After my husband and I watched Julie and Julia (good movie!), I went on a French cooking kick. Boeuf Bourguignon (also known as Beef Burgundy) was already pretty healthy to begin with, and I could make it with ingredients I already had on hand.
It really is everything it is made out to be in the movie, and I look forward to making it again!
Boeuf Bourguignon… As Fancy As It Sounds?
This dish really isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Boeuf Bourguignon is simply the French way of saying Beef Burgundy, which is basically a beef stew made with red wine. It’s hearty, rich, and extremely flavorful, with plenty of onions, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, and herbs.
I typically serve it as I would any stew, with just a sprinkle of fresh parsley on top, but we’ve also eaten it over cauliflower mashed “potatoes.”
Beef Stew With Wine!
Nothing turns my attitude toward cooking around like being “obligated” to open a bottle of wine since the recipe calls for it! A little for the stew, a little for me!
You can really use any red wine you’d like to make this classic dish, just make sure it is a dry one. Since sweet wines contain more sugar than dry ones, a sweet wine will make your finished Boeuf Bourguignon taste a little sweet too. Burgandy is ideal, but other good wine choices for this dish are pinot noir, cabernet, or merlot.
We order all our wine from Dry Farm Wines. They do an excellent job of lab testing their products to make sure they are clean, low in sugars and sulfites, dry-farmed, and hand harvested. Read more about them in this post.
Boeuf Bourguignon in Crock-Pot or Instant Pot
The traditional method for making Boeuf Bourguignon is to brown the meat in a pan on the stove before combining all the ingredients in a covered pot and cooking for a long time in the oven. I make it that way sometimes, but it’s nice to have other options when you don’t want to heat up your house with the oven all day or you’re just short on time.
I’ve updated this recipe with an Instant Pot option because you can sauté and cook in one pot. You get all the flavor and tenderness of the traditional method in a fraction of the time, and with fewer dishes. (Read more about why I love my Instant Pot in this post.)
See the recipe for each cooking option!
Note: For all three options I deglaze the pan with the wine after browning the meat and then simmer it for a little while to let the alcohol evaporate.
I hope you enjoy the hearty and warming flavors of Boeuf Bourguignon as much as I did. Next maybe I’ll try some of these other French classics next!
Savory Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon
- 4 TBSP butter (divided)
- 4 lbs beef (stew meat, roast, round, or steak)
- ¼ cup coconut flour (or almond flour)
- 3 large carrots
- 1 onion
- 3 cups dry red wine
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 basil
- 2 tsp parsley
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 cup beef broth
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Dice the bacon and cook it in a large pan on the stove.
- Remove the bacon to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pan.
- Add half of the butter to the bacon drippings and melt.
- Cut the beef into 1 to 2 inch cubes and roll in the almond or coconut flour.
- Brown the meat in batches in the bacon drippings and butter.
- Put the browned beef and bacon into a large baking or casserole dish with a cover.
- Chop the carrots and onion and brown slightly in the same pan.
- Put the vegetables in the baking/casserole dish with beef.
- After the vegetables are removed from the pan, pour the wine into the pan, scraping the bottom to remove all the browned bits.
- Bring the wine to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate.
- While the wine is simmering, add the tomato paste, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, and thyme to the dish with the meat and vegetables and stir to combine.
- Pour the wine and broth over the mixture and cover.
- Cook in the preheated oven 2½-3 hours until beef is fork tender and breaks apart easily.
- About 15 minutes before the beef is done, slice the mushrooms and brown in a skillet with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Add to the beef and cook an additional 5-10 minutes in the oven, uncovered.
- Remove from oven and, let rest 10 minutes before serving.
- See below for Crock Pot and Instant Pot instructions.
Notes
- The red wine is what gives this dish its name, but feel free to use beef broth if you'd rather not use wine.
- Crock Pot Method: To cook in the Crock Pot brown the bacon and beef as in the stovetop/oven method. Deglaze the pan with wine before adding all the ingredients (except the mushrooms) to the Crock Pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add the mushrooms for the last 10 minutes of cook time.
- Instant Pot Method: Use the Sauté function to brown the bacon and beef in batches. Deglaze with the red wine and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except the mushrooms and cook at high pressure for 35 minutes. Allow a 10 minute natural pressure realease, add the mushrooms, and return to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
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Other Easy Set-and-Forget Beef Recipes to Try:
Ever ventured into French cooking? If not, ready to try?
I appreciate the recipe and inspiration, but I personally won’t make this again. Even with the instant pot method, it was more time consuming and expensive (wine) than the end result showed for in taste and texture. (Also, just a note that you didn’t give an amount for the basil. It just says “1 basil.”) I enjoy your site nonetheless, thanks for sharing!
Beef stew is my favorite with full of vegetables. Can you suggest me something instead of wine ? As we don’t use them for some reason.
Is it dried basil and parsley? There is no measurement listed for the basil.