# Fricassee
**Fricassee** (French: *fricassée*) is a dish of pieces of meat, especially chicken or veal, cooked and served in a white sauce[1](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/fricassee). In classical French cookery it is a white stew: the meat is cut up, seared gently in fat without browning, then simmered in a liquid that is thickened and finished with cream[2](https://resources.escoffier.edu/textbooks/gisslen/professional_cooking_15.pdf). The word also serves as a verb, meaning to prepare meat by this method[3](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/fricassee).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition | Pieces of meat, especially chicken or veal, stewed and served in a white sauce[1](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/fricassee) |
| Classical technique | White meat cooked in fat over low heat without browning, then liquid added; a white stew made by braising[2](https://resources.escoffier.edu/textbooks/gisslen/professional_cooking_15.pdf) |
| Typical finish | Meat fariné (floured), moistened with white stock, cooked in a bound liquid, creamed and garnished with small white-glazed onions and poached mushrooms[4](https://www.supertoinette.com/glossaire-cuisine/575/culinaire/fricassee.html) |
| First known use | English noun 1568, verb 1657; from Middle French *fricassée*, feminine past participle of *fricasser*[5](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fricassee) |
| Etymology | Of uncertain origin; perhaps from *frire* (to fry) plus *casser* (to break, cut up)[6](https://www.etymonline.com/word/fricassee) |
| Regional meanings | In Louisiana, a sauce based on roux; in Belgium, a fried egg served with bacon[7](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fricass%C3%A9e/35234) |
## The technique
A fricassee sits between a sauté and a stew. The meat, usually poultry, veal, lamb, rabbit, or frog legs, is cut into pieces, sometimes dredged in flour, and lightly sautéed in butter without enough heat to brown it, a step also called "stiffening" the meat (French *raidir*). It is then simmered in stock, possibly with white wine, and the liquid is thickened with flour, sometimes with cream as well, to make a creamy white sauce. Pearl onions and mushrooms, lightly cooked on their own, are typically added toward the end[8](https://www.cooksinfo.com/fricassee).
The defining feature is the absence of browning. Culinary textbooks classify white stews in two types: fricassees, in which the meat is first cooked in a small amount of fat without coloring, and blanquettes, in which the meat is first blanched, rinsed, and added to a cooking liquid; both should be white or ivory in color[9](https://www.pearsoned.ca/highered/divisions/virtual_tours/labensky/Ch12_Labensky.pdf). Compared with an ordinary stew, in which the poultry is seared and browned first, the fricassee's sauce is paler and its flavor slightly milder[10](https://nnty.fun/downloads/books/TAEL/SURVIVAL/COOKING/BASICS/Cooking%20Basics%20For%20Dummies%20-%20Bryan%20Miller%2C%20Marie%20Rama%2C%20Eve%20Adamson%202011.pdf).
## Etymology and early history
The English noun is recorded from the 1560s, borrowed from French *fricassée*, the noun use of the feminine past participle of *fricasser*, "mince and cook in sauce" (15th century). The French verb's origin is uncertain; one common suggestion is a compound of elements related to *frire* ("to fry") and *casser* or *quasser* ("to break, cut up"). The verb entered English in the 1650s[6](https://www.etymonline.com/word/fricassee). Merriam-Webster dates the noun's first known use to 1568 and the verb to 1657[5](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fricassee).
The term long ago passed into English, at first meaning, as the lexicographer Cotgrave put it in 1611, "any meat fried in a panne". Another 17th-century source defined it as meat boiled together in a broth, but the term usually indicated frying of small pieces, later enveloped in a thickened sauce, until fairly recent times, when it began to fall into disuse[11](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food77337c06s001e136).
In 17th-century France the preparation was very common but considered unrefined: La Varenne cited fricassé veal liver, veal feet, chickens, and pigeons, and even fricassé apples and asparagus[4](https://www.supertoinette.com/glossaire-cuisine/575/culinaire/fricassee.html). The Dictionnaire de l'Académie française defined it in its 1740 edition simply as "viande fricassée" (fricasseed meat), with examples such as a fricassée of chickens or of sheep's feet[12](https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A3F0743).
## Modern usage and regional variants
In France today the term is used particularly of dishes based on white meat, chicken or veal, clad in a creamy sauce[11](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food77337c06s001e136). The modern French definition is white meat or poultry cut into pieces, sautéed in butter without color, cooked with an addition of white stock, and bound with thick cream[7](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fricass%C3%A9e/35234).
The word has traveled. In Louisiana, *fricassée* refers to a sauce based on roux, and Cajun cooks use fricassee and stew nearly interchangeably for smothered meat dishes served over rice[7](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fricass%C3%A9e/35234). In Belgium the same word means a fried egg served with bacon[7](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fricass%C3%A9e/35234). A Caribbean chicken fricase, adapted from the San Juan chef Jose Santaella, is a tomato-forward braise built on sofrito with white wine and golden rum in the cooking liquid, far from the white-sauce French original[13](https://apnews.com/article/4781453a1e32d0ba5fcd551f491ced6a). Vegetarian versions made with portobello or button mushrooms, or marinated tofu, also appear[14](https://www.foodrepublic.com/1384585/what-is-a-fricassee/).
One exception to the white rule is *fricassée de porc à la Genevoise*, a dark fricassee of pork colored by red wine and pork blood[8](https://www.cooksinfo.com/fricassee).
## Related dishes
The fricassee belongs to a family of French white stews that differ in how the meat is treated before the liquid is added:
- **Fricassee**: meat seared in fat without browning, then braised with liquid added[2](https://resources.escoffier.edu/textbooks/gisslen/professional_cooking_15.pdf).
- **Blanquette**: meat blanched first, then simmered in stock, finished with a liaison of egg yolks and heavy cream[9](https://www.pearsoned.ca/highered/divisions/virtual_tours/labensky/Ch12_Labensky.pdf).
- **Brown stew**: meat browned thoroughly in fat before the cooking liquid is added[2](https://resources.escoffier.edu/textbooks/gisslen/professional_cooking_15.pdf).
In classical usage the fricassee is a white stew of white meat; today the word is used for many kinds of stews[2](https://resources.escoffier.edu/textbooks/gisslen/professional_cooking_15.pdf).
## References
1. [Fricassee, Cambridge English Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/fricassee)
2. [Professional Cooking, Wayne Gisslen, chapter on stewing (Escoffier School resource)](https://resources.escoffier.edu/textbooks/gisslen/professional_cooking_15.pdf)
3. [Fricassee definition, Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/fricassee)
4. [Fricassée, glossaire culinaire, Supertoinette (after Larousse Gastronomique)](https://www.supertoinette.com/glossaire-cuisine/575/culinaire/fricassee.html)
5. [Fricassee, Merriam-Webster Dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fricassee)
6. [Fricassee, Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/fricassee)
7. [Fricassée, Dictionnaire de français Larousse](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fricass%C3%A9e/35234)
8. [Fricassée: A white, creamy stew, CooksInfo](https://www.cooksinfo.com/fricassee)
9. [On Cooking, Labensky, chapter 12: braising and stewing](https://www.pearsoned.ca/highered/divisions/virtual_tours/labensky/Ch12_Labensky.pdf)
10. [Cooking Basics For Dummies, Miller, Rama, Adamson, chapter 7](https://nnty.fun/downloads/books/TAEL/SURVIVAL/COOKING/BASICS/Cooking%20Basics%20For%20Dummies%20-%20Bryan%20Miller%2C%20Marie%20Rama%2C%20Eve%20Adamson%202011.pdf)
11. [Fricassée, Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food77337c06s001e136)
12. [Fricassée, Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 3e édition (1740)](https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A3F0743)
13. [Tomato-forward chicken fricase is warm and hearty, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/4781453a1e32d0ba5fcd551f491ced6a)
14. [What Is A Fricassee And What Goes Into One?, Food Republic](https://www.foodrepublic.com/1384585/what-is-a-fricassee/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Food, cooking and hospitality › Dishes, foods, and foodstuffs › Meat, poultry, and game dishes › Poultry dishes*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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