This incredible Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Bourguignon or Beef Burgundy) features succulent, fork tender beef and hearty mushrooms in a luscious red wine sauce. It's even better reheated the next day, making this a great make ahead recipe that's fit for company. Serve it with buttered flat noodles, potatoes (mashed, boiled, roasted or dauphinois) or baguette dumplings.
(This recipe was originally published in October 2013, but was updated with new photos and content in 2021).
Beef Bourguignon (aka Bœuf Bourgignon, Beef Burgundy, or Burgundy Beef Stew) is a traditional French beef stew featuring red wine, hence the name Burgundy (which is a wine making region in France and furthermore a type of French wine). Like any stew, there are countless ways to make it with slight variations in ingredients and preparation.
Some recipes feature a very thick/chunky version which appears to have very little sauce. On the contrary, the recipe I'm sharing is much more reminiscent of the considerably saucy versions I've eaten in France.
Additionally, some recipes are overly complicated and require straining the cooked beef mixture, separately cooking vegetables to mix in after, then reducing the sauce by itself before putting the components back together. Others require you to marinate the beef overnight in red wine and mirepoix. Personally, I don't think these extra, tedious steps are necessary to yield an incredible beef bourguignon.
I’ve evolved my go to recipe over the years and stand by the results. It's rich and meaty with a velvety flavorful sauce. This is exactly the way I love it. This recipe is heavily adapted from The Little Paris Kitchen, but I've made some improvements that transcend a good bourguignon recipe to a truly great one:
- Time: I cut my beef a bit smaller, which cooks faster than the 3 hours stated in the original recipe.
- Flavor: My version increases the amount of onions and mushrooms for greater depth of flavor.
- Texture: I prefer to lightly thicken the sauce with flour for a better stew consistency.
- Simplicity: I also tie up the herbs and spices in a bouquet garni instead of just tossing them into the stew. This makes it much easier to remove and discard these components at the end of cooking.
The result is an extremely fork tender beef bourguignon which has absorbed incredible flavors from the wine, herbs and spices. The sauce is just thickened enough to coat the meat and veggies.
Ingredient notes
- Stewing Beef: Stew beef is a general term for different cuts of beef that are good for stewing. You can often even purchase "stew beef" or "beef stewing meat" in supermarkets. It's already cut into small pieces, but they are usually uneven in size. If you want to cut your beef cubes from a larger cut of meat, you can try chuck or round because both are good for slow-cooked dishes.
- Lardons: Use either lardons, cubes of bacon or chopped pancetta to give your beef bourguignon a huge flavor boost! Not all versions of this dish use it, but I think it results in next level bourguignon. Lardons and pancetta would be most traditional as they are not smoked. The bacon would work too but may impart a smoky flavor to the dish.
- Pearl Onions: Save yourself the time and trouble of peeling fresh pearl onions and use frozen pearl onions instead. Pearl onions provide optimal flavor and texture, and I recommend them over chopped onions in this recipe.
- Tomato Paste: Tomato paste comes in cans or resealable squeezable tubes. If you have leftover tomato paste to use up from making this boeuf bourguignon, use it to make Chicken Saag, Czech Beef Goulash, Individual Beef and Mushroom Pies, Tas Kebab, Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausage and Green Lentils, or Armenian Lentil Soup with Macaroni.
- Mushrooms: You could use white or brown mushrooms here, but I recommend brown (particularly cremini or baby portabellas) because they have better flavor and are widely available in most grocery stores and markets.
How to make beef bourguignon
Make a bouquet garni by wrapping the herbs and spices in a piece of cheesecloth and tying it with kitchen string.
Season the beef and dust with flour. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven and fry the meat in batches until browned. Set aside.
Then fry the lardons, onions, and garlic in the same pan until golden brown.
Add more flour and stir for a minute until it starts to cook. Slowly add the red wine, water, tomato paste, and sugar, stirring to make sure the flour dissolves evenly. Return the meat to the pan.
Add the bouquet garni and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover, place in a 300°F oven, and cook until the meat is fork tender and almost falling apart.
Shortly before the stew is ready, add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
Continue to cook another 20 minutes or so together. Remove the bouquet garni before serving. Bon appétit!
Expert tips
Although you can serve beef bourguignon immediately, I recommend making it a day ahead to give the flavors time to develop. Let it cool completely, cover and refrigerate, then gently reheat the next day on the stovetop over low heat. Not only does it save time right before the meal, but the flavors definitely improve after hanging out in the fridge for a while.
The photos in this post were taken immediately after cooking, but the sauce will thicken a bit further if you reheat the stew as I suggest above. You may also simmer it uncovered on the stovetop as a final step to reduce more, if desired. Additionally, these photos were taken using gluten-free flour, which works great if you need your stew to be gluten-free.
Here are some suggestions of what to serve with beef bourguignon:
- Buttered egg noodles
- Buttered fettuccine
- Mashed potatoes
- Boiled potatoes
- Roasted potatoes
- Potato gratin dauphinois
- Baguette dumplings (see below)
If you cook this in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven (like I do), note that the pot will retain a lot of heat (it's designed that way). When you are searing the beef and then cooking the pancetta and pearl onions, you may want to lower the heat slightly later in the cooking process to control the temperature a bit better. I usually lower it to medium to medium-low heat by the time I get to the pancetta so it doesn't burn.
I've never used carrots in my Burgundy beef. I never felt like I was missing them, but you could always add some if you'd like.
How to make baguette dumplings
Baguette dumplings are definitely a novelty, but they are a fun alternative to potato and noodle-based side dishes. They're essentially like using chunks of baguette to dip in the broth, but even better because they have lots of added flavor from parsley and spices. A crisp exterior yields to a chewy and soft interior that is a perfect vehicle for absorbing lots of delicious sauce.
To make them, cut a baguette into small cubes and place in a bowl. Bring milk to a boil and pour over the baguette pieces, stirring so it absorbs evenly, then cover and rest for 15 minutes.
Season and add chopped parsley, egg, and flour. Mix to combine. Wet your hands a little to help stop the dough sticking to them, then make dumplings just smaller than a golf ball. The baguette dumplings can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 hours before frying.
To cook them, heat butter in a large frying pan and fry the baguette dumplings until golden brown and crisp. Serve them hot alongside your beef burgundy.
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Beef Bourguignon (Burgundy Beef Stew)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900 grams) beef stewing meat, cut into 2-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 5 ounces lardons, cubes of thick-cut bacon, or chopped pancetta
- 12 frozen pearl onions, thawed and blotted dry (about 1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 cups red wine
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Pinch sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- A handful of parsley stems, torn into smaller pieces
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 whole cloves
- 10 black peppercorns (about ¼ teaspoon)
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned with a damp cloth and halved or quartered depending on size
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Make a bouquet garni by wrapping the bay leaf, parsley stems, thyme, cloves, and peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth and tying it with kitchen string.
- Season the meat with salt and pepper and dust with 2 tablespoons of the flour. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the meat in batches until browned, about 3 to 5 minutes per batch. Remove the seared beef from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, add the lardons, onions, and garlic and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes (lower the heat to medium if needed so it cooks evenly and doesn't burn).
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour and stir for a minute until it starts to cook. Slowly add the wine, water, tomato paste, and sugar, stirring to make sure the flour dissolves evenly into the liquid, and scraping up any caramelized bits in the bottom of the pan. Return the meat to the pan with any accumulated juices.
- Add the prepared bouquet garni to the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover, place in the oven, and cook until the meat is fork tender, about 2 to 2 ½ hours.
- Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Return the covered pot to the oven for another 20 minutes to finish cooking with the mushrooms. The meat should be very tender and almost falling apart (you should be able to easily pull it apart with a fork or even a spoon). Remove the bouquet garni before serving.
Notes
- Although you can serve beef bourguignon immediately, I recommend making it a day ahead to give the flavors time to develop. Let it cool completely, cover and refrigerate, then gently reheat the next day on the stovetop over low heat.
- Here are some suggestions of what to serve with beef bourguignon:
- Buttered egg noodles
- Buttered fettuccine
- Mashed potatoes
- Boiled potatoes
- Roasted potatoes
- Potato gratin dauphinois
- Baguette dumplings (recipe follows)
- Adapted from The Little Paris Kitchen
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Baguette Dumplings
Ingredients
- 7 ounces (200 grams) stale baguette or other bread including crust
- 1 cup milk
- Pinch nutmeg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A handful fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1 to 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter, for frying
Instructions
- Cut the baguette into small cubes and place in a bowl. Bring the milk to a boil and pour over and stir so that it is absorbed evenly, then cover and rest for 15 minutes.
- Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper and add the parsley, egg, and 1 tablespoon of flour. Mix to combine. If the mixture is too wet (it should be moist and only slightly sticky), add the remaining tablespoon of flour. Wet your hands a little to help stop the dough sticking to them, then make dumplings just smaller than a golf ball (yielding about 24).
- Heat the butter in a large frying pan and fry the dumplings on medium-high heat for 5 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve the dumplings with beef bourguignon for dipping.
Notes
- The baguette dumplings can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 hours before frying.
- Adapted from The Little Paris Kitchen
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Raquel Robertson
Deliciousness! I made this yummy dish for my family as we were snowed in and waiting out the storm - 20 inches of snow at our house! I used a full bodied cabernet for the red wine. I didn't have tomato paste and while that would have added more flavor, this stew did not disappoint. The recipe was easy to follow and enjoyed the aroma as it cooked in the oven! Served this alongside scalloped potatoes and asparagus. Everyone had seconds!!! YUMMY!!!