Beef Bourguignon
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This Beef Bourguignon is a classic French beef stew recipe adapted from Julia Child. This Beef Bourguignon is so much more than just a beef stew, it’s comforting and heavenly and a must try!
With the super cold weather we’ve been having, one of my favorite things to make for dinner are stews and soups. My version of beef bourguignon takes Julia Child’s classic French recipe and simplifies it a bit. I wanted this to be simple enough for anyone to make and all in one pot. The one thing that is required is to slowly cook this for 2 to 3 hours, until the beef is super tender and melts in your mouth.
What Is Beef Bourguignon
Beef Bourguignon also known as beef Burgundy because it originates from the Burgundy region in France. It is a very popular and classic French recipe.
Traditionally the dish is made with lardons which are cubes of pork fat, but I made it here with thick cut bacon instead. The bacon is fried first, then the beef is browned in the bacon fat. This will give your stew a deep and savory flavor which we crave, the kind that makes you want to lick your plate clean.
Usually the mushrooms and onions are cooked separately but you all know I love my one pot dishes, so I cooked everything together. I could not tell the difference; the flavors are still all there in this incredible beef stew.
How Do You Make Beef Bourguignon
This Beef Bourguignon really is simple to make once all your prep work is done, the hardest part is waiting for it to cook in the oven. You do want to cook it for the full 2 1/2 hours because that’s what makes the beef super tender, so tender it will melt in your mouth.
Julia Child’s recipe, while a classic, has an insane amount of steps and let’s be honest, we don’t have that kind of time. If you follow my simple steps for making this, you won’t regret it. Still the same flavor, but so much less effort.
What to Serve With Beef Bourguignon
I love serving this beef stew over noodles but I have served it with mashed potatoes as well. It’s such a comforting dish perfect for a cold winter night like we’re having here.
Can I Freeze Beef Bourguignon
Yes, you can. Beef Bourguignon will freeze for up to 3 months.
Defrost completely overnight in the fridge then warm through over low heat.
Craving More Stews? Try These:
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Beef Bourguignon
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 3 hrs 30 mins
Total: 3 hrs 45 mins
Serves: 8
This Beef Bourguignon is a classic French beef stew recipe adapted from Julia Child. This Beef Bourguignon is so much more than just a beef stew, it's comforting and heavenly and a must try!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 slices bacon thick cut, chopped
- 3 lbs stewing beef lean, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large carrot peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 lb pearl onions peeled
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper ground, or to taste
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb mushrooms chopped
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 cups red wine
- 2 cups beef broth low sodium or no sodium added
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp thyme fresh
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or a heavy based pot that's oven safe. Add the bacon and cook until crispy. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined bowl and set aside.
- Add the stewing beef in batches and brown well on all sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining beef. I did 3 batches, but depends on the size of your pot.
- Add the chopped onion, carrot, pearl onions and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the garlic. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender and translucent.
- Stir in the mushrooms then sprinkle the flour over. Stir and let it cook for another 2 minutes. Add the beef and bacon back to the pot.
- Add the red wine, beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme and stir. Bring to a boil.
- Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees while you're bringing the stew to a boil.
- Cover the pot with a lid, place in the oven and cook for 2 1/2 hours stirring every hour.
- Serve over cooked noodles or creamy mashed potatoes.
Video
Recipe Notes
Which wine works best: Beef Bourguignon is typically made with a red Burgundy such as a Pinot Noir, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. You want a red wine that has enough tannins to counter the rich and tender stewed beef.
Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon: Follow all the steps up to step 5 then transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon: This can easily be done in the IP, use your Saute mode to cook everything as instructed up to and including step 5 then cover up the IP and press the "meat/stew" button and set the timer to 35 minutes. After 35 min of high pressures, allow the IP to naturally cool and release pressure before opening the lid.
Nutrition: Nutritional information does not include noodles or mashed potatoes. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
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Nutrition Information:
Calories: 560kcal (28%)Carbohydrates: 14g (5%)Protein: 53g (106%)Fat: 23g (35%)Saturated Fat: 7g (44%)Cholesterol: 147mg (49%)Sodium: 494mg (21%)Potassium: 1006mg (29%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 1585IU (32%)Vitamin C: 9.7mg (12%)Calcium: 46mg (5%)Iron: 5.4mg (30%)
LisaInVegas says
This recipe is full of flavor and is absolutely delicious. I followed it exactly as written except I bought frozen pearl onions and added them the last hour. I made buttered noodles to go with it yum!!! This is so worth making. Next time I’ll cut up veggies the night before. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I will treasure it and make it for friends and family.
Jo Cooks Team says
Yum! That sounds so delicious. It’s a favorite for us too 🙂
Joanie says
Can I use frozen pearl onions? Too lazy to peel fresh,,,
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
Certainly!
jsherry says
I have read that people have added an entire bottle of wine 750ml. Does the recipe not ask for 3 cups of red wine which is 750ml or is there a misprint in the recipe?
jo says
No you’re right, most bottles are 750 ml which is 3 cups. If you’re referring to the metric measurements, it may show a bit lower because in US a cup is equal to 237 ml, but honestly a few ml of wine won’t really make a difference.
Girl Cook says
Delicious meal! Not a budget meal, not a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Definitely more labor intensive, but absolutely worth the effort!
My only change was using an entire 750ml bottle of wine (Cab).
This could be my death row meal. It’s THAT freaking great. *Only change was throwing in about 1″ of anchovy paste from a tube)
So good… I don’t really want to share this with anyone.
(Not 100% sold on the pearl onions – I’ll most likely be going with 1 red onion and 1 whi.te next time.) Nobody in my family realized there was bacon involved, but I think it added to the depth of flavor. YUM!
Jennifer W. says
Excellent recipe. It is rich and comforting and just perfect. My husband is picky about craftsmanship and he gave this one two thumbs up. Have made it multiple times and we’ve never been disappointed.
Andrea says
I made this for New Years Eve, and must say — I think this is the BEST recipe for beef bourguignon I’ve ever made! I made a few small tweaks (due to size of Le Crueset, personal taste, and portions as purchased here in the UK: 700g of beef, added three stalks of celery and three carrots, 1 tblsp marjoram and a bouquet garni, used 2-1/2C red wine (Primativo). Else, exactly as written. Amazing flavour, richness, depth. A definite keeper!
Kris Hanko says
Hi Jo – I want to make this for Christmas Eve. What kind of mushrooms should I get?
jo says
White or cremini mushrooms should be great.
Kris says
My husband and I enjoyed our dinner. I am looking forward to making this again.
Jim says
I added a couple more carrots but otherwise followed the recipe. Yum! Thanks Jo for making this classic french dish approachable.
Deb S. says
This looks absolutely amazing and I love that you have added the instructions of what to do if you want to use an Instant Pot. For the Instant Pot, will the alcohol burn off though? I’m asking because this is for a family dinner and children will be present.
jo says
Yes, it will.
Lana says
How many does this recipe serve?
Jo Cooks Team says
Hi Lana! At the top of the recipe card we always have the number of servings. This one says 8.
Tanya Bryant says
I’m not a wine drinker, could you please suggest a good brand to use in this recipe.
Jo Cooks Team says
Any brand will work, even cheaper types are great in this recipe.
Jennifer M Klopman says
2nd time I’ve made this! I added some dried parsley and also seasoned the beef with salt and pepper before browning. Making this for my family on a blustery fall day! Thank you so much for simplifying such a complicated recipe! Its beautiful and works well. Thank you
Laura Kucharski says
I made this today. It was fantastic. I would like to make ahead a slow cook while on vacation in Door County. How should I go about this? Such a GREAT recipe
Jo Cooks Team says
I would still follow steps 1-5; you build tons of flavor with those steps. After that you can transfer everything to your slow cooker and cook for 8-10 hours on low or 5 hours on high.
Judi anderson says
I noticed in the photos that the carrots were in fairly good sized chunks, but, n the instructions, you say to chop them. Doesn’t that mean smalpieces?
Jo Cooks Team says
Dice means small; chop is a more broad term. You can cut them to whichever size you prefer.
Debbie Powers says
I plan on making this recipe and I was just wondering the size of Dutch oven you used? You call it a large Dutch oven but is it is it a 6 quart or 7 quart, how large are we talking?
jo says
A 6 quart Dutch oven is more than enough. 🙂
Kim says
Made this with a few “tweaks” .
on one of the hottest July days in Ontario this summer 2019 Easy set up and
easy to follow instructions – thank you.
Caitlin says
The prep time says 15 minutes and cook times 3.5 hours but the instructions say 2.5 hours. Do we cook for 3.5 or 2.5?
Joanna Cismaru says
The total cook time is 3.5 hours, 2.5 hour is just how long you keep it in the oven, there’s cooking on the stovetop involved as well.
Judi horvath says
I want to try this recipe, but can you tell me what heat setting for an electric stove when: Browning the bacon, browning the beef, then for the carrots, and onions, then adding back the beef and bacon.
Lastly, what rack should be used in the oven for the Beef Bourguinon for the long last step?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Every stove-top is different. I typically keep the heat on medium-high for searing and browning. Adjust up or down as needed! Listen for sizzling and look for smoke. You only want steam- if anything starts to smoke then it’s burning and you’ll need to reduce the heat.
For the oven rack, just adjust the rack to where the pot with its lid fits in the oven. You may need to remove the upper rack so test the pot before pre-heating the oven.
Trish says
Hi, just wondering what kind of wine do you used? Thanks ahead!
Nicole Beaulieu says
Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Chianti are all fantastic wines to use for this recipe!
Debbie Powers says
I have read somewhere that you should not cook with wines that have been cured in oak barrel. I bought a Chianti for this recipe but then noticed that it has been oak cured. Does anyone know if that will affect the recipe In a negative way?
Jo Cooks Team says
I’ve never heard that! There are so many incredible rich flavors in this stew that any of your favorite dry reds will be great.
Donald Jones says
Omg this was so good an easy , I’ll have to adjust the flour though it was a little too soupy
I will definitely be making it again and again. 🙂
Thank you very much