Le goûter

Posted by Josh on 25th Feb 2026 in the blog in the french culture, french food category

What is le goûter?

Le goûter is an afternoon snack eaten in France, typically by children but also by many adults. The verb goûter means 'to taste', and le goûter is normally something sweet and delicious, designed to help children get through the day. Traditionally, it is eaten at around 4pm, more or less the halfway point between lunch and dinner, when children have returned home from school. Note that le quatre-heures is another name for le goûter.

Pain et chocolat (not to be confused with pain au chocolat) is one of the most popular incarnations of le goûter, but it's just one of many different types of snack eaten in the late afternoon. In fact examples of snacks can range from fresh fruit to towering gâteaux, and families often have their own unique delicacies. The endless variety is easy to understand when you consider just how many pastries, sweets and types of cake are produced in France.

To get a sense of the range of snacks eaten in France at le goûter, we asked our team what they used to eat.

What did you eat for le goûter?

Alexa
A saucisson with a sugar cube on top.

Charlotte
Tartines beurrées (toasts with butter) with some cacao powder dusted over.

Bénédicte
Madeleines and a juice box.

Caroline
Bread and butter with jam or chocolate. Sometimes we would have cake (apple or pineapple) or biscuits made with cream from unpasteurised milk from the local farm.

Chloé
It was different each day, but my favourites were crêpes or a piece of baguette with chocolate.

Isabelle
Either gâteau au chocolat or crêpes (all year round, not just for La Chandeleur). Sometimes a tartine à la confiture and a bol de chocolat chaud, madeleines, or simply some fruit.