Classic French Escargot Recipe with Garlic Butter
on Apr 16, 2025
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Try this easy Escargot Recipe with a delicious garlic butter, mixed with herbs and shallots. Recreating one of France’s classic recipes has never been easier! Snails aka Escargots in French, have a soft, mushroom-like texture and are a great appetizer to make for a special dinner or a party. To make them, you’ll just need some canned Escargots, the shells for serving, and a few pantry staples.
Pair your escargot with baguette, or even more garlic with our Parmesan Roasted Garlic Bread. For more French classics, pair this with The Best Steak Frites Recipe and French Onion Soup.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you’ve been skeptical of trying snails, this recipe is the perfect one to get started with. A delicious and savory garlic and shallot butter is the star pairing with this escargot.
- Takes less than 30 minutes: Once your butter is brought to room temperature, your escargot can be made in under 30 minutes.
- Easy to prepare: Making it is incredibly easy. All it takes is a herb compound butter, then piped or spooned into the shells with the canned escargot, and that’s it!
- Customizable: You can customize the herb butter to your liking and experiment with different herbs to add to the butter.
Recipe Ingredients
Below are the ingredients you need to make this recipe, including all our tips and substitutions.
Butter: We used softened, unsalted butter.
Escargots: Canned, drained and rinsed. You can find them on Amazon or your local Whole Foods. We live in LA and got mine at The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.
Aromatics: A large shallot and some garlic cloves, for the savory flavor.
Herbs: Lots of fresh herbs! We used parsley, cilantro and chives.
Dijon mustard: For that tangy, pungent flavor.
Escargot shells: To stuff and plate the dish, you can opt to cook the escargot without the shell, too.
French baguette: To serve, and to soak up that delicious herb garlic butter sauce in the pan.
The full list of ingredients with exact quantities can be found on the recipe card below.
Tips and Substitutions
- Make it cheesy: Feel free to use a mix of your favorite cheeses, such as Parmesan cheese to toast with the escargot.
- Add a kick: To lend the garlic butter a kick of heat, throw in some red pepper flakes.
- Storing and prepping: You can prep the herb butter ahead, and bring it out to room temperature before piping and serving. Escargot are best served fresh and hot.
- To make the escargot without shells: Simply arrange them in a baking dish and add a few dollops of butter on the bottom of the dish, top with the escargot, then top with more butter from there. You can also use the traditional escargot tray, add butter in each divet, top with the escargot in each divet, and add your butter on top from there.
How to Make Escargot with Garlic Butter
Step 1: Make your herb compound butter. Transfer your compound butter to a piping bag, or a plastic bag and cut off the tip.
Step 2: Preheat your oven to 400°F. Arrange the escargot in an escargot tray. Take your compound butter and pipe the butter into the shells. Then stuff in your escargot, and then pipe butter over top.
Step 3: Transfer to the top rack for 10 to 12 minutes. Towards the last 2 minutes, add your baguette to the oven on the bottom rack to warm and slightly toast.
Step 4: Remove the escargot and bread from the oven, and serve alongside your warm baguette, tearing off pieces and dipping in the butter.
The full detailed instructions can be found on the recipe card below.
Serving Recommendations
There are lots of ways to enjoy and pair escargot. Here are a few ideas to get you inspired.
- Pair your escargot with baguette, or even more garlic with our Parmesan Roasted Garlic Bread.
- For more French classics, pair this with The Best Steak Frites Recipe and French Onion Soup.
- For salads, try our Easy Melon Prosciutto Salad with Mint, or Radicchio Salad with Chives and Hazelnuts.
Escargot Recipe FAQs
You absolutely can! Simply arrange them in a baking dish and add a few dollops of butter on the bottom of the dish, top with the escargot, then top with more butter from there. You can also use the traditional escargot tray, add butter in each divet, top with the escargot in each divet, and add your butter on top from there.
Canned Escargots are already cooked. You’ll actually be just warming them up in the oven to make them more presentable.
Yes, both snails and escargot are the same thing. Escargot is the French word for snails.
More Appetizer Recipes
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Classic French Escargot Recipe with Garlic Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup packed fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup packed fresh chives
- 1 small shallot, roughly chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 12 to 18 escargot, canned, drained, rinsed, dried
- Escargot shells, optional, rinsed and dried
- 1 large French baguette
Instructions
- In a food processor, add your parsley, cilantro, chives, shallot, and garlic. Give everything a big pulse until completely minced, almost like a paste.
- Then add your Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and butter. Combine until incorporated, and your green herb butter is formed! You can alternatively finely chop your herbs and toss them in a bowl with the butter, but I find the food processor gets it nice and combined, and super green this way.
- Transfer your compound butter to a piping bag, or a plastic bag and cut off the tip.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Arrange the escargot shells in a baking dish, or a escargot tray. If using an escargot tray, I like to put the tray on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Take your compound butter and pipe the butter into the shells. Then stuff in your escargot, and then pipe butter over top. If you are cooking your escargot without the shells, pipe the butter in the divets of the escargot tray, add your escargot, then top with the butter. If cooking in a baking dish, add your escargot and pipe your butter over.
- Transfer to the preheated oven on the top rack for 10 to 12 minutes. Towards the last 2 minutes, add your baguette to the oven on the bottom rack to warm and slightly toast.
- Remove the escargot and bread from the oven, and serve alongside your warm baguette, tearing off pieces and dipping in the butter.
Video
Notes
- Storing and prepping: You can prep the herb butter ahead, and bring it out to room temperature before piping and serving. Escargot are best served fresh and hot.
- To make the escargot without shells: Simply arrange them in a baking dish and add a few dollops of butter on the bottom of the dish, top with the escargot, then top with more butter from there. You can also use the traditional escargot tray, add butter in each divet, top with the escargot in each divet, and add your butter on top from there.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
A classic! It may seem intimidating but I promise, this is an easy French recipe that I know you’ll love! Not to mention, the most amazing herby butter! Enjoy!