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.

---

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

---

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

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

You can’t serve a Caesar salad followed by a vol-au-vent.

From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2012

With Eels.—Fill the vol-au-vent with eels, oyster sauce, or in poulette, and serve warm.

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