Beef Bourguignon Recipe

You will love my Beef Bourguignon Recipe! A take on Julia Child's famous French beef bourguignon, it's flavorful and simpler than it seems.

Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Keyword beef bourguignon, beef bourguignon ingredients, beef bourguignon recipe, how to make beef bourguignon

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 4

Total Time 4 15

Servings (approx)

Calories 750kcal

Slice 1 large onion, 1 large carrot, and 6 slices smoked bacon, and dice 3 lb. chuck beef, then pat dry. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
1 onion, 1 carrot, 6 slices smoked bacon, 3 pounds chuck beef
Warm a Dutch oven over medium heat and cook the bacon for a couple of minutes until it is just starting to brown. Add a little oil if needed. Remove from pan, set aside.
Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil to the pan and brown the beef chuck on all sides in batches. Remove from pan.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Next, add the onion and carrot and cook until the onions are just soft. Remove excess fat and add oil as necessary if browning too quickly.
Return the beef and bacon back to the pan, add ¼ tsp. salt and pepper, and sprinkle over 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour. Stir to coat the beef, then place the pan in the oven for 4 minutes.
¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
Remove pan from oven, stir, then put back in for another 4 minutes. Remove pot from oven and reduce the heat to 325°F.
Crush 2 cloves of garlic and add to the pan, stir to cook a little.
2 cloves garlic
Add 3 cups red wine, 2 cups beef stock, and 2 Tbsp. tomato paste, and stir gently. The liquid should fill just over the meat and vegetables. Add 2 bay leaves and 4 stems of thyme, then cover the pan and put in oven for 3-4 hours.
3 cups red wine, 2 cups beef stock, 2 Tablespoons tomato paste, 4 stems thyme, 2 bay leaves

During the final hour of cooking, prepare 20 small pearl onions and 1 lb. white mushrooms. Peel the onions and cut the mushrooms into quarters, trimming the stems as needed.
20 pearl onions, 1 pound white mushrooms
Melt 1½ Tbsp. unsalted butter in a skillet and add the onions. Brown them for a few minutes then remove from heat to add ½ cup beef stock. Put back on heat, add 2 stems parsley, 1 stem thyme and 1 bay leaf (you can tie them together, or not, as you prefer).
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ cup beef stock, 1 bay leaf, 1 stem thyme, 2 stems parsley
Cook for around 30-40 minutes until the stock has been absorbed by the onions and they are tender. Remove and discard the herbs, then remove onions from skillet and set aside.
Clean out the skillet or use a separate one, and add the remaining 1½ Tbsp. butter and 1 tsp. olive oil for the mushrooms. Once the butter has melted and is starting to bubble, add the mushrooms. Toss to coat in the butter and cook a few minutes until the mushrooms start to brown. Set aside.
1 teaspoon olive oil, 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Once the beef is fork-tender, remove pan from oven. If there is a lot of liquid, strain it from the pot and simmer for a few minutes to reduce it. Add the liquid back to the pan, along with the pearl onions and mushrooms. Mix through, warm through a couple minutes on the stove, and serve.

This dish is best cooked in a large cast iron Dutch oven for easy transition between the stove and oven.
If you need a smaller quantity, you can halve the recipe and keep everything else the same. Please note, this will make less burgundy sauce, so you may want to add slightly more liquid as it cooks. You won't need to reduce down the sauce at the end when making a smaller quantity.