A simple and delicious recipe for buckwheat galettes (otherwise known as Galette Bretonne). These savoury crepes take just 20 minutes to make and are perfect for breakfast, lunch or brunch. Fill these versatile French Buckwheat crepes with cheese, spinach and a fried egg or any other fillings of your choice.
The post contains additional information and helpful tips to ensure the recipe turns out great the first time. Please use the link above to jump to the recipe card at the end if you are in a hurry!
✅ 5 reasons why you'll love this recipe:
- Quick & Easy - an utterly yummy breakfast or lunch that you can throw together in 20 minutes.
- One pan recipe - enjoy these tasty savoury crêpes without having to face a large pile of washing up after.
- Versatile - this recipe suggests filling the galettes with hard grated cheese, spinach and fried eggs but there are so many options you can try. Add a slice of ham, sautéed mushrooms, leeks or smoked salmon.
- An excellent make ahead meal - the batter can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days so you can prepare the batter and fry up some galettes when you want them.
- Simple ingredients - all you need is buckwheat flour, egg, butter and water and any filling ingredients that you want.
🛒 Ingredients and variations:
The batter for these tasty savoury crêpes just requires 5 simple ingredients including buckwheat flour, milk, egg, salt and melted butter.
Swaps and variations:
- Buckwheat flour - used in traditional savoury French crepes and has a nutty and earthy taste. The recipe will work with regular all-purpose / plain flour, but it will lack the distinct nutty earthy flavour that Galette Bretonne is known for.
- Nutmeg - this is optional, but I find its flavour blends superbly well with the nutty buckwheat flour.
- Fillings - this recipe includes fried egg, spinach and grated hard cheese (like gruyere, hard cheese or Swiss cheese but there are many options including a slice of ham, mushrooms and any other savoury toppings of your choosing.
🧑🍳 Galette Bretonne in 3 easy steps
1. Prepare the batter
Place all the batter ingredients in a medium to large bowl and whisk until smooth using an electric or manual whisk. Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This gives the flour time to be fully absorbed into the batter and improves the texture and flavour of the crepe. Don't worry too much if you run out of time to do this. The galettes will still turn out fine.
2. Cook the galettes
Place a frying pan on medium-high heat and add a knob of butter. When the butter is melted and the pan is hot pour in just enough of the batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Try to avoid putting in too much batter. A thin layer of batter is all you need. I use a little more than 1 ladle in my 28cm / 11inch crepe pan.
Allow the batter a couple of minutes to set and crack an egg on top of it. Use a slotted turner to gently adjust the position of the egg if it is not in the middle of the pan and to gently spread the white across the pan. Be careful not to break the yolk at this point. Add spinach and cheese so they surround the egg. Add a little pinch of salt onto the egg yolk and season with nutmeg and ground black pepper.
3. Crisp up and fold
It can take between 5 to 7 minutes for the egg to set. When the egg white becomes opaque increase the heat of the pan to high until the galette is brown and crisp. When you see the sides start to brown slightly it's time to fold the sides in. You can use a turner to gently lift each side of the galette to check their doneness. Fold each side into the middle, leaving the egg visible with no more than 2 inches of sides folded inwards. Serve immediately and repeat the process with the remaining batter.
👍 Top tips for perfect Galette Bretonne
- Rest the batter in the refrigerator before cooking - the galettes will still turn out well if you don't do this, but I've tried this recipe with both rested and non-rested batter and found there was a noticeable improvement in the texture and the flavour when the batter was rested.
- Add the batter to a hot pan - the butter should be sizzling and the pan should have come to heat before you add the batter to prevent it from sticking.
- Avoid adding too much batter to the pan - French galettes should be thin and crispy so add just enough batter to cover the pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium when the fillings are added - the egg white can take a few minutes to set and you don't want to burn the bottom of the galettes.
- Ensure the galettes are crisp before you serve - if the galette isn't quite done once the egg white is set, increase the heat of the pan until the edges are crisp and slightly brown before serving.
🙋 FAQs
Certainly, buckwheat is high in antioxidants, minerals and fibre. It's also gluten-free.
If you make crêpes and pancakes a lot a crêpe pan is a great investment. Otherwise, any large frying pan / non-stick skillet with a flat bottom will do the job.
Galettes are savoury buckwheat crêpes made with buckwheat flour with savoury fillings and toppings like ham, cheese and egg. A crêpe is a thin pancake that is served with a sweet filling like sugar, chocolate or ice cream.
La Galette Bretonne originale is the proper name the French use for savoury buckwheat flour pancakes. These savoury buckwheat galettes originate from Brittany in the north of France. They are thin like crêpes but the batter has a savoury flavour and they are served with
savory fillings and toppings.
📦 Storage
The batter will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Cover it with plastic wrap and mix thoroughly before you use it to remove any lumps that have formed. The batter might also thicken over time. Add some water to thin it out a little if it seems too thick when you come to use it.
You can freeze the cooked crepes for up to 3 months. It's also possible to freeze the batter, but it's not something I've ever bothered doing as it's so quick to make a fresh batch.
😋 Check out my other speedy lunch and brunch recipes
If you enjoyed these savoury buckwheat pancakes, you should check out my other speedy lunch/brunch recipes including this shakshuka and halloumi and smashed avocado sandwich that both only take 20 minutes to make.
Did you try this recipe? It would be really great if you could leave a comment and a star rating ⭐️. I would love to receive your feedback and know that other readers find it helpful too.
Don't forget to tag #knifeandsoulrecipes on Instagram or @knifeandsoul on Pinterest!
French Buckwheat Galette Bretonne
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A quick and easy recipe for savoury filled French Buckwheat Galettes Bretonne.
This recipe will yield at least 6 galettes. Use the scaling buttons below to double or triple the recipe.
Ingredients
Galette mixture:
- 200g (or 1 + ⅔ cup or 7oz) buckwheat flour
- 300ml milk (or 1 +⅓ cup or 11fl oz)
- 300ml water (or 1 +⅓ cup or 11fl oz)
- 1 egg - beaten
- ¼ tsp sea or kosher salt
- 2 tbsp melted unsalted butter + additional for greasing the pan
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
Filling:
- 6 eggs - 1 egg per galette
- 60g (or 3 cups) spinach - 10g or ½ cup per galette
- 140g (or 1 ½ cups) grated Gruyere or other hard cheese - 20g or ¼ cup per galette
- Pinch sea or kosher salt per galette
- Pinch of ground nutmeg per galette (optional)
- Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the galette ingredients in a bowl and whisk until the batter is smooth
- Place the galette batter in the fridge for at least one hour. (note 1)
- Place a frying pan or galette pan on a medium to high heat and add no more than 1tsp of butter to grease the pan.
- When the pan is hot add a ladleful of the galette mixture and spread evenly over the pan. (note 2)
- When the galette starts to set crack the egg onto the batter and adjust the position of the egg so it sits in the centre if necessary.
- Add the spinach and cheese so they surround the egg.
- Leave the galette to cook on a medium to high heat until the egg starts to set.
- Add a tiny pinch of salt to the egg yolk and season the galette filling with ground nutmeg and ground black pepper.
- Increase the heat to crisp up the galette and cook on a high heat for a few minutes until you see the sides start to brown. Lift up the sides to check they are done.
- When the galette is crisp fold the sides into the middle and serve. The folds should be no more than 2 inches so the egg is visible
- Repeat steps 4-10 with the rest of the galette batter
Notes
- If you are able to rest the batter for longer than one hour do. It will only improve the taste and consistency of the galettes.
- Be careful not to add too much batter to the pan at this point. There should be just enough batter to cover the surface of the pan. The thinner the galette, the tastier.
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 238
- Sugar: 0g
- Sodium: 369mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 5g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 14g
- Cholesterol: 32mg
Keywords: French buckwheat pancake
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