How to Make Boeuf Bourguignon the Easy Way

Boeuf Bourguignon is a mouth-wateringly delicious, classic French dish. Slow cooked tender beef melts into a flavourful red wine sauce accented with Provencal herbs, making it the ultimate in comfort food. However while there is no getting away from the fact it needs to cook for a long time, the actual hands on work doesn’t need to take longer than half an hour if you make my version of this wonderful dish. You won’t need a long, complicated, expensive list of ingredients either.

Just between you and me, this is a non-traditional recipe. I’m not sure any of the Michelin starred chefs out there would approve! Having said that, I’ve eaten Boeuf Bourguignon in some excellent restaurants and home kitchens in France many times and I can say with my hand on my heart that my version tastes absolutely as good as any I have eaten there. So for a taste of France in your kitchen without stress, try my Easy Beef Bourguignon recipe.

Tips for Making This Easy Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe

Buy good quality chuck steak, stewing steak or braising steak, pasture raised or organic if possible. Buy pre-cubed beef or ask your butcher to cut the meat in cubes roughly an inch square for you if possible so you can save the time and energy of doing it yourself.

Choose a wine that tastes good to cook with. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be a wine you would enjoy drinking and have a good, full bodied flavour.

Finely chop the onion, cut up the mushrooms and the carrots before you start. You can do this ahead of time and keep them covered in the fridge if you like. Remove them from the fridge – along with the meat – half an hour before you start cooking.

Get all the ingredients for the recipe together first (mis-en-place). Remember to preheat the oven.

You won’t find Worcestershire sauce in a traditional Boeuf Bourguignon recipe but I find it adds a really lovely flavour to this dish. That said, if you cannot get it, you can leave it out.

Be sure to let the Boeuf Bourguignon rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving as mentioned in the recipe. This allows the sauce to settle and brings the casserole to a good serving temperature.

Keep it simple. Serve the Boeuf Bourguignon with mashed potatoes, rice or couscous and a green vegetable.

Beef Bourguignon tastes even better the next day, so it is a great make-ahead dish. Make it a day or two ahead, cooling it quickly and storing it in a sealed container in the fridge. Gently reheat the Boeuf Bourguignon in a saucepan on the stove 20 to 30 minutes before serving, stirring frequently, loosening the sauce with a bit of extra wine or stock if necessary.

Easy Boeuf Bourguignon – Printable Recipe

Created by: April J Harris

Easy Boeuf Bourguignon

Course Main Dish

Cuisine French

Servings 4 to 6 servings

My Easy Boeuf Bourguignon is a simpler version of the classic French beef in red wine dish, perfect for relaxed entertaining or family meals.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 3 tablespoons mild olive oil (or any mildly-flavoured vegetable oil)
• 1

  large onion, peeled and finely chopped


• 1½ pounds chuck, braising or stewing beef, cut in chunks roughly an inch (2.5 cm) square
• 2 tablespoons flour
• a pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup

  mushrooms, cut in quarters or sliced depending on their size


• 3 to 4 carrots peeled and cut in batons about 3 inches long
• 1 cup good red wine

• 1 cup of beef stock

• 2 tablespoons tomato puree or tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

To thicken the sauce, if necessary

• 1 tablespoon corn flour
• 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

• You need a large pan or casserole with a lid that goes from stove top to oven.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F or 170°C (160°C for fan ovens).
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large oven-safe casserole with a lid over medium heat.
• Sauté the onion until it begins to become translucent, but do not let it brown.
• Add the mushrooms and cook for a minute or so.
• Mix the flour, salt and pepper together and put it in a bag.
• Add the beef cubes, working in batches if necessary, shaking to coat the cubes with the flour mixture.
• Add the flour coated beef cubes to the onion in the pan, adding a bit more oil if necessary.
• Brown the meat, stirring constantly, for two or three minutes. You may need to do this in batches.
• Stir in the beef stock and the red wine.
• Add the tomato puree or paste and herbs and stir together thoroughly.
• Add the carrots and stir through.
• Place the casserole in the oven and cook for an hour and a half, stirring every half hour. Turn the heat back to 300°F or 150°C if the sauce begins to thicken too quickly.
• Remove the casserole from the oven.
• Depending on the water content of your vegetables and the meat you have used, the sauce may need adjusting at this point. If the sauce is too thick you can add a bit more stock or red wine and stir through to loosen it. Should it be too runny, stir one tablespoon of corn flour in two tablespoons of water to make a runny paste and stir it through the sauce. Either way, return the casserole to the oven and cook for about five to ten minutes just to heat everything through.
• Remove the casserole from the oven again, taste the sauce for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
• Leave the lid on the casserole and set it aside on a heat proof surface. Let the Boeuf Bourguignon rest for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or couscous.

did you make this recipe?

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