Beef Bourguignon

By
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm is a renowned British food writer, classically trained chef, teacher, and author with over 25 years of experience writing about British food and cooking.
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Updated on 07/30/21
Beef Bourguignon plated

The Spruce / Elaine Lemm
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 4 hrs 30 mins
Marinade : 24 hrs
Total: 29 hrs
Servings: 4 servings
Yield: 1 pot
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
1383 Calories
85g Fat
23g Carbs
94g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 1383
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 85g 109%
Saturated Fat 28g 139%
Cholesterol 327mg 109%
Sodium 1167mg 51%
Total Carbohydrate 23g 8%
Dietary Fiber 5g 17%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 94g
Vitamin C 12mg 59%
Calcium 114mg 9%
Iron 10mg 54%
Potassium 1654mg 35%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

The wonderful classic of the French kitchen of Beef Bourguignon is loved throughout the world. You may also now this dish by its correct name in French as Boeuf Bourguignon (pronounced bœf boor-gee-nyawn] after the French region of Burgundy and sometimes, Burgundy beef, but they are all the same thing.

This hearty stew is rich with beef and vegetables cooked in good red wine and finished with baby onions or shallots, button mushrooms and smoked lardons.

The wine for this dish must be a good wine (that does not mean expensive!), but most certainly a bottle you would be happy to drink and ideally be French. A pinot noir would be great, but not essential—just make sure to avoid older wines which may have heavy tannins.

For the beef choose a good cut of beef, ones with some marbling of fat are good as the stew will be cooked long and slow and this will help stop the meat from drying out.

This beef Bourguignon can be finished at the end of step 8 and you will still have a lovely stew. However, adding a few extra ingredients at the end will take your Bourguignon into another level entirely and create a truly classic dish.

Ingredients

For the Marinade:

  • 2 1/4 pounds beef (such as brisket, chuck steak, or stewing beef)

  • 3 to 4 bay leaves

  • 6 garlic cloves, halved

  • 1 small bunch fresh thyme

  • 1 bottle good French red wine

For the Bourguignon:

  • 4 large carrots, roughly chopped

  • 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped

  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

  • 1 tablespoon tomato puree

  • 5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

  • 1 cup baby onions, or round shallots, peeled

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

  • 7 ounces smoked bacon lardons

  • 2 cups button mushrooms, washed

  • Salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  • Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the marinade ingredients.

    Beef, wine, and herbs

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  2. Cut the beef into even 2-inch chunks. Put the beef, bay leaves, halved garlic cloves and thyme onto a large glass bowl. Pour over the red wine, cover and leave to marinate in a cool place or the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours (36 is even better).

    Beef and herbs marinating

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  3. Gather the Bourguignon ingredients and preheat the oven to 300 F.

    Stock ingredients

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  4. Remove the meat from the marinade and lay onto kitchen paper and pat dry with more paper. Keep the marinade to one side.

    Marinated meat

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  5. Put an ovenproof casserole dish or Dutch oven (instructions on using a slow cooker instead are below) onto a high heat. Add 4 tablespoons of the vegetable oil and heat to hot, but not smoking. Add half of the dried meat chunks and sear on all sides. Remove from the pan and put onto a plate and repeat with the remaining meat.

    Seared chunks of meat

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  6. Add the carrots, celery, and onion to the pot used to sear the beef and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Sprinkle over the flour stir, then add the tomato paste and stir again.

    vegetables in pot

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  7. Add the meat back to the pot, add the reserved marinade and add beef stock to cover the meat. Cover with a well-fitting lid and place into the oven for 4 hours. Check from time to time to make sure the liquid is not too low, top up with beef stock, the level should be just over the meat.

    Beef and vegetables in pot with stock

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  8. Once the beef bourguignon has had 4 hours in the oven, it will be cooked and the meat just about falling apart. At this point, if you want to, the dish could be served, and it will be excellent. However, for a truly classic dish, take it to the next level with the addition of a few more ingredients.

    Finished stew in pot

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  9. To finish the beef Bourguignon, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the peeled onions, and cook for 10 minutes stirring or shaking the pan occasionally. The onions do not need to be cooked through completely, but should be just starting to soften.

    Onions in pan

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  10. Lift the onions from the skillet and keep to one side. In the same skillet, add the lardons and fry until most of the fat has been released and the lardons are starting to brown. Drain on kitchen paper. Add the softened onions, lardons and the button mushrooms to the Bourguignon, put on to medium heat and cook for a further 20 minutes making sure not to boil as this will break up the meat too much. Taste and add salt and pepper to your taste.

    frying lardons for beef bourguignon

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

  11. The casserole is now ready to serve or for an even richer flavor if you have the time, leave overnight and reheat the next day.

    Beef Bourguignon

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

What Do I Serve With Beef Bourguignon?

  • Classically the Bourguignon would be served with fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes and garnished with chopped parsley.

Recipe Variations

  • if you can't find lardons, use smoked streaky bacon, cut into 3/4-inch pieces.
  • If you want to use a slow cooker to make the beef Bourguignon, follow the instructions as they are until step 5. Here, sear the meat and vegetables in a skillet unless your cooker has a searing function. Then use your slow cooker. Six hours on low will work wonderfully.