A Galette Complète is a savory French buckwheat crêpe filled with salty ham, gooey cheese, and an egg with a perfectly runny yolk. It's a popular breakfast and brunch item with a classic combination of flavors.

A galette complète garnished with chives on a white plate with a blue gingham towel beneath.

Ham and cheese are a match made in heaven. They're a popular duo in various international cuisines, and French is no exception. Add a fried egg and you've got magic. Wrap the entire thing in a crispy buckwheat crêpe and you have a galette complète, an irresistible brunch option hailing from Brittany, France.

This naturally gluten-free breakfast is fairly easy to make, requiring just a bit of advance planning to allow the batter to rest. You can even cook the galettes in advance and refrigerate until ready to assemble and serve.

Although galette complète is one of the most popular classic varieties of galette, you could use a multitude of fillings once you master galettes. Another of my favorites is Crêpes Parmentier which feature cheese, potatoes, and egg!

Here are a few other ideas:

Carbonara: egg, Emmental cheese, bacon dices, crème fraîche, parmesan
Montagnard: raclette cheese, potato, onion, bacon dices, crème fraîche
Paysanne: Emmental cheese, simmered leek, bacon lardons, crème fraîche
Chevrette: goat cheese, walnut, crème fraîche, honey
Vegetarian: Emmental cheese, tomato, onion, mushrooms, crème fraîche, broccoli

A fork piercing a piece of a crepe filled with ham, cheese, and a fried egg.

Crêpes vs. Galettes

Crêpes are more well known by the masses than their cousins, galettes. They're tender and thin wheat pancakes which are most often served with sweet fillings like fruit preserves, fresh fruit, Nutella, melted chocolate, and more. Some use wheat crêpes in savory applications as well, though this is not typical in France.

Galettes, or Galette Bretonne, are typically larger and made with buckwheat flour. They characteristically feature distinctive craters on their surface, the result of cooking in a hot pan. Galettes are usually folded into a square around a savory filling.

Galettes are sometimes also called crêpe sarrasin or galette de sarrasin (sarrasin means buckwheat) and hail from Brittany, a region in Northwest France.

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for galettes complètes on a bluish grey wooden background.

Buckwheat Flour: Buckwheat flour is what makes these galettes what they are. You cannot substitute anything else to make real, authentic galettes.
Ham: Use a basic deli ham that doesn't have flavors added into it.
Cheese: Emmental (Swiss), Gruyère, or Comté cheese are all great options for galette complète. Grate the cheese yourself and avoid any pre-shredded cheese options. They contain anti-caking agents and won't melt as smoothly.

How to make it

First, make the batter. Combine buckwheat flour, milk, melted butter, eggs and salt in a blender, and blend until smooth. Cover and rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Buckwheat galette batter in a small glass bowl.

When you’re ready to make crêpes, thin the batter with water. Preheat a crêpe pan or large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

Lightly grease the pan, then pour in enough batter to thinly coat the bottom of the pan (⅓ cup is good for 8-to-9-inch diameter crêpes). Tilt and swirl the pan as you pour the batter to ensure an even coating, or use a crêpe spreader to spread the batter into a thin circle (preferred method).

A crepe spreader spreading batter into a circle on a nonstick skillet.

Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on the first side, until it’s golden and lifts from the pan easily. If the pan is hot enough you should yield the characteristic craters on the bottom. Carefully flip and cook for another 30 seconds.

Transfer to a plate, stacking them on top of one another. Crêpes can be stacked with wax or parchment paper in between, and refrigerated or frozen.

Buckwheat galettes stacked on a plate with one folded in half to show craters underneath.

To assemble the galette complète, heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Top with a galette with the crater-side down. Then arrange a slice of ham in the center and sprinkle the cheese evenly over it. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the edges of the galette are crisp and the cheese has melted.

A buckwheat crepe with a slice of ham and shredded cheese on top before melting.

A buckwheat crepe with a slice of ham and shredded cheese on top after melting.

Meanwhile, heat a small nonstick pan over medium heat and lightly grease it. Add an egg and season with salt. Lower the heat and cover the pan to let it cook gently for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the fried egg to the assembled crêpe in the pan, then fold over the edges of the crêpe to make a square.

A buckwheat crepe with ham, melted cheese, and a fried egg on top.

A crepe with a fried egg and its edges folded over to create a square pocket.

Carefully slide the crêpe pocket onto a plate. Top galette complète with chives. Serve immediately as is or with a side salad, if desired.

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

A galette complète with an egg in the center and garnished with chives on a plate.

Alternative assembly method

I've tested it both ways. This is not my preferred method, but I'll share it anyway. It takes the egg longer to cook through with the ham as a barrier to the heat.

That being said, you could do this if you don't want to fry the egg separately. It generally doesn't cook as evenly. With this method, I find that the egg yolk turns white on top by the time the rest of the egg white around it finishes cooking (the white should NOT be jiggly).

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat, and top with a cooked crêpe with the crater-side down. Then top with a slice of ham and sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the ham. Carefully crack an egg into a small bowl, and then pour the egg onto the center of the crêpe, making sure the yolk is centered. Season the egg with salt.

Assembling a buckwheat crepe with ham, cheese, and egg layered on top.

Lower the heat to low, and cover the pan with a lid. Cook until the cheese melts, the white of the egg is cooked through, and the bottom of the crêpe is crisp, about 5 minutes or longer if needed.

Fold over the edges of the crêpe to make a square, and carefully slide the crêpe pocket onto a plate.

Expert tips

To freeze leftover buckwheat crêpes, stack them between pieces of wax or parchment paper in a large freezer-safe container (with a lid) or a very large zip-top bag, and then freeze them flat.

If you plan to cook a lot of crêpes or galettes, you can invest in an electric pancake and crêpe maker. It even includes a wooden spreader, just like they use in a professional setup. Alternatively you can use a large nonstick pan and just purchase crêpe spreaders on their own (this is what I do). You can also purchase a simple crêpe pan if you desire something that requires less storage space.

A galette complète with a fried egg in the center and topped with chopped chives.

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