The consumption of pulses in the human diet is considered to have several advantages: from a nutritional point of view, pulses are rich in dietary fibers, complex carbohydrate, minerals/vitamins and an important source of vegetal proteins. They are considered essential to insure food security and support environmental sustainability. Despite these benefits, the consumption of pulses in France has declined over the past decades, dropping from 7.2 kg in 1920 to 1.7 kg/ person per year in 2016. The aim of this study is to understand the representation of pulses among French non-vegetarian consumers, using a direct method (questionnaire) and an indirect method (scenario generation). The comparison of both methods would allow us to take into account potential bias (e.g., social desirability) generally associated with direct methods. Firstly, an indirect methodology was developed. 120 participants were asked to compose dishes, according to different scenarii, by selecting three food images over the twenty proposed. A week after, they were asked to complete an online questionnaire about liking, health and sustainability perceptions. The results obtained by these two methods were analysed. Different groups of participants were studied, according to their sex, age, level of studies and household composition. Results showed that an indirect approach highlights differences between participants with diverse profiles: pulses were more often selected by participants with high level of studies, women, single and young people. On the contrary, with the direct approach (questionnaire), all participants gave similar responses whatever their characteristics. Our results evidenced that what they declared through questionnaire is not necessarily linked with their food choice assessed in the scenario approach. Our study was the first to use an indirect method to understand the representations of French consumers about pulses. These findings provide new evidences and levers to increase pulses consumption.