Traditional Beef Bourguignon (Boeuf Bourguignon) is a classic French cuisine meal consisting of red wine roasted beef chunks that will melt in your mouth! And if you've never had this hearty version of the American comfort food, beef stew, you are truly missing out!
Just what the cold weather called for! A hearty bowl of this amazing classic beef stew, Beef Bourguignon (Boeuf Bourguignon)!
Beef Bourguignon Recipe (Boeuf Bourguignon)
Beef Bourguignon is related to another well known French dish from the Burgundy region of France, coq au vin. Both dishes are on my list of 'OMG' and 'How Did I Ever Live Without This' meals as well as being some of my 'Must Have Recipes' for foodies and families alike!
Made popular by Ms. Julia Child, beef bourguignon (which translates to Burgundian Beef) will fill your house with the amazing aroma of this worth-every-moment stew.
It may have an extra step or two, and may be accompanied with some lengthy looking instructions, but anyone that makes this hearty and aromatic dish knows that the time spent in preparation will be richly rewarded!
Also known as Beef Burgundy, this dish is typically made with a red wine and since it is from the Burgundy region of France, a true Burgundy red wine there would be made of 100% Pinot Noir grapes.
*It is very interesting to note that this dish comes from one of the most well known wine regions anywhere, with some of the highest priced and best tasting wines in the wine-making industry. To make this dish 'true to it's roots', it is best paired with a good quality Pinot Noir!
Red wine marinated chuck steak cubes removed from the pinot noir we marinated the beef in. Ready to sear up and get our Beef Bourguignon started!
This red wine stewed beef dish has traditionally been served either hot or cold (cold in the case of leftovers), and is usually served over pasta, mashed potatoes or toasted bread. We love serving our beef bourguignon over some wide pappardelle noodles that have been cooked, drained, rinsed and then tossed with olive oil and some fresh, chopped parsley.
My dear husband and I always argue over the perfect wine to pair with this, so we alternate whenever we cook up this family favorite meal! Although we usually cook with wines that we can thoroughly enjoy drinking while cooking with, this is one of those recipes that the entire bottle of Pinot Noir was devoted to covering the cubed chuck steak to marinate in overnight (see photo above, this is our marinated chuck steak after we have removed it from the red wine marinade).
Fully cooked Beef Bourguignon in the dutch oven before serving up over some pappardelle pasta noodles that have been tossed in olive oil.
So my preference is to pair up our Beef Bourguignon with a rustic Pinot Noir or a Bourgogne and a 2005 vintage is a fantastic year that is priced right to use for both cooking and drinking. My husband is more of a wine lover and will happily pair this up with his favorite red wines like a Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon (and probably spend more on a really good vintage than I would!).
How To Make Beef Bourguignon (Boeuf Bourguignon)
- Begin with placing your cubed chuck steak into a medium to large bowl. Season with salt & pepper, the chopped fresh thyme, and add the three bay leaves, then cover with a bottle of your red wine of choice. *Use less red wine, if desired, and increase the amount of beef broth used. If using more beef broth, cover the meat with the desired amount of red wine then add enough beef broth to cover the meat and allow it to marinate overnight.
- Separate the marinated beef from the red wine that it was in overnight, reserving the red wine for use later.
- Bring a large skillet or frying pan to medium high heat and crisp the bacon pieces (about 8 minutes). Do not drain off the bacon grease. Remove the cooked bacon and set aside in a dutch oven or casserole dish (one with a fitted lid).
- Once the bacon has been browned and removed from the skillet or frying pan, begin searing the marinated pieces of chuck steak in batches until all of the pieces of meat have been browned on all sides (about 3-4 minutes) and placed in the dutch oven or casserole dish. *Hopefully you still have had enough bacon grease to use for searing the meat chunks, and enough remaining for frying the chopped onion as well. If not, you may need to add some olive oil as necessary to continue.
- Saute the chopped onion in remaining bacon grease until onion is translucent (see through), then transfer into the dutch oven or casserole dish with the bacon and browned beef.
- Add the all-purpose flour into the frying pan to soak up any remaining grease, stir, then add thee tomato paste. Begin mixing and add the reserved red wine into the frying pan to create sauce for the beef bourguignon. Whisk to combine, then add the beef broth and bring to a boil.
- Once the sauce has reached a full boil, transfer to the dutch oven or casserole dish. Pour directly over the bacon, beef and onion. Cover and cook in preheated oven at 395 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 1 hour.
- Remove the cooking beef bourguignon from the oven after 1 hour and add the pearl onions, mushrooms, carrots and butter. Stir to combine, then return to the oven and continue to cook for 1 additional hour.
- Remove from the oven after 2 hours total cooking time in the oven and serve immediately over pasta, mashed potatoes, or toasted bread.
Beef Bourguignon (Boeuf Bourguignon)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs chuck steak (well marbled, cut into cubed portions)
- 1 bottle Pinot Noir (Pinot Noir or Gamay are traditionally used, other red burgundy wines will also work)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon thyme (fresh, chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon each, salt & pepper
- ½ lb bacon (cut into ½" chunks)
- ¾ cup white onion (or half a large white onion, chopped)
- 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 lb pearl onions
- 1 lb button mushrooms (white mushrooms, halved or quartered)
- 3 carrots (3 large, 4 medium, 5-6 small - sliced on the diagonal approx 1" chunks)
- 1 tablespoon parsley (chopped, fresh - optional for garnish)
Instructions
- Begin with placing your cubed chuck steak into a medium to large bowl. Season with salt & pepper, the chopped fresh thyme, and add the three bay leaves, then cover with a bottle of your red wine of choice. *Use less red wine, if desired, and increase the amount of beef broth used. If using more beef broth, cover the meat with the desired amount of red wine then add enough beef broth to cover the meat and allow it to marinate overnight.
- Separate the marinated beef from the red wine that it was in overnight, reserving the red wine for use later.
- Bring a large skillet or frying pan to medium high heat and crisp the bacon pieces (about 8 minutes). Do not drain off the bacon grease. Remove the cooked bacon and set aside in a dutch oven or casserole dish (one with a fitted lid).
- Once the bacon has been browned and removed from the skillet or frying pan, begin searing the marinated pieces of chuck steak in batches until all of the pieces of meat have been browned on all sides (about 3-4 minutes) and placed in the dutch oven or casserole dish. *Hopefully you still have had enough bacon grease to use for searing the meat chunks, and enough remaining for frying the chopped onion as well. If not, you may need to add some olive oil as necessary to continue.
- Saute the chopped onion in remaining bacon grease until translucent, then transfer into the dutch oven or casserole dish with the bacon and browned beef.
- Add the all-purpose flour into the frying pan to soak up any remaining grease, stir, then add thee tomato paste. Begin mixing and add the reserved red wine into the frying pan to create sauce for the beef bourguignon. Whisk to combine, then add the beef broth and bring to a boil.
- Once the sauce has reached a full boil, transfer to the dutch oven or casserole dish. Pour directly over the bacon, beef and onion. Cover and cook in preheated oven at 395 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 1 hour.
- Remove the cooking beef bourguignon from the oven after 1 hour and add the pearl onions, mushrooms, carrots and butter. Stir to combine, then return to the oven and continue to cook for 1 additional hour.
- Remove from the oven after 2 hours total cooking time in the oven and serve immediately over pasta, mashed potatoes, or toasted bread.
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Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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