🥩

frenchdinner

Beef Bourguignon

Name: Beef Bourguignon
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 210 min
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: french
Ingredients: 1.5 kg beef chuck or shin (cut into 5cm chunks); 750 ml red Burgundy or Pinot Noir; 200 g smoked lardons or thick-cut bacon; 200 g pearl onions or shallots (peeled); 400 g chestnut mushrooms (halved); 3 carrots (roughly chopped); 1 head garlic (halved horizontally); 2 sprigs fresh thyme; 2 bay leaves; 3 tbsp tomato paste; 300 ml beef stock; 2 tbsp plain flour; 3 tbsp cognac or brandy; 40 g unsalted butter

The French mother of all stews — beef braised in burgundy wine with mushrooms, bacon and pearl onions.

Prep

30 min

Cook

210 min

Servings

Difficulty

Hard

★★★★★

4.9(2,104 ratings)

#french#beef#wine#slow-cooked#weekend#dinner party

Share:Pinterest X WhatsApp Facebook

About This Recipe

Popularized in the English-speaking world by Julia Child, bœuf bourguignon is a Burgundian peasant dish elevated to haute cuisine. The three-hour braise transforms tough beef into silky, wine-infused perfection. It is one of the few dishes that is genuinely better the day after cooking.

Ingredients

Serves 6

1.5 kgbeef chuck or shin(cut into 5cm chunks)
750 mlred Burgundy or Pinot Noir
200 gsmoked lardons or thick-cut bacon
200 gpearl onions or shallots(peeled)
400 gchestnut mushrooms(halved)
3carrots(roughly chopped)
1 headgarlic(halved horizontally)
2 sprigsfresh thyme
2bay leaves
3 tbsptomato paste
300 mlbeef stock
2 tbspplain flour
3 tbspcognac or brandy
40 gunsalted butter

Instructions

1
Marinate the beef (optional but recommended)
Combine beef with wine, carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves. Refrigerate overnight. This deepens the flavour and tenderizes slightly.
2
Separate and pat dry
Remove beef from marinade. Pat completely dry — wet beef steams instead of sears. Reserve the marinade.
3
Render lardons and sear beef
Render lardons in a Dutch oven until crispy. Remove. In the same fat, sear beef in batches over very high heat until deeply browned on all sides. Remove.
4
Deglaze and build the braise
In the same pot, add cognac and flambé or reduce for 1 minute. Add tomato paste. Add strained marinade (or fresh wine if not marinating) and stock. Return beef and lardons. Bring to a simmer.
5
Braise low and slow
Cover and cook at 150°C / 300°F for 2.5–3 hours until beef is completely tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Alternatively, cook on the stovetop at the barest simmer.
6
Prepare the garnish
30 minutes before serving: sauté pearl onions in butter until golden and glazed. Sauté mushrooms in butter over high heat until browned. Add both to the stew for the last 15 minutes.

Pro Tips

→
Make it the day before — bourguignon is one of those rare dishes that genuinely improves overnight.
→
Use a wine you'd drink — the wine's quality directly impacts the sauce.
→
The flour dusting before searing helps thicken the sauce — skip if you want a clearer broth.

Variations

•
Coq au vin: substitute beef with chicken, halve the cooking time.
•
Vegetarian version: substitute beef with large mushrooms, celeriac and root vegetables.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days. Freeze up to 3 months. Always better next day.

History & Origin

Bœuf bourguignon is from Burgundy (Bourgogne), France, a region famous for both Pinot Noir and Charolais beef. The dish was codified in French culinary tradition by Auguste Escoffier and popularized globally by Julia Child's 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the wine quality matter?

Yes — significantly. A good $15–20 Burgundy will produce a far superior sauce to cheap cooking wine. Never use wine you wouldn't drink. Cheap wine means sour, harsh sauce.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (400g / 14.1 oz) · 6 servings total

Calories680kcal

Protein48g

Carbohydrates18g

Fat36g

Fiber4g

Protein48g

Carbs18g

Fat36g

Time Summary

Prep time30 min

Cook time210 min

Total time240 min

Have Questions?

Ask our AI cooking assistant anything about this recipe — substitutions, techniques, scaling.

Chat with AI Chef →

More French Recipes

🧅

Classic French Onion Soup

90 min · Medium

🍷

Coq au Vin

120 min · Medium

🥪

Croque Monsieur

25 min · Easy

🍅

Provençal Ratatouille – Slow-Cooked Tomatoes, Aubergine, Courgette and Peppers

80 min · Easy

Community

Join the conversation

Ingredients

Serves 6

1.5 kgbeef chuck or shin(cut into 5cm chunks)

750 mlred Burgundy or Pinot Noir

200 gsmoked lardons or thick-cut bacon

200 gpearl onions or shallots(peeled)

400 gchestnut mushrooms(halved)

3carrots(roughly chopped)

1 headgarlic(halved horizontally)

2 sprigsfresh thyme

2bay leaves

3 tbsptomato paste

300 mlbeef stock

2 tbspplain flour

3 tbspcognac or brandy

40 gunsalted butter

Instructions

Marinate the beef (optional but recommended)

Combine beef with wine, carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves. Refrigerate overnight. This deepens the flavour and tenderizes slightly.

Separate and pat dry

Remove beef from marinade. Pat completely dry — wet beef steams instead of sears. Reserve the marinade.

Render lardons and sear beef

Render lardons in a Dutch oven until crispy. Remove. In the same fat, sear beef in batches over very high heat until deeply browned on all sides. Remove.

Deglaze and build the braise

In the same pot, add cognac and flambé or reduce for 1 minute. Add tomato paste. Add strained marinade (or fresh wine if not marinating) and stock. Return beef and lardons. Bring to a simmer.

Braise low and slow

Cover and cook at 150°C / 300°F for 2.5–3 hours until beef is completely tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Alternatively, cook on the stovetop at the barest simmer.

Prepare the garnish

30 minutes before serving: sauté pearl onions in butter until golden and glazed. Sauté mushrooms in butter over high heat until browned. Add both to the stew for the last 15 minutes.