Easy Beef Bourguignon Recipe (2024)

Julia Child’s classic Beef Bourguignon is pretty hard to beat with its tender beefy perfection, but it can be a little involved so this is an easier slightly pared down weeknight version.

Also known as Beef Burgundy, or Bouef Bourguignon in French, this is a recipe that’s fancy enough to serve for your dinner party guests, and at the same time perfect for a family dinner!

Easy Beef Bourguignon – Three ways to Make it!

I already have a great Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon recipe so if you want to pressure cook this recipe then my recipe has all the step by step details you’ll need.

You’ll find details below for making it both in a crockpot or slow cooker, and of course the traditional way (which I prefer) of braising it in the oven.

The best beef bourguignon starts with really great ingredients, they needn’t be expensive but you do want to make sure you pick the right cut of meat (I’ve given some details below) and a nice dry red wine.

It really doesn’t need to be an expensive bottle of wine, but please oh please, never ever use cooking wine! It has salt and other additives and frankly, it’s just nasty! So take trip to the liquor store and choose a cheap bottle of dry red wine instead, it’ll work perfectly.

Oven Braising Method

Lets’s start with the beef first and cut it up into chunks, the bigger the chunks the longer it will take to cook.Make sure you season it well on all sides and put to one side while you chop up the bacon.

Cook the bacon in your Dutch Oven over a medium heat until all the fat renders out and the bacon bits are crispy, then remove them with slotted spoon and set aside, keep the bacon fat in the pan!

Now you can go ahead and put the beef chunks into the pot in a single layer and brown them in batches. Once they are all browned add the diced carrots and red onion and cook for about 8 minutes or so.

Then you can add back the beef along with the bacon, pearl onions, garlic,bay leaves,fresh thyme,pepper,red wine,gluten free beef stock, and tomato paste, into your Dutch oven. Give it a good stir and bring it to a simmer and then pop it into a pre-heated oven (lid on) and cook for about 1-2 hours.

Exact cook time will vary depending on the size of the meat chunks, oven temperature, and the vessel you cook it in, so I would check it after 1 hour and every 30 minutes after that until it’s just cooked, don’t overcook it!

Clean the mushrooms and cut them in half and saute them in a little butter or olive oil until they are just cooked, then simply stir them into the cooked beef stew, they will warm through very quickly.

If you want to thicken the Beef Bourguignon sauce simply mix two tablespoons of cornstarch with two tablespoons cold water, then add half of that to the pot, stir over a medium low heat for a minute or two until the sauce thickens, add the rest if you need to thicken it further.

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Slow Cooker Method

It’s really easy to adapt my beef bourguignon for your crockpot or slow cooker! Follow all my steps above for cooking the bacon, and browning the meat and vegetables, then add them all to the crockpot.

Then use the red wine and beef broth to the pan you browned the meat in to deglaze the bottom of the pan, and then pour it into the slow cooker along with pearl onions, garlic,bay leaves,fresh thyme,pepper,red wine,gluten free beef stock, and tomato paste, stir well, and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-7 hours. Please note I’ve reduced the liquids needed for slow cooking this stew, you’ll find the details in the recipe card at the end of the post.

– Sheena xxx

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