This Beef Bourguignon is a delicious French stew that’s actually easy to make.
This stew has a deep rich broth, tender chunks of beef, cozy vegetables, and bacon. It’s all simmered together for the perfect meal.
It’s a dish that Julia Child was well known for, and while it does need some time, most of the time is spent simmering.
A Delicious Stew
Beef Bourguignon (pronounced “beef bur-gee-nyon,”) or beef burgundy is a version of beef stew. The difference between this recipe and our usual beef stew is the richness of the broth due to bacon and red wine.
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, choose chuck roast for the most tender meat. Stewing meat will works as well but may need a little bit of extra time to become tender.
Vegetables – I add potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms but any root vegetable will work in this recipe. Replcae the regular onions with pearl onions if you can find them.
Baby potatoes are great as they hold shape and need no peeling. Yukon gold or reds work too. You can skip the potatoes 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
The addition of wine makes beef bourguignon. 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 include a replacement for wine in recipes, however, wine is a forward flavor in this dish (just like coq au vin). In this case, I would suggest making a classic beef stew recipe or Hungarian Goulash.
How to Make Beef Bourguignon
- Crisp the bacon in a large Dutch oven per the recipe below.
- Sear the beef in small batches. Add the onions and carrots.
- Stir in the wine, beef, broth, and herbs and bake according to the recipe.
Top the stew with crumbled bacon and serve with crusty bread or even spooned into a bowl of mashed potatoes.
Beef bourguignon can be cooked in the slow cooker or Instant Pot 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!
- Brown the beef in small batches and don’t stir too much.
- Cook bourguignon low and slow in the oven for the best flavor and tender beef.
- You can thicken the sauce with a little bit of cornstarch slurry (mix equal parts cornstarch & cold water) if desired.
- 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 beef, 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 all-purpose flour
- 4 cups beef broth or beef stock, 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 the oven to 325°F.
- In a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon until it's crisp. Transfer the bacon to a bowl leaving the fat in the pot.
- Gently dab the beef dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Sear the beef in small batches over medium-high heat until browned. Once browned, transfer to a plate.
- In the same pot, sauté onions and carrots for about 2-3 minutes, or until the onions start to turn translucent. Return the browned beef to the pot and sprinkle with flour, stirring to coat, and let it cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add the broth, wine, mushrooms, potatoes (if using), tomato paste, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Cover the pot and bake the stew for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
- Remove bay leaf and stir in ¾ of the bacon. Taste and season with additional salt & pepper if desired. Garnish with remaining bacon.
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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This looks and sounds DELICIOUS!!! I can hardly wait for that first cool snap in the weather to make this for my friends at work at Dillard’s in Pensacola!!!
I made this last night. It was a hit!! My husband is an excellent cook, and I impressed him!! I followed the recipe exactly and added the salt and pepper. Just be sure to allot for sufficient time. Thankfully, mine cooked at the 2 1/2 hr. mark.
this stew was absolutely delicious!
needless to say my family and I loved this recipe.
So happy to hear that!
Oh. My. Gosh! This was YUMTASTIC! My entire family of ultra picky eaters LOVED this. I will be adding this to my monthly rotated meals.
I made this recipe last night for dinner and it was delicious. The gravy turned out better than I imagined. I’m freezing the leftover gravy for use in different dishes that benefit from yummy gravy. I plan to get chuck next time, the meat wasn’t bad but could have been more succulent. I also plan to use the sauce recipe for other braised beef dishes like pot roast and short ribs.
on nutritional info..is that for the entire meal or per serving and what is a serving?
The nutritional information is per serving.
hi. just wondering if I could cook this in the crockpot on low? if so, how long?
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!
Very good dish
This is an amazing recipe. I used pearl onions and had to thicken it a bit at the end, served it over mashed potatoes and my fussy husband loved it
I made this last night and my brain cannot describe the level of pride I feel in how this meal turned out… Amazing, breathtaking, delectable, clearly a classic for a reason. This recipe is like a hug and a fuzzy warm blanket wrapped in one.
I added extra carrots & onion and decided to make mashed potatoes instead of stewing them. (10/10 would recommend) My first bite of beef melted in my mouth and nearly knocked me out of my seat!
Maybe it’s the never ending gray and dreary days of winter in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, but beef bourguignon has brought back a real shimmer of hope in my soul. This recipe is WELL worth the time and effort. Thank you for sharing and of course endless thanks to our lord and savior, Julia Child. Bon Appetit!!
This made my day Suz! I am so happy to hear you loved this recipe so much. I love when cooking can create such warm feelings in the kitchen.
After making this, I will never make another pot roast or stew, again. It turned out SO good. I’m glad I went with my gut to double it, my husband and boys are devouring this. I did the chuck roast option, used small bite sized potatoes, included the mushrooms, carrots, and onions. The broth is incredible.
This was delicious. I used grape juice instead of wine and my husband loved it. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Oh my gosh! So delicious! We do keto so we didn’t add flour or potatoes. I also did in a crock pot. Definitely will be making again.
This was delicious! I did not add the rosemary because we hate rosemary. We also did mashed potatoes instead of the potatoes in the stew. Soooo good. The meat we used was a 2.5lb beef Chuck roast and cooked it 3 hours and it was perfect!
YUM!!!!
I made this for dinner tonight, and it turned out amazing! I added in the bacon once out of the oven and of course saved a little for garnish along with fresh parsley. I used Pinot noir. I did thicken slightly with corn starch. This was a fantastic version of Beef Bourguignon enjoyed by myself and husband. Great with a banquette also! I will be making this one again.
While I haven made sounds good. Question I have is are mushrooms a must my husband will not touch anything with mushrooms?
You can leave the mushrooms out or substitute with more carrots or another root vegetable. Enjoy Catherine!
Can you use cooking wine?
I use a 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).
You can use cooking wine if you want or not use any type of wine at all (just leave it out altogether). Cooking wine is made with preservatives and other things so it might give a bad taste in the end. My rule is to use wine that you would drink. So I usually pour a half bottle into the pot and save the other half for the wine glass. The alcohol will evaporate leaving a great flavor blended into the meat and sauce.
What is considered a large Dutch oven? Is 6 quarts enough?
Hi Mary, a large Dutch oven is typically 7 to 9 quarts.
Delicious! I appreciate that takes less time than Julia’s version, but tastes just as amazing!
This looks awesome, I can’t wait to make it