A puff-pastry case filled with chicken, mushrooms and small meatballs in a creamy sauce, served with fries or mashed potato. A common main dish in Belgium.

A vol-au-vent is a hollow case of puff pastry with a filling. The pastry is sometimes credited to Marie-Antoine Careme, though a recipe for petits gateaux vole au vent appears in a 1739 cookbook. In Belgium it is a common main dish on the menus of most restaurants, nearly always filled with chicken, mushrooms and small meatballs and served with fries or mashed potatoes. Aux Armes de Bruxelles serves a free-range chicken vol-au-vent, Au Vieux Saint Martin calls its version the house specialty, and Chez Leon and Les Brigittines list one too.

Where to eat Vol-au-vent in Brussels

4 editor picks for Vol-au-vent in Brussels, ranked by editorial score. All Brussels signature dishes · Vol-au-vent across every city.

  • Au Vieux Saint Martin

    Order The Filet Américain, a recipe created by Joseph Niels in 1924.

    Au Vieux Saint Martin has been a Brussels landmark on Place du Grand Sablon since 1968; the Niels family's ancestor invented the Filet Américain in 1924.

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  • Les Brigittines

    Les Brigittines is a restaurant at 5 Place de la Chapelle in Brussels, run by master cook Dirk Myny, with a carte and an evening menu, Monday to Friday.

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  • Aux Armes de Bruxelles

    Order Flemish beef stew, vol-au-vent or shrimp croquettes, classics that have been on the menu for years.

    Aux Armes de Bruxelles has stood at Rue des Bouchers 13 since 1921, with the same rooms and recipes, from shrimp croquettes to eel in green sauce.

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  • Chez Leon

    Order Jumbo Zeeland mussels, plumper and more generous, in a generous pot with crispy fries.

    Chez Leon is a Belgian brasserie at Rue des Bouchers 18, where Léon Vanlancker opened his Friture Léon in 1893, near his 5-table restaurant.

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Make it at home

Serves 41 hr 30 minIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 4 large puff-pastry shells (vol-au-vent cases)
  • 1 chicken breast, plus 1 chicken thigh
  • 300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 60g butter
  • 60g plain flour
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 150ml double cream
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 200g minced veal or pork for meatballs
  • 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
  • Salt, white pepper, nutmeg

Method

  1. Poach chicken in 500ml stock for 15 minutes; reserve the stock. Shred the meat.
  2. Shape mince into 16 small meatballs; poach in the same stock for 8 minutes.
  3. Strain stock and reserve.
  4. Melt butter, sweat onion soft. Add mushrooms, cook 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in flour, cook 2 minutes. Pour in reserved stock and whisk smooth.
  6. Stir in cream, then temper egg yolk with hot sauce and return to pan off heat.
  7. Add chicken, meatballs, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt and white pepper.
  8. Warm pastry shells in the oven. Fill with hot sauce, scatter parsley over and serve with frites.

Editor tip. Use ready-made vol-au-vent shells from a French or Belgian bakery; making puff pastry from scratch is a separate project.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs.