eggs aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Cook for 3–4 minutes, depending on how runny you like your poached eggs.
- Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place either directly on each salad plate, or, on a paper towel-lined plate so you can remove some of the moisture before adding to your salad.
- Top each plate with crispy bacon and croutons. Serve with remaining vinaigrette drizzled on top.
Notes
Some people recommend adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the boiling water, which does help to keep the egg whites together a little better (and doesn’t make them taste like vinegar!). Also, creating a vortex in the water by stirring it before you add the egg does also help keep the egg together—but, it is difficult to do this when you are poaching multiple eggs at once. If you’re just poaching one, definitely try it! Deeper pots are also generally better to use than shallow pans, but again, it can be difficult to find a wide, deep pan for poaching multiple eggs (and that’s a ton of water used). Finally, poached eggs work best with the freshest eggs possible since the white tends to become more liquidy as eggs age. How long to poach eggs?
You can decide how runny you want the yolk of your poached egg. I like a 3-minute poach, because the yolk is nice and runny. As you cut into it, the yolk mixes in with the vinaigrette, which then coats every bite of your salad. But you are certainly welcome to poach your egg for longer (around 4 minutes) if you like a thicker yolk!
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this Frisée Salad recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Katerina says
Ohhh yum, Molly! Such beautiful clean flavours in this salad, I can tell you right now this will become a favourite in our house. Thanks so much for sharing!
Chef Molly says
Thanks Katerina! I really love this salad, and I just saw more frisée at the market this morning which put me in the mood to make it again!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
Your idea to make your own croutons using a day old baguette is brilliant... and I am totally in love with your homemade vinaigrette!!
Chef Molly says
Thanks Heidi! Making croutons is one of my favorite things to do with a baguette!
Jeff the Chef says
What a fantastic salad! l love everything in it, especially the bacon and eggs, but I really love the dressing, too.
Chef Molly says
Yup, any salad with bacon and eggs is a great salad, right?