vol-au-vent

American  

[vaw-loh-vahn] / vɔ loʊˈvɑ̃ /

noun

Cooking.

1. a large shell of light, flaky pastry for filling with vegetable, fish, or meat mixtures, usually with a sauce.

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vol-au-vent British  

/ vɔlovɑ̃ /

noun

1. a very light puff pastry case filled either with a savoury mixture in a richly flavoured sauce or sometimes with fruit

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Etymology

Origin of vol-au-vent

1820–30; < French: literally, flight on the wind

Example Sentences

I opted for the classics: onion soup, retro vol-au-vent overflowing with mushrooms and, for dessert, an île flottante heady with vanilla and caramel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

Each course is practically a feast unto itself: vol-au-vent, roasted veal loin, poached turbot, baked Alaska — and that’s just the first half-hour.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2023

Rather than braising it, my grandfather André would cook it in a vol-au-vent and combine with crayfish.

From The Guardian • Mar. 5, 2020

The mushroom vol-au-vent promises a ragout of cultivated fungus in puff pastry but delivers a creamy mix of vegetables, including some mushrooms, cut with a brown beer onion jam.

From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2016

If a large vol-au-vent is to be filled instead of little paté-shells, a ragout of chicken giblets and sweetbread, cut in large pieces, is better.

From The Italian Cook Book The Art of Eating Well by Gentile, Maria