Delicious Classic Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe
Published December 5, 2019. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This tasty French stew is loaded up with vegetables, braised chunks of beef in a seasoned red wine beef broth for the ultimate gathering meal.
Honestly, this is just one of those hearty comforting dishes that I live for, and it seems like all classic French dishes are this way. Don’t get freaked out by the beef having a slight reddish/purplish tint to it, it’s from the wine. Boeuf Bourguignon is a fantastic dish to serve up to guests and family especially on a holiday like a New Year’s Eve party. it’s elegant, it’s delicious and it’s one you should have in your repertoire of beef recipes.
Where Did It Come From
Boeuf Bourguignon was invented by the father of modern-day cookery, August Escoffier. He created and published the dish in the early 20th century and as it evolved it went from peasant food and turned into an elegant recipe that was served at fine dining restaurants all over the world.
What Cut of Beef Is It
There are several different cuts of beef that would work great with this recipe and here are my favorites in order from best to worst:
- Chuck Round
- Top Sirloin
- Bottom Round
- Strip Sirloin
- Tenderloin
In a classic recipe, the cut of beef needs to be lean, so if you have a favorite cut of beef that is on the leaner side, I would recommend using it.
Is Beef Burgundy the Same Thing
Beef burgundy is the exact same recipe as Boeuf Bourguignon. Boeuf Bourguignon got its name because of its recipe roots that come from the Burgundy region in France. So if you see a recipe that is titled beef burgundy, just know you’re getting the same thing.
How to Make Boeuf Bourguignon
This isn’t an overly complex recipe but there are a few steps to creating it to ensure it’s delicious and turns out the way it was intended too.
- Start first by cooking off some chopped up bacon in a large dutch oven pot. The bacon fat that’s rendered will act as our fat to cook the beef in, which in addition will provide some awesome flavor. Once they are cooked, set the crispy bacon lardons to the side.
- Next, toss your cut-up beef in some seasoned flour and roast them in the rendered bacon fat until they are golden brown on all sides and then set them aside.
- Since Boeuf Bourguignon is a thick stew, we need to quickly make a roux from the fat that is still in the dutch oven after the beef was removed. Stir in 4 tablespoons of flour until it is mixed in and a roux is formed.
- Add the beef back into the pot and then hit it with the wine such as a Bordeaux or a cote du rhone. The wine should immediately thicken at this point.
- Pour in your beef stock, salt and pepper, bay leaves, parsley, and fresh thyme and pop a cover on it to simmer on medium-low heat for 2 hours. This process of cooking is known as braising!
Now it’s time to add in some vegetables which will help flavor up the stew as well as providing vegetables to serve the beef with. I always start by rinsing off my veggies in my colander attachment in my Franke Chef Center and then using the cutting board attachment I slice away. Gosh does this sink make life easy! You want to start these next procedures with about 45 minutes left in the cooking process of the braising beef.
a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add in some oil or butter and get a nice brown sear on your mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. This will also help bring about more flavor in your stew.
Add the vegetables right to the stew and cook for 40 to 45 minutes covered on low heat until the vegetables are tender, and the beef is done cooking. Then that’s it, my friends, your Boeuf Bourguignon is done!
Make-Ahead and Storage
How to Reheat: Take your desired portion and add it to a small pot and cook over low heat until hot. Be sure to stir occasionally. You can also simply heat it in the microwave.
How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
How to Freeze: Cover and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw for 1 whole day before reheating.
chef notes + tips
- In a classic recipe, the cut of beef needs to be lean, so if you have a favorite cut of beef that is on the leaner side, I would recommend using it.
- It’s important when making the roux to scrape up all the browned goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan. That “stuff” is called fond and has lots of flavor in it.
- The reason I don’t add in the vegetables at the beginning is that they tender to turn overly soft and mushy and I like my vegetables to be a bit firmer than that which is why I add them in at the end.
What Do You Serve it With
Classically a Boeuf Bourguignon is served up with tourneed potatoes but my guess is you won’t be crafting and peeling up potatoes with your tourne knife. I personally like to serve it up with some buttered and seasoned baby potatoes or mashed potatoes.
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Delicious Classic Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 strips of chopped up bacon
- 3 pounds of beef round trimmed of fat and cut into 1 1/2” to 2” cubes
- ½ cup + 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups Bordeaux or cote du Rhone wine
- 6 cups beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 small bunch of parsley
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 stalks celery cut into 1” pieces
- 4 peeled carrots cut into 1” pieces
- 1 peeled and large diced yellow onion
- 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 3 cups button mushrooms
- 2 pounds boiled baby potatoes tossed in butter, salt and pepper
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven pot over medium heat add in the bacon and cook until crispy brown. Set the bacon lardons aside.
- While the bacon is cooking, in a small bowl mix together ½ cup of flour with salt and pepper and lightly dredge the cubed beef in it.
- Immediately add the beef to the pot with the bacon fat and sear until golden brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. It’s ok to do in batches.
- Remove the meat and add 4 tablespoons of flour to the leftover bacon fat in the pot until a roux is formed.
- Add the beef back in and add the wine and cook over low heat. The mixture should get very thick.
- Add the beef stock, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, cooked bacon and salt and pepper. Mix, cover and simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
- With about 45 minutes left in the cooking process add the oil to a large saute pan over medium high heat.
- Add in the celery, carrots, onions, garlic and mushrooms and caramelize the vegetables until browned, about 6-8 minutes.
- Transfer the vegetables to the dutch oven pot, cover and cook for 35 minutes more.
- To serve garnish the Boeuf Bourguignon with chopped parsley and serve alongside boiled, buttered and seasoned baby potatoes.
Notes
- In a classic recipe the cut of beef needs to be lean, so if you have a favorite cut of beef that is on the leaner side, I would recommend using it.
- It’s important when making the roux to scrape up all the browned goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan. That “stuff” is called fond and has lots of flavor in it.
- The reason I don’t add in the vegetables at the beginning is because they tender to turn overly soft and mushy and I like my vegetables to be a bit firmer than that which is why I add them in at the end.
- How to Reheat: Take your desired portion and add it to a small pot and cook over low heat until hot. Be sure to stir occasionally. You can also simply heat it in the microwave.
- How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- How to Freeze: Cover and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw for 1 whole day before reheating.
Love this! I’ve made it twice now and both times my husband who does not eat. Leftovers has asked if we have more!
Love it!
I made this for the first night my son came in from Chicago for a few days at Christmas. He’s used to the fabulous restaurant fare in the Windy City, so I had a high standard to reach! Your recipe did not disappoint, it was wonderful, and now will replace the old one I had used for quite a few years.
Love this!
Happy holidays Billy,
want to try and make this but trying to do it all at once might be a bit much with a house full of guests. how about I complete recipe through step 6, chill and then bring to room temp and proceed with steps 7-complete prior to eating? Pros/cons. Please advise
Without doing it myself it’s hard to give you a perfect answer. I theory yes I believe it could work.
I’m excited to try this! My son in law and I made Julia Child’s version several years ago. I think I counted 35 or so steps. This sounds much more doable!
I’ve made this several times now and have to say it never disappoints. I prefer your recipe over many others out there, specifically because of how you handle the vegetables. I often use pearl onions (because they’re awesome) and have found success using a good Cabernet here as well. Thanks for another solid recipe!
Thank you (and I mean it) for not being one of those people who think Julia Child’s recipe is the real thing. No tomato in Bourguignon!
Not sure about the celery though, as it adds a very distinctive flavor to the sauce that seems to take away from the other aromatics.
The roux is a great trick to thicken the sauce. I use oxtail to add some well needed gelatin because I can’t find beef cheek very often and featherblade is very lean.
My grandmother also added a few anchovies (or a tablespoon of anchovy paste) to the braise and it definitely punched up the umami in the dish without distracting from the flavor. These days, I just use a few dashes of fish sauce because I have it on hand.
This is definitely a great dish and you do it justice.
can I use a bourdeux?
sure
I made this tonite. Bravo, it was excellent.
My notes:
Add double carrots
Add double Cippolini onions
Add double fingerling potatoes
And maybe a few extra mushrooms
For me, the broth was sufficient to add more bulk. As it was, it was barely enough to feed my family of two adults and two teens.
But very tasty!
This is my fave dish!!!
Looks really good! I’m going to try it in the next few weeks. Thanks for sharing!
hello am chef john ,
first time here an i enjoy these recipes am trying this one out ,i post on my facebook page
YUM!
This was my first time to your site. I wanted comment on every single recipe, but have gotta say that this one looks the best to me! Maybe I am just hungry for beef right now or low in iron. 🙂
I will try to hop into the twitter chat tomorrow on pots and pans. I don’t know how to look for one of the pots that you can put in the oven and on the stove (you can see that I don’t cook much).
Cheers,
Tia