Cassoulet de Toulouse is the city's signature slow-cooked bean dish with confit duck, Toulouse sausage and pork belly. Reservations recommended in season.

The cassoulet's origin legend places it around 1355 during the Hundred Years' War, when Castelnaudary peasants under English siege threw beans, sausage and confit duck into a clay cassole. The Toulouse version, distinct from Castelnaudary and Carcassonne, uses confit duck plus the city's coiled saucisse de Toulouse. The Confrerie du Cassoulet de Toulouse was founded in April 2022 to defend the recipe.

Where to eat Cassoulet de Toulouse in Toulouse

4 editor picks for Cassoulet de Toulouse in Toulouse, ranked by editorial score. All Toulouse signature dishes · Cassoulet de Toulouse across every city.

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Make it at home

Serves 624 hrAdvanced

Ingredients

  • 500g dried haricots tarbais beans, soaked overnight
  • 4 confit duck legs
  • 300g Toulouse sausage, coiled
  • 200g pork shoulder, cubed
  • 150g pork belly, cubed
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley)
  • Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
  • 100g pork rind
  • 1 litre chicken stock

Method

  1. Drain the soaked beans. Place in a large pot with cold water, bring to boil, then simmer 15 minutes. Drain.
  2. Confit duck legs at 150C in their fat until tender, about 90 minutes (or buy ready-made).
  3. Brown the pork shoulder and pork belly in confit fat in a heavy pan, set aside.
  4. Soften onion in the same pan, add garlic and tomato, cook 5 minutes.
  5. Add the beans, pork meats, pork rind, bouquet garni and chicken stock. Simmer 1 hour 30 minutes.
  6. Transfer half the bean mixture to a glazed clay cassole. Top with the confit duck legs and the Toulouse sausage in a coil.
  7. Cover with the remaining beans and stock. Bake at 160C for 2 hours, breaking the crust three times to mix it back in.
  8. Serve straight from the cassole with crusty bread and a glass of Madiran.

Editor tip. Haricots tarbais are the canonical bean; if unavailable, use cannellini. The crust-breaking step is what makes the cassoulet, do not skip it.

Common allergens: Pork, Duck.