This Beef Bourguignon is a take on a classic French stew.
This stew has a deep rich flavor from red wine. Tender chunks of beef, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and bacon are cooked together for the perfect meal.
Don’t let the fancy name of this dish scare you! It’s a dish that Julia Child was well known for and while it does need some time, it’s actually not difficult to make.
What is Beef Bourguignon?
Beef Bourguignon (pronounced “bef bur-gee-nyon,”) is a beef stew recipe. The difference between this recipe and a regular beef stew is the amount of wine added to the broth giving it a deep flavor.
Carrots, onions, mushrooms, and garlic round out this one-pot meal. The whole thing bakes in the oven until tender.
Ingredients for Beef Bourguignon
This recipe is a simplified version of Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon with the steps somewhat simplified (and ingredients slightly adapted).
Beef When choosing meat for stew or bourguignon, I prefer chuck beef because it comes out so tender but stewing meat works well too. Choose well-marbled beef and trim any large chunks of fat.
Vegetables – Any root vegetable will work in this recipe. If you can find pearl onions, substitute those, they’re so good in stew!
Potatoes – Baby potatoes hold their shape well and require no peeling however Yukon gold or red potatoes will work too. Russet potatoes (or baking potatoes) are more grainy and don’t hold their shape as well.
I add the potatoes in but you can leave them out and serve this dish over mashed potatoes instead.
Seasonings Herbs like thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf enhance the flavor of this slow-cooked masterpiece. Fresh or dried will work.
Wine for Beef Bourguignon
Wine is used to flavor the broth in this recipe. Choose a dry red, like pinot noir, burgundy, cabernet sauvignon, or merlot, this adds the rich flavor that makes this recipe so famous!
Wine for cooking doesn’t need to be expensive but choose a wine you wouldn’t mind drinking. Do not use cooking wine in this recipe, the flavor isn’t great.
No Wine?
Most often, I will offer a suggestion to replace alcohol in recipes however the wine is the forward flavor in this dish (just like coq au vin).
While you could substitute it with beef stock, in this case, I would suggest making a beef stew with flavors that aren’t so dependent on wine.
While there are versions of non-alcoholic wine, I find they’re often more juice-like, and depending on the brand, they may not work well in this recipe. If the recipes below call for wine, it’s in a smaller quantity and can be substituted with extra broth.
How to Make Beef Bourguignon
- Fry the bacon in a large dutch oven. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon but keep the fat in the pan per the recipe below.
- Dab the beef dry with a paper towel. Sear in small batches in single layers in the bacon grease over medium-high heat. Remove from pan.
- Saute onions and carrots (with a bit of flour).
- Add beef back to the pot and stir in herbs, wine, and remaining ingredients.
- Cover with a lid and bake according to the recipe below.
Add cooked bacon as a garnish after the stew is cooked.
Beef bourguignon can be cooked in the slow cooker or pressure cooker following the cooking times for beef stew.
Tips for Perfection
Beef Bourguignon sounds super fancy, but with just a few tricks and tips it can be super easy!
- Choose beef that is well-marbled like chuck roast and trim off visible fat.
- Don’t stir the beef too much when searing. This helps it get a nice crust.
- Add a tablespoon or two of butter or olive oil when cooking the onion and carrot if needed.
- Low and slow is the key to great flavor (and texture) in this recipe. We prefer to oven-bake this stew but you can lightly simmer bourguignon on the stove.
- You can thicken the sauce with a little bit of cornstarch slurry (mix equal parts cornstarch & cold water and add to the hot broth a bit at a time to thicken).
- Add in the bacon at the end but leave a little bit to garnish too!
Like chili and lasagna, this recipe tastes just as good (or almost better) the next day!
What to Serve With Beef Bourguignon
- If you don’t add potatoes to the stew, you can serve this over garlic mashed potatoes or homemade egg noodles.
- Beef Bourguignon pairs well with more elegant side dishes like roasted asparagus with tarragon vinaigrette or sauteed brussel sprouts.
- Definitely perfect with a side of homemade French bread or cheese puffs.
More Ways to Slow Cook Beef
If you’ve got stewing beef or chuck, here are a few favorites!
Did your family love this Beef Bourguignon? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Beef Bourguignon Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon chopped
- 3 pounds chuck cubes or stewing beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups beef broth heated
- 2 cups red wine
- 12 ounces mushrooms
- 1 pound baby potatoes optional
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon thyme leaves
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dry rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- parsley for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from the pan, leaving the fat in the bottom of the pan.
- Dab the beef dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Brown it in the bacon fat in small batches over medium-high heat. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add onions and carrots to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or just until the onion begins to soften. Add beef back to the pan, stir in flour, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add broth, wine, mushrooms, potatoes (if using), tomato paste, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Cover and bake 2 ½ to 3 hours.
- Remove bay leaf, stir in bacon, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, French© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I’m positive your recipe is the one I used the first I attempted this dish and it was absolutely FANTASTIC! I’m so glad I found it again and I am definitely going to make it again. Pined now so I won’t lose it again.
My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Thank you so much,
Susan
Vancouver, WA
This was a great recipe- thank you for making it so easy and delicious! My family loved it! Do you think I could add less broth/wine next time since I didn’t add the potatoes? I felt like I had a LOT of liquid left over. Will definitely make this again! Thank you. :)
The potatoes do soak up some liquid while cooking so you could reduce it a bit if you prefer. You could also serve this dish with pasta instead of potatoes and use the extra sauce to pour over top! It is so yummy!
The recipe was FANTASTIC! Thank you….
You’re welcome Phyllis! So happy to hear that you love this beef bourguignon!
I made this for our Sunday dinner last night, it was amazing! I did add more carrots and mushrooms, but everything else was exactly as written. I am not a big fan of pearl onions, it was so great finding a recipe that didn’t call for them.
Thank you for all the great recipes you post, I have made so many!
Great simple recipe, wholesome, very tasty. Used a bold “ripe” red. Not very expensive. 14.5% which gave great flavour
What brand of Wine do you suggest for the beef stew? Dry or sweet?
As mentioned in the post Roxie, I suggest that you use full-bodied red wine like burgundy or a Cabernet to add the savory flavor that makes this recipe so famous! Wine doesn’t need to be expensive to be great in this recipe (but I do suggest cooking with a wine you wouldn’t mind drinking). Enjoy the bourguignon! I just may need to make it again myself!
This was a terrific recipe! I think it will be my go-to from now on. I had bacon grease in the fridge, so I browned the beef in that instead of cooking bacon. I also left out mushrooms as we don’t care for them and just did more carrots and added a few cut up Yukon golds the last hour. It was really tasty and made great leftovers! Thanks for a great recipe!!
You’re very welcome Ashley! So glad you love this beef bourguignon!
Quick question: my mother can’t have tomato paste. Is there anything I could substitute as I’d be a bit wary of just leaving it out entirely?
You could leave it out or try a very little bit of tomato sauce to add a similar flavor.
Made this at the cottage last weekend. Cozy fall comfort food. This recipe is SPECTACULAR!!!! I’m making it again this weekend for my family. Love it!
This recipe is excellent! I do have to say it took me an hour or a little more to prep it. I highly recommend this and it is so worth the effort.
EXCELLENT!
The beef bourguignon was fantastic. The recipe took a while, but it was worth every minute. Everyone in my family loved it, even the picky eaters. The instructions in the recipe were spot on, no surprises, and the time was accurate. Let it cook that long, it turns out fantastic! I was working from home, so I took a break from meetings, did all the cutting and prepping, stuck it in the oven and went back to work for 3 hours. Aldi has a cheap wine – Winking Owl Cabernet, $2.95 in our area, feel like I was wasting money using a full bottle of wine in the recipe. It was great for the recipe, I will certainly make it again!
Looking forward to trying it!
This was a huge disappointment! Wasted two cups of a nice red wine. I dont know what was missing. Tasteless
This looks absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to make this! Thank you, Holly.
Enjoy Deborah, can’t wait to hear how you like it!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was glorious. I used a Pinot Noir for the wine (Kendell Jackson, 2019), dried herbs per the alternatives you showed, but I accidentally grabbed baby portobello mushrooms. (It didn’t do any harm.) Followed the directions and it didn’t need any thickening. The beef was beautifully rendered and the stew was downright silky. This one goes into my rotation.
I’m so glad you loved it, thank you for sharing your wine choice!
What kind of red wine do you use?
Use full-bodied red wine like burgundy or a Cabernet to add the savory flavor that makes this recipe so famous! Wine doesn’t need to be expensive to be great in this recipe (but I do suggest cooking with a wine you wouldn’t mind drinking).
Just a quico question about the Beed bourguignon recipe (for 8) … can this recipe be made in advance? I want to serve it as a Christmas Day buffet dish and would like to do as much as possible the day (or 2) before. Thanks
Like most Beef Stew recipes, this can be made in advance and reheats well. Enjoy!
Hi, do you think this can be made in a 6qt crock-pot ? I’m a very inexperienced cook and it’s hot in my apartment so I’m trying to find things to make in a slow cooker but this recipe sounds divine. Thank you.
While I haven’t tried it, I do think it would work in a slow cooker. I would suggest preparing the recipe as directed and following the cook times on our Crock Pot Beef Stew. Let us know how it goes for you!
One more question, Holly. You said to reheat it… stove top or oven?
Either would work. I usually reheat on the stove because it’s a bit quicker.
Thanks. I think this will be perfect for Christmas Day. I have a gluten-free daughter (will use GF flour), a diabetic son, and a grandson that is allergic to shell fish, BB should please everyone.
Sounds like the perfect choice!
If I use 4 lbs. Chuck cubes, should I bake it more than 3 hours as stated in recipe?
As long as you have enough broth to cover the meat 3 hours should be enough time. Check the beef and if it isn’t quite tender, you can leave it a little bit longer.
How would I cook this either totally stovetop or crockpot? If so, can you give directions?
This could be simmered on a stovetop at a very low heat. Follow the preparation directions and instead of baking, place on a stovetop and bring to a very low simmer. Cook covered for about 90 minutes or until beef and veggies are tender. Thicken as directed. Let us know how it goes for you!
Yum! I love beef bourguignon! Definitely going to try this on an upcoming fall weekend!
It’s perfect for fall, so cozy! Enjoy the recipe Amanda.