Rillettes is the original slow food: pork (or duck) cooked for hours in its own fat until it shreds, then packed into a jar under a cap of that fat so it keeps for weeks. Done right it's meltingly tender and just needs bread and a cornichon. The grocery store doesn't really carry it, so this is a short, honest shelf of the independents who make it properly.
Published July 2026 · Updated 7 Jul 2026
The Hayward French charcuterie (running since 1985) makes both pork rillettes and duck rillettes the classic way — slow-cooked in fat, hand-shredded, potted. It's the product line they're built for. Refrigerated, ships nationwide.
Why it isn't on AmazonA French charcutier makes rillettes because it's core to the craft; almost no US grocery carries it at all, let alone a duck version.
See it at Fabrique Delices →Olympia cubes pork shoulder, marinates it with white wine, garlic, ginger, and thyme, then cooks it gently in their own rendered lard and hand-chops it. Warm baking-spice notes, sold in 8 oz tubs. Refrigerated, ships nationwide, free over $50.
Why it isn't on AmazonRillettes made from whole pork shoulder in house-rendered lard is a from-scratch product; the ginger-and-thyme seasoning is a maker's touch, not a factory recipe.
See it at Olympia Provisions →Ariane Daguin's D'Artagnan pots duck rillettes from the same free-range Moulard ducks they raise for confit — shredded, seasoned, packed under fat. Refrigerated, shipped overnight in insulated boxes. A good gateway if you've only ever had pork.
Why it isn't on AmazonDuck rillettes from a farm-sourced ducker is a specialty item; you're getting the confit-quality bird potted, not a mystery-meat spread.
See it at D'Artagnan →This seat's open on purpose — we won't pad the list to hit a number. If you ship real rillettes & potted meat direct, it's earned, not sold.
Add your brand →Rillettes are meat — traditionally pork, often duck, goose, or rabbit — salted and cooked very slowly in its own fat until it falls apart, then shredded and packed into a jar or crock with a layer of fat sealing the top. That fat cap is the whole trick: it preserves the meat for weeks. It's a French farmhouse way of using up a whole animal, and it spreads like a rustic, chunky pâté.
Pâté is ground and often includes liver, giving it a smooth or uniformly coarse texture; rillettes are shredded, so you get soft strands of meat you can see and pull apart. Rillettes are also cooked low and slow in fat (a confit method) rather than baked in a terrine. Both spread on bread, but rillettes are stringier and meatier, less liver-forward.
Let the jar sit out 20 to 30 minutes so the fat softens, then spread it thick on toasted baguette or crusty bread with cornichons, grainy mustard, and maybe pickled shallots. Keep it refrigerated; as long as the fat cap stays intact over the surface, an opened jar holds well over a week. Smooth the fat back over the top after each use.
Yes — the high fat content means they freeze and thaw better than most spreads, holding a month or two without much change. Thaw in the fridge, then bring to room temperature before serving so the texture comes back. If you buy a couple of jars, freezing the spare is a fine way to keep it.
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