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Of all the world’s most lauded culinary traditions, French cuisine may be the most intimidating to make at home. It often requires a lot of time, technique, and sometimes hard-to-find ingredients. You can follow Julia Child’s tips to make every meal a work of art. Yet, even the basic knowledge, like mastering the five French mother sauces, can feel out of reach. It can seem like you need a full Cordon Bleu education to even get started. But one classic French dish that will quickly elevate your next dinner party is actually much easier than you think. Use canned escargot and just a few other ingredients for amazing (and beautiful) hot and garlicky escargot at home.
Escargot is the new appetizer you need on your home menu. You don’t need to be a trained chef; you just need to use some basic French cooking tips that will take your food to the next level — like rinsing the snails first, always using real butter, and finding the right herbs for the job. If you’re a longtime escargot fan, don’t fret about using canned snails. The majority of restaurants in the United States use canned escargot, so yours will be right up to par with restaurant quality. From there, it’s simply a matter of adding in the right ingredients to make incredible escargot at home — no fancy techniques are required!
How to make perfect French escargot at home with canned escargot
Burgundy snails are the variety most used in escargot, and cans are usually available in specialty stores; even some chain groceries keep them regularly in stock. But you can go with Escargots de Bourgogne Sauvages Wild Burgundy Snails to get the closest possible to the real French bistrot version. It’s generally recommended that you rinse them to remove unwanted salty brine that could overpower the final flavor. While canned escargot are fully cooked, they should be sauteed in butter with a little minced shallot to warm them up and pick up some initial flavor.
But the real main event when it comes to escargot? Garlic and herb butter. You just need to mix softened butter with minced garlic, parsley, and a splash of white wine. The garlic butter will melt over each escargot as it cooks, infusing it with amazing, wonderfully aromatic flavor. Just put a dollop of the butter mixture over each snail in an escargot pan or dish or muffin tin and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown — about 10 minutes. You can even assemble them in packaged escargot shells and cook them in a casserole dish, if you’re looking for a more natural presentation. Add some bread crumbs before baking for an extra touch of texture, if you’d like.
Serve them with a crispy homemade garlic bread or simply a soft or toasted baguette — any option is great for sopping up the garlic butter. They’ll come out slightly crunchy with a nice chew (like a perfectly cooked shrimp), beautifully saturated with garlic, butter, and parsley. Ready in just 30 minutes or so, this is another simple yet sophisticated item to add to your home kitchen arsenal.
