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You can find croque madame(s) all over Paris and though they are good, I have a couple of preferences that I think may make it better.
📃 Croque Madame Recipe LINK: https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/croque-madame-10-minute-breakfast
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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:42 What is the Croque Madame
1:55 What I think can be improved
3:10 My Croque Madame
6:54 Which one is better?
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37 Comments
I did always kinda feel like this was a bit overrated of a dish. Your version sounds much better simply based on the use of high quality ham and adding cheese to the bechamel to make a mornay. I mean come on that comte has to be pretty good right? Hell I'm sure you could take other high quality cheeses and the result would be good as well.
Im going to work on the sauce. In La Havre, we had our first Croque Madame and Monsieur. We also has a fresh baguette and some good cheese. The sandwiches were okay but like you pointed out, the ham was an afterthought and the whole thing lacked any pop. Not bad but not mind blowing either. Now the bread was fantastic and although I don't recall which cheese we had, it was recommended by the local shop and man is there a difference in French cheese vs American offerings.
You should make the Portuguese version of this we call it Francesinha
Would you please do American measuring like cups or table spoon not grams
take smaller bites my man 😂
You are one hungry man
My man eats this Croque like he's never fucking eaten, mein goht.
love this guy – very down to earth. great kid. fantastic videos. thanks very enjoyable.
So much ham in your version of the sandwich! I guess it's the American "super-sized" version..
n`1
Not a big ham guy, so I don't think I'll add more ham, but other than that I'll definitely give this a shot.
I transform my béchamel with grated tonka bean. I dont need to say more..
Haha. Set off a little reaction here.
I add onion jam in mine, it makes a world of difference! Once you try it there is no turning back…
A good tip I've seen as a sort of shortcut/quality control technique when making a light roux or stirring flour in to a sauce/liquid is to use a mesh strainer or China Cap/Bouillon strainer (I prefer Bouillon strainers since they are deep and sit down inside of pots). Lower the strainer in to the pot with your sauce in it. The liquid will come through and fill your strainer from the outside. Then, add flour to the inside of your strainer, and (with the heat on) whisk it continuously making sure that the flour stays inside the strainer. The flour will dissolve and begin to incorporate in to the sauce while still cooking from the heat. Just before you reach your desired consistency, remove the strainer from the pot. Do NOT pour the contents of the strainer in to the pot. This will allow the flour that dissolved and cooked fully to remain in the pot, while any raw flour that would have imparted a grainy undesirable texture will be removed and contained within the strainer! This is especially helpful if you need to add flour toward the end of the cooking process or I'm cases where you don't want to dirty another pot making a roux.
Combining milk and roux at opposite temperatures(cold roux-hot milk, hot roux-cold milk) all at once together will ensure no clumps!
Its a shame you didn't do more videos in Paris :(.
Bro ate them sandwiches like he hasn’t eaten in a week lmao
Great video! You are right, is not much more than an average good sandwich. Nothing beats a ciabatta of prosciutto, rucula, and little parmesan cheese. Maybe a bocata of Iberico ham, watercress, and a little manchego cheese tie with the ciabatta&prosciutto.
The only thing i would change, as a person with a horrible palate, is crisping the ham beforehand. Some dark and brown bits here and there make me very happy when eating ham, and it seems to loosen up the intramuscular fat and connective stuff, one of the things that really disagrees with me. I hate a chewy or rubbery bit in a slice.
Say pan de mie one more f*cking time!
If your bechamel is not a French Dijon mustard bechamel, then it's not a Parisian croque monsieur or croque madame
Looks really good
An early account of the croque monsieur, in 1891, states it was "made for the jaws of giants", so it's a tall sandwich that demands a big bite. That likely means a thick piling of ham, a thick cut of bread, or both. It's interesting that lot of modern croque monsieurs and madames- including all the ones you showed around Paris- have such a thin layer of ham, and thinly sliced bread, and are therefore so unbalanced.
I cant lie, Croque McDu looks excellent for a light lunch.
Would this work with pistrami?
Hi Ethan, any chance you could share the name of the song you used at the begining of this video and some others from Paris? I know it's from epidemic sound but can't find it and really like the vibes of it. Thanks a lot
ye i like this iteration way more than the common croque. One more thing is, grilling the ham slightly would give even more depth. put the ham under salamander for a little bit before u assemble or fully assemble the sandwich. personally I would do the extra step of grilling the ham on half assembled croque aka – 1. get all the ingredients on the sandwich and spread the ham on the two slices, 2. don't cook that long that the cheese completely melts. 3. take out the oven and fully assemble the sandwich. 4. grill again as u would normally and finish with the egg.)
am i wrong thinking that the McDonalds Croque McDo sounds outrageously priced, or…?
in fairness im working with the GBP mindset so it might be a conversion issue on my part, idk, it just seems pretty damn expensive for a McDonald's version of a relatively small, humble toastie…….
If you are ever in Hamburg germany look out for Croque too. In the Internet "Hamburger Croque". Its a fast food you will only find in northern germany. Same name but completely different variant, traditional with cooked ham coleslaw, salat shortly baked with cheese, in a fluffy- crunchy baguette.
You eat like American.
So ridiculous! Bechamel, OMG!
made a croque yesterday, put some sage and nutmeg into the bechamel and some semi caramelized red onions betweed the ham, really work wonders together, gave it a very hearty herby note. tho i could also imagine additional shallots in the bechamel could be good af too with that combo to really lean into the onion notes
you're overrated.
Cannot agree more on the classic Croque Madame. Glad I am not the only one who doesn't understand why it's on every French restaurant's menu (outside of France).
The sandwich is fine, it’s not overrated you’re just a tourist. This is like ordering grilled cheese at a restaurant.
those chives! why are they so big? This is a french dish not a chinese dish chives are supposed to be thin and delicate not some harsh lawn clippings.