Beef Bourguignon
This ultra cozy Beef Bourguignon is one of the most hearty and richly flavorful dishes you'll ever make! It's a signature French stew made up chunks of rich beef slowly braised in a deeply flavored red wine based sauce, and it's paired along with aromatic vegetables and inviting fresh herbs.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 8 oz. bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 lbs. chuck roast*, cut into 1 1/2 to 2-inch chunks
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (1 cup)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced (1 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups dry red wine, such as Pinot Nior or Cortes du Rhone
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth or chicken broth, store bought or homemade, then more as needed
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 8 oz. cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms, halved if small, sliced thick if larger
- 8 oz. pearl onions, peeled**
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a an oven safe pot or braiser with non-stick cooking spray, add bacon and cook over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bacon is golden brown and just crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain and reserve fat in pot. Keep bacon in fridge.
- Working with half the chuck roast, dab it dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper (I actually go somewhat light when seasoning then just add more to the dish later on if needed).
- Return pot to medium heat. Add half the chuck roast pieces and brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining half.
- In now empty pot return to medium heat, add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and saute 1 minute. Add flour and saute 1 minute.
- Pour in red wine while scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Pour in broth and soy sauce. Add thyme, rosemary and bay leaf.
- Return beef to pot, add carrots. Bring mixture to a simmer. Cover with lid then transfer to oven. Bake until chuck roast pieces are tender, stirring once halfway through, for about 2 hours.
- During the last 15 minutes of cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and pearl onions and saute for about 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Add mushroom and onion mixture, plus the bacon to the beef stew mixture and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste as needed.
- Garnish servings with fresh parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes or fresh bread if desired.
Notes
*Look for a chuck roast marbled with thin weaves of fat throughout the beef, if possible avoid those with many large chunks of fat as you'll just have to cut off and discard that fat and you won't end up with as much usable beef in the recipe.
**To peel fresh pearl onions drop in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain then cool. Cut root ends and squeeze onion downward to root tip to remove, then cut tops. Frozen pearl onions may be used here as well. Add them after about 10 minutes of browning the mushrooms since they are already par-cooked.