Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Croque Monsieur
A grilled ham and cheese sandwich blanketed in béchamel and gruyère, baked until molten and golden, a Paris café staple.
French · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 15 min
~881 cal · 56g protein · 37g carbs · 55g fat · 2g fiber · 8g sugars · 32g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The croque monsieur first appeared on Parisian café menus in the early 1900s, its name a play on croquer, to crunch. It is the French idea of a toasted ham and cheese elevated to something richer and more indulgent than the phrase suggests.
The secret is the béchamel: a creamy white sauce spread inside and over the top, then loaded with grated gruyère and baked or grilled until bubbling and bronzed. Crown it with a fried egg and it becomes a croque madame.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
8 slices thick white bread
8 slices sliced ham
2 cups gruyère, grated
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 pinch grated nutmeg
Instructions
1
Make a béchamel: melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook 1 minute, then whisk in the milk to a thick smooth sauce; season with nutmeg.
2
Spread the bread with mustard, layer with ham and half the gruyère, and close the sandwiches.
3
Spread béchamel over the tops and sides and cover with the remaining gruyère.
✎ Chef’s note
Do not be shy with the béchamel and cheese on top. The molten, deeply browned crust is what makes it a croque, not just a toastie.
4
Bake at 400F (200C), then flash under the grill until bubbling and deep golden.
Parisian café tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Provence. Provence cooks with lavender-scented air, olive oil, and sun-ripened vegetables, ratatouille, tapenade, and herbes de Provence. The Mediterranean coast adds bouillabaisse and a rosé-soaked table.
🗺️
France. France turned cooking into a discipline, codifying techniques and sauces that shaped Western cuisine, yet its soul lies in regional home cooking, Provençal vegetables, Alsatian tarts, Burgundian braises. Bread, butter, cheese, and wine are treated as everyday essentials.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from France
Ratatouille NiçoiseSummer vegetables stewed separately then united, Provence's answer to a garden at peak harvest.
Galettes de Sarrasin (Buckwheat Crêpes)Lacy, nutty buckwheat crêpes folded around ham, cheese, and an egg, the "complète" of every Breton crêperie.
Tarte Flambée (Flammekueche)Paper-thin dough blistered under crème fraîche, onions, and lardons, Alsace’s answer to pizza, out of the oven in minutes.
Browse all France recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Grill or barbecue, Whisk.
Storing it: Best made to order. Prep the fillings ahead and assemble just before eating so nothing turns soggy.
Make it a France meal
Crème BrûléeDessert
Ratatouille NiçoiseDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Croque Monsieur?
A grilled ham and cheese sandwich blanketed in béchamel and gruyère, baked until molten and golden, a Paris café staple.
Where does Croque Monsieur come from?
Croque Monsieur is a French dish from Provence, France.
Can Croque Monsieur be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Croque Monsieur recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Croque Monsieur safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Croque Monsieur take to make?
About 30 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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