Like the Americans, many French people have become more concerned about eating with good health in mind. Ever since the popularity of la cuisine allégée (low fat cuisine), people consume more produits biologiques (health foods), and these include fresh vegetables, fruits, and fish. People now eat less beef, oil, and butter. Bread, cheese, and wine are three essential foods for French people, and this tradition has not changed no matter what the current diet might be.

Breakfast is fairly light in France. People drink black coffee or café au lait (coffee with milk, sometimes drunk from a bowl), orange juice, croissants, tartines beurrées (buttered toast), confiture (jam), and pains au chocolat. A typical French Canadian breakfast would be heavier: coffee, pancakes, maple syrup, sausages, and patates rissolées (roasted potatoes). Lunch used to be a main meal in France but now that the lunch break has been shortened to one hour for many workers, they will simply have a baguette (a long, thin bread, sliced in two) filled with ham, tuna, salami, cheese or turkey. They can find their preferred sandwich in a boulangerie (deli) or a pâtisserie (pastry shop). In French Canada, the lunch meal is a sandwich or a homemade meal or one that is bought in a food court. Unlike in France, all the banks and stores remain open during the lunch break.

Le goûter (snack) is something small children have, either at school or after school. This will be a sandwich, cookies, a piece of fruit, or pain au chocolat.

Le dîner (dinner) is served around eight o'clock and it consists of several courses: soup, meat or fish, a salad, cheese and a dessert. People enjoy a glass of wine at dinner and they also drink a lot of sparkling mineral water. In Quebec dinner is called le souper and is usually served around six thirty. This is composed of soup, meat and pasta and during the cold winter people have the habit to eat especially rich foods.

In Quebec brunch is a common tradition on the weekend, and during the summer French Canadians love to organize BBQs in their backyards, summer homes, or in a park with their friends and families.

The bûche de Noël (Christmas log) and la galette des Rois (cake of the kings) are traditional French sweets for Christmas.