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

Viewers may emerge from “The Taste of Things” desperate to find a restaurant that serves a good vol-au-vent, a turbot in hollandaise sauce or the meringue-coated ice cream confection known as baked alaska.

From New York Times • Feb. 9, 2024

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

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

Lobster, 149. to boil, 150. bisque, 70. croquettes, 152. butter, 118. fried, 152. another, 152. in bouchées, 420 "  vol-au-vent, 419. "  pie, 439. "  salad, 151. another, 151. "  the shell, 150. scalloped, 152.

From Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks by Blot, Pierre