A Croque Madame is a delightful French sandwich that combines layers of savory ham and melted cheese, topped with a perfectly fried egg, making it an irresistible choice for a spectacular brunch at home. Serve with Crispy Hash Browns for an unforgettable meal, any time of the day!
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🍶 The Ingredients
The ingredients may not be exotic, but their combination of simple elements like bread, ham, cheese, and a luscious mornay sauce creates one of the best sandwiches of all time. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and variations) below.
🧀 Substitutions and Variations
- Bread - Go with your favorite sliced bread. We like the slices to be a bit thicker than standard sliced bread from the market. We purchase an unsliced round loaf of sourdough bread and then slice it with a serrated knife. Homemade Country White Bread will take your sandwich to another level!
- Ham - Ham is a key component to this sandwich; however, feel free to change it up with sliced smoked turkey or even thinly sliced roast beef. Thin-sliced Black Forest Ham from the deli is wonderful, but so are thick slices from your leftover Holiday Ham!
- Cheese - Gryuére is a semi-soft Swiss cheese that is commonly used in making a Croque Madame. However, regular Swiss cheese, Fontina, and White Cheddar are all great substitutions.
- Mornay - Homemade mornay sauce is easy and can be made in advance. A substitution for it would be softened cream cheese or even plain yogurt.
Expert Tip
Dijon mustard is commonly used in the sandwich and works wonderfully with the Gruyére and Mornay sauce. It adds a subtle, but noticeable Dijon flavor. If you're not a fan of Dijon, you can substitute good-quality mayonnaise or go with a combination of equal parts Dijon and mayo.
👩🏼🍳 How To Make Mornay Sauce
- Step 1: Melt butter in a skillet and whisk in the flour to make a roux.
- Step 2: Whisk in the milk until smooth.
- Step 3: Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened
- Step 4: Turn off the heat and stir in half a cup of grated Gruyere.
- Step 5: Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 6: Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
👨🍳 How To Make a Croque Madame
- Step 1: Slice the bread and toast it in a 425°F oven.
- Step 2: Spread Dijon mustard over the tops of each slice of toasted bread.
- Step 3: On top of the Dijon, add a layer of ham, mornay sauce, and cheese.
- Step 4: Top with another slice of toast, and add another layer of mornay sauce and cheese.
- Step 5: Fry eggs in a little butter and season with salt and pepper.
- Step 6: Bake until melty and lightly browned, and then top with fried egg.
🍽️ How To Serve
- This sandwich is perfect for brunch (or breakfast). However, it is so satisfying, it makes an amazing lunch or dinner sandwich!
- Depending on how thick and large your slices of bread are, one sandwich is filling. You can easily cut the sandwiches in half.
- We love to serve these with Easy Breakfast Potatoes and fresh fruit.
🙋🏽♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
They are very similar. The only difference is that the Madame has an egg on top, and the Monsieur typically does not. Sometimes, the Monsieur sandwich is dipped into an egg mixture and then cooked, similar to a Classic Monte Cristo.
The Mornay sauce can be made hours in advance, even the previous night. The toast can be toasted a couple of hours in advance. You can even cook the eggs and keep them in a low-temp oven (for up to 1 hour). Have everything prepped up to 12 hours in advance (ie, shredding the cheese).
Absolutely! A poached egg is a fantastic substitution. See how to make the perfect poached egg with our Crab Cake Benedict!
🌞 Other Amazing Brunch Sandwiches
Ready to make the best brunch sandwich this side of Paris? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and #HowToFeedaLoon
Croque Madame
Video
Equipment
- 1 large (12") non-skick skillet
Ingredients
For the Mornay Sauce
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk warmed
- ½ cup Gruyere cheese shredded
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
For the Croque Madame
- 4 slices bread white or sourdough
- 4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ lb ham sliced
- 1 cup Mornay sauce
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese grated
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon chives finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
Make the Mornay Sauce
- In a medium-sized skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat.2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Whisk in the flour, stirring often, for 1 to 2 minutes.2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Slowly whisk in the warmed milk, and cook, whisking and stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes.1 cup whole milk
- Remove from the heat and stir the cheese and the Dijon mustard (1 tsp).½ cup Gruyere cheese, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, set aside and let cool.
Make the Croque Madame Sandwiches
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the bread slices in a single layer. Toast in the oven, turning once, until lightly browned on both sides, about 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.4 slices bread
- Spread the tops of the toasted bread with Dijon mustard.4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Add an equal amount of the sliced ham to 2 of the bread slices. Top the ham with ¼ cup of the Mornay sauce and then sprinkle on about a ¼ cup of the cheese.½ lb ham, 1 cup Mornay sauce, 1 cup Gruyere cheese
- Top with the remaining bread slices, Dijon facing down.
- Spread the remaining sauce over the tops of the sandwiches, and sprinkle each with the remaining cheese.
- Return the sandwiches to the baking sheet and bake until the cheese is melty and starting to brown slightly in spots.
- While the sandwiches are in the oven, melt 2 tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Crack and add the eggs to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the whites have just set, about 2 to 3 minutes for sunny-side-up eggs.4 large eggs, Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Remove the sandwiches from the oven and use a spatula to plate each one. Top with the fried eggs, and garnish with chopped chives, if desired. Serve at once.2 tablespoon chives
Notes
Nutrition
Anthony says
Great recipe! Love the all the black pepper on the egg;)
Here is another <a href="https://www.thekitchencaboodle.com/recipes/cheesy-croque-madame/" Cheesy Croque Madame Recipe. It's one I used to make for lunch and brunch A LOT. We used either sourdough or brioche. SO GOOD!
Thanks for the great post! Enjoyed it:)
Kris Longwell says
Wow! That looks amazing, Anthony! Love your blog!!! And thanks for the GREAT review!! We really appreciate that so much! Stay in touch! All the best, Kris & Wesley
Barbara Snedegar says
Really fast and so yummy!! I toasted the bread in the Breville toaster oven to speed things up. I’m not a huge fan of mustard, even Dijon…I wonder how it would taste with mayo? My husband puts mustard on everything. Loved it.
Kris Longwell says
Hi Barbara! Go with mayo in place of the Dijon! You'll love it!!
Roman Fredlen says
This is a great example of how to cook food quickly and tasty.
lana says
Thank you
samedayessay says
Hi krislongwell 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your photo tips!! It has been awesome! Thanks again!
PS: Great pics and great blog! You're awesome!
James Maxton says
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I've read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you've got the opportunity, Guess I'll just book mark this blog.
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Jack says
Looks so yummy!!! Thanks for this recipe!
I am a student and also a freelance writer (here at EduBirdie I combine my study and work) and I do not have much time, but I like to eat tasty and rich! Adorable recipe!
Blueskies says
you need to post a picture of the finished product. Can't rate need to see the final picture
krislongwell says
HI there. Not sure what you mean. Do you not see an image of the finished dish in the cast iron skillet?