Here, “à la bourguignonne” refers to the Burgundy-associated preparation with butter, garlic and parsley. Beaune’s official tourism office describes snails cooked in broth, returned to their shells with seasoned butter and finished in the oven. This home version starts with a ready-cooked food product, never garden-collected snails.
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Food · International
Escargots à la bourguignonne: the French garlic-butter classic
Ready-cooked edible snails, butter, garlic and parsley make a classic French starter manageable at home.
2026-10-27 · Editorial staff · Estimated reading time: 2 min
Queen of Queens · Food
The recipe
France · Burgundy
- Servings
- 4
- Preparation
- 20 min
- Cooking
- 12 min
- Rest / waiting
- 0 min
- Total time
- 32 min
- Estimated calories per serving
- 230 kcal
Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients and quantities
- 48 ready-cooked plain edible snails, about 200 g drained
- 48 clean food-grade shells, or four small ovenproof dishes
- 100 g softened butter
- 20 g finely chopped parsley
- 10 g very finely chopped garlic
- 25 g very finely chopped shallot
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Heat a conventional oven to 200 °C. Drain the snails and check their package instructions.
- Mix the softened butter with parsley, garlic, shallot, a little salt and pepper.
- Place a little butter in each shell, add a snail and seal the opening with more butter. Divide all the butter among the 48 snails. If using dishes, arrange the snails and dot the butter over them.
- Set shells opening-side up in the serving tray. Bake for roughly 10–12 minutes until thoroughly hot and bubbling; follow the product instructions if they specify a different reheating method.
- Serve promptly, taking care with hot shells. Allow 12 snails per portion. Any bread served alongside is excluded from the calorie estimate.
Tips and variations
The parsley butter should sizzle rather than scorch. Assemble ahead for easier serving, keeping everything refrigerated until cooking.
Allergens
Molluscs and milk.
Sources and further reading
- Office de Tourisme de Beaune — escargots de Bourgogne
- https://www.beaune-tourisme.fr/explorer/gastronomie/nos-produits-de-terroirs/escargot/
Calories are estimates per serving and vary with ingredients, brands and actual quantities. Times are approximate; the total includes the stated resting time.
