Croque Monsieur Recipe (French Ham and Cheese Sandwich)

Croque monsieur is the French bistro’s hot ham-and-cheese sandwich, pan-toasted until crisp and finished under the broiler with a spoonful of creamy béchamel and bronzed Gruyère. This recipe gives exact quantities and a bake-then-broil sequence so the top turns golden without burning.

What Is a Croque Monsieur?

The name and where it comes from

A croque monsieur is a hot sandwich made with ham and cheese, and its place of origin is France. The word croque translates to “crunch”, a nod to the crisp, buttery surface the sandwich gets when it is toasted in the pan and browned under the broiler. Served in cafés and brasseries as a quick, hot lunch, it has become shorthand for a Parisian midday meal.

Classic ingredients

The classic build is short: bread, butter, ham (typically boiled), and cheese (typically Gruyère), finished with pepper and salt. Traditional recipes reach for Gruyère, though Comté or Emmental sometimes appear instead. Some brasseries also spoon béchamel sauce over the sandwich before browning it, and that creamier, topped version is the one this recipe follows.

Croque monsieur vs croque madame

The difference between the two is a single topping: a croque monsieur served with a poached or lightly fried egg on top becomes a croque madame. Everything else — the ham, the cheese, the toasted bread — stays the same, so a madame is really the same sandwich with a runny yolk to break over the top.

Choosing the Ham, Cheese, and Bread

The cheese: Gruyère, Comté, or Emmental

Gruyère is the traditional cheese for a croque monsieur, chosen for the way it melts into a stretchy layer and browns without splitting. This recipe layers the sandwiches with 165 g (6 oz / 8 slices) of Swiss or Gruyère, then tops them with a packed 1/2 cup of shredded Gruyère and 3 tablespoons of finely shredded Parmesan. Comté or Emmental can step in for the Gruyère when that is what is on hand.

Ham: ready-to-eat vs cook-before-eating

The ham is the one ingredient worth checking the label on. Ready-to-eat hams, which include prosciutto and cooked hams, can be eaten straight from the package, so they only need to warm through in the sandwich. Cook-before-eating hams and fresh hams are a different case: they must reach 145°F, followed by a 3-minute rest, before they touch the bread. This recipe uses 120 g (4 oz) of ready-to-eat ham slices, preferably smoked.

The bread

The bread has to hold up under béchamel and melted cheese without turning to mush. This recipe calls for 4 slices of sourdough, cut about 1.5 cm (⅗ inch) thick, so each sandwich keeps a crisp, chewy bite. If you want a lighter handheld lunch built on the same sturdy-bread idea, the simple healthy lunch sandwich is a good place to start.

The Béchamel Sauce

The brasserie version of the croque monsieur is topped with béchamel, a butter-and-flour roux loosened with milk and cream until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This recipe makes a small, rich batch from 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of pure or heavy cream, 1 1/2 tablespoons (25 g) of unsalted butter, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of plain flour. The cream is what separates this sauce from a plain white sauce and gives the finished sandwich its lush, spoonable topping.

Season the béchamel with 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon of salt before it goes over the bread, and let it cool slightly so it sits on the sandwich instead of running off. Because this is the indulgent build with a cream-and-butter béchamel, each sandwich lands around 1440 kcal; a lighter, milk-only béchamel version comes in nearer 797 kcal per sandwich.

Baking and Broiling: The Golden Top

The finish is a two-stage cook: a hot bake melts everything and heats it through, then a short broil bronzes the top. This recipe preheats the oven to 200°C (390°F / 180°C fan), bakes the sandwiches for 15 minutes until they are hot through and the cheese has melted, then switches to the broiler for 3 minutes until the béchamel topping turns golden and bronzed.

Published versions split the two stages differently, which shows how flexible the last step is. Eating European bakes at 400°F and then broils for about 30 seconds to brown the béchamel. Raymond Blanc’s method bakes at 200°C (180°C fan) for 10 to 12 minutes. Ina Garten’s version bakes for 5 minutes and then broils for 3 to 5 minutes. The constant is a brief, hot broil at the end, so watch closely — béchamel and Gruyère go from golden to burned fast. A skillet-then-bake sequence like this one is also what gives a smothered chicken and rice its browned, bubbling finish.

Variations on the Classic

Croque madame

To turn the sandwich into a croque madame, set a poached or lightly fried egg on top. The yolk is meant to break over the bronzed cheese, giving the hot ham-and-cheese sandwich a rich, saucy finish without changing the core build underneath.

Cheese swaps

Gruyère is traditional, but Comté or Emmental are both workable stand-ins for a slightly milder, nuttier result. Keep the layered slices and the shredded topping the same, since the cheese is what carries the brown, bubbling crust under the broiler.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Croque monsieurs are at their best straight from the broiler, but leftovers keep when they are handled safely. Refrigerate them within 2 hours of cooking, since bacteria multiply fastest between 40°F and 140°F, and use them within 3 to 4 days. Assembled but unbaked sandwiches freeze well for 2 to 3 months; wrap each one tightly before freezing, then bake it straight from frozen.

To reheat, the USDA sets 165°F as the internal temperature for reheating leftovers, checked with a food thermometer at the center of the sandwich. Leftover cooked ham should also be brought back to 165°F. For a whole cooked ham, the USDA advises setting the oven no lower than 325°F and heating to an internal temperature of 140°F when the ham came from a USDA-inspected plant, or 165°F for all other cooked hams. Since a croque monsieur is a sandwich rather than a whole ham, the leftover-reheating target of 165°F is the number to aim for.