Burgundy snails with garlic parsley butter, the famous escargots de Bourgogne, are a great classic of French festive meals. They are served piping hot in their shells, with a butter of garlic, shallot and parsley that is still sizzling when it reaches the table. The best part is mopping up that butter with bread.
I made them at home on 28 December 2025, between Christmas and New Year. My caption said no more raclette (or maybe not), because after the holidays you sometimes want something other than melted cheese. Snails feel festive, you can prepare them ahead and they cook in 10 minutes.
Here is the traditional Burgundy recipe, using ready-prepared canned snails and their shells. The only real work is the parsley butter, and it is very easy.
The recipe
Classic recipeThe traditional recipe for the dish, not the one from the restaurant where I tasted it.
Ingredients
- 48 prepared Burgundy snails (canned) and 48 shells
- 250 g soft unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 shallot
- 30 g flat-leaf parsley
- 6 g fine salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 baguette to serve
Method
- Take the butter out of the fridge at least 1 hour ahead so it is very soft. Drain the snails, rinse them quickly in cold water and pat them dry on kitchen paper.
- Peel the garlic and shallot and chop them very finely. Wash, dry and finely chop the parsley, leaves only.
- In a bowl, mash the butter with a fork together with the garlic, shallot, parsley, salt and pepper until you get an even green butter.
- Put a small knob of parsley butter at the bottom of each shell, slip in a snail, then close with a generous layer of butter, smoothing it with the back of a teaspoon.
- Place the shells opening upwards in snail dishes, or on a tray lined with coarse salt so they stay upright.
- Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the butter has melted and is sizzling.
- Serve immediately with snail tongs and forks, and fresh bread to mop up the butter.
Tips and variations
- You can fill the shells the day before and keep them in the fridge, or freeze them. Bake them straight from frozen, adding 3 to 4 minutes.
- A tablespoon of white Burgundy wine or breadcrumbs in the parsley butter makes a nice little variation.
- Without shells, use porcelain snail plates or small hollowed-out button mushrooms.
- Allow 12 snails per person as a starter, 6 for an aperitif.
Recipe shared for guidance only, adapt it to your equipment: times and temperatures may vary. Check for allergens (gluten, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, sesame…) and make sure ingredients are fresh. Raw or undercooked fish, meat and eggs are not recommended for pregnant women, young children, elderly or vulnerable people. Take care with hot oil, flambéing and alcohol. I am not a health or nutrition professional.