Flammkuchen (aka Tarte Flambée) is a flatbread-style pizza with German and French origins. It features a thin, crisp, cracker-like crust topped with creamy crème fraîche, sliced onions, and cubes of bacon. It's absolutely delicious, yet considerably simple to make!

Six square pieces of flammkuchen German bacon and onion flatbread pizza with chives on brown parchment.

A specialty of the French region of Alsace and Southwestern German regions of Mosel, Baden-Württemberg and the Palatinate (all along the French-German border), flammkuchen is essentially a rustic flatbread or pizza.

It features thinly rolled out unleavened dough (no yeast!) shaped as a rough rectangle or oval, covered with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, sliced onions, and lardons. The result is a thin, crispy, blistered crust topped with tender, sweet onions and small, salty bites of bacon.

The name of this dish varies based on region and dialect. In German it can be called flammkuchen (pronounced flam-KOOK-en) or flammekueche (pronounced flam-KOOCHE). Because Alsace changed ownership between Germany and France for over 100 years, it also has the French name of tarte flambée (pronounced tart flahm-BAY).

These names all translate to "pie baked in the flames.” It’s also sometimes referred to in English as an Alsatian bacon and onion tart or Alsatian pizza. Regardless of what you call it, it’s absolutely delicious!

A rectangular flatbread pizza with onions, bacon, and chives cut into 6 squares on brown parchment.

Flammkuchen was originally a homemade dish invented in Alsatian farmhouses. It didn’t get mainstream exposure in restaurants until the pizza craze in the 1960s. Nowadays, tarte flambée has gained worldwide popularity. You can even find a frozen version at Trader Joe’s!

Although some people add cheese to their flammkuchen, keep in mind that this isn't the traditional version. It's more of an upgrade or enhancement. You can certainly add some grated gruyère if you'd like, but I recommend trying the original way first before making any variations (see the Expert Tips section below for more on this!).

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for tarte flambée on a beige background.

Crème Fraîche: Crème fraîche is a thick, French, soured cream. It’s less sour than American sour cream and provides a thick, creamy base to this flatbread pizza with little effort. Crème fraîche is becoming more common in many grocery stores. You can usually find it in the dairy section near the yogurts and sour creams or possibly near the cheeses (that’s where I find it at Whole Foods). If you can’t find it, try a combination of sour cream and Greek yogurt, or better yet make homemade crème fraîche with heavy cream and buttermilk.
Onions: While some people like to cook their onions ahead of time or even salt them to soften them a bit before topping their flammkuchen to bake, I find this is an unnecessary step. It’s also not authentic. The traditional method uses raw onions and raw bacon (not pre-cooked in either case). I use raw, thinly sliced onions on mine. They soften beautifully in the oven and don’t burn, at least in my personal experience baking at 500°F in an electric oven.
Bacon: Look for thick cut bacon which you can either dice or slice into strips. A good size to ensure they cook properly in the allotted time is ¼-inch cubes or strips. I used Nature’s Rancher Steakhouse Smoked Uncured Bacon, which I found at Whole Foods. A 12-ounce package contains 4 thick slices. For my personal preference, I trimmed a lot of the fat off my bacon before cubing it up so I would have more of the actual meat on my tarte flambée rather than chunks of fat. The fat won't render out the way it does if you're frying bacon in a pan (the fat will just sit on top of the tarte), so I'd rather limit how much I start with.

A package of thick-cut bacon on a beige background.

How to make it

Preheat the oven to its highest setting (usually 500°F/250°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl mix flour, water, olive oil, and salt until roughly combined (PHOTO 1). Continue to knead it until soft and smooth (PHOTO 2).

Before and after of making dough for flammkuchen in a metal mixing bowl.

Cover the dough with a clean tea towel so it doesn’t dry out, and set aside at room temperature while you prepare the toppings.

Combine the crème fraîche with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

A mixture of crème fraîche and nutmeg in a metal bowl with a blue rubber spatula.

Lightly dust your work surface with flour and place the dough on top. Lightly dust the top of the dough with more flour, and roll it out very thinly into an oval or rough rectangle, about 10-by-14-inches. It should roll out very easily.

A rough rectangle of thinly rolled out dough on a wooden board.

Transfer the dough onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet (PHOTO 3). Spread the crème fraîche and nutmeg mixture evenly over the dough leaving a ½-inch border free at the edges (PHOTO 4).

A rectangle of rolled out dough before and after spreading with crème fraîche mixture.

Evenly distribute the onions and bacon over the top (PHOTOS 5-6).

Adding sliced onions and cubed bacon to a rectangle of rolled out dough.

Bake for 14 to 18 minutes until crisp and golden brown at the edges and the toppings are starting to just brown.

A rectangular baked tarte flambée flatbread pizza with onions and bacon and crispy golden edges.

Remove from the oven, cut into 6 squares with a sharp chef’s knife, sprinkle with chives if desired, and serve immediately.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Closeup of square pieces of tarte flambée flatbread pizza with onions, bacon, and chives.

Expert tips

It’s best to enjoy flammkuchen the day it’s cooked. However, you can reheat leftovers in an oven or toaster oven until hot. I find it's not quite as crispy after reheating though. Leftover flammkuchen also tastes good cold or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.

My flammkuchen baked in a 500°F electric oven for 18 minutes to get the results you see in the photos. A gas oven may take a bit less time. Just keep an eye on it and remove it from the oven when it’s done to your liking.

I’ve tried cutting my tarte flambée with a pizza cutter, and it just isn’t the optimal tool for this. The crust is thin and quite crispy. A pizza cutter kind of drags the toppings around as it cuts too. Use a large, sharp chef’s knife to cut it into portions instead.

Some people roll their dough out on a piece of parchment paper, but I find that the parchment paper slides around when I try to do that. This dough rolls out beautifully on a large wooden cutting board with just a light dusting of flour. And it’s easy enough to gently fold and transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet without stretching or ripping it. No need to overcomplicate things.

Don’t load your flammkuchen with too many toppings or your crust will get soggy instead of crisp. In addition to (or in place of) the classic additions of onion and bacon, there are other variations of this traditional Alsatian tart that you could also try!

Gratinée: with Gruyère cheese added
Munster: with Muenster cheese added
Forestière: with mushrooms added
Sweet: a dessert version with apples and cinnamon, or blueberries, and flambéed with Calvados or another sweet liqueur

A rectangular German pizza cut into 6 squares with a striped towel and chives behind it.

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