Beef bourguignon is a delicious French beef stew loaded with lots of red wine and amazing flavors. The key to a delicious bourguignon is making sure you are using the best quality ingredients (good quality stew meat, good wine, etc.) This slow cooker beef bourguignon recipe will show you how to make the best beef bourguignon that is not just delicious but also so easy to make.
About this slow cooker beef bourguignon recipe
If you love a rich and hearty beef stew, you are going to love this beef bourguignon recipe. Traditionally, beef bourguignon is made either on the stovetop or the oven and cooked for a long time.
I really wanted to simply this recipe a bit by using the slow cooker which frees up some of my time from checking the oven or stove. You will still have that wonderful beef stew flavor but without all the time a traditional beef bourguignon takes in the kitchen.
The taste of this slow cooker beef bourguignon is the same as if it were made on the stovetop! Just follow these simple but important steps below to make this easy beef bourguignon recipe.
What you need to make beef bourguignon
- Stew Beef (Chuck is good).
- Bacon. Bacon is going to add little more of that meaty flavor.
- Carrots. Chop these coarsely.
- Potatoes. Chopped coarsely.
- Mushrooms. Chopped coarsely
- Onion. The onion blends right into the beef bourguignon sauce.
- Garlic. Garlic adds that delicious background flavor in the broth.
- Burgundy wine (you can scroll down to see other wines that are good for making beef bourguignon).
- Beef stock. This will be what the beef and veggies slow cook in.
- Bay leaf.
- Corn starch. Only a little bit is needed and this is to thicken up the beef bourguignon.
- Tomato paste. Tomato paste adds depth of flavor to the broth.
- Kosher salt and pepper.
How to make this easy slow cooker beef bourguignon:
Making this slow cooker beef bourguignon is very easy. You will start with cooking up the ingredients in a saute first then they get added to the slow cooker.
Here is what it looks like:
- Pre-heat a large saute pan.
- Cook bacon until crisp.
- Sear cubed stew meat on all sides
- Add the meat to your slow cooker.
- Deglaze pan with wine.
- Saute onions and carrots and garlic.
- Pour the vegetables into the slow cooker.salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook in your slow cooker on low heat for 7 hours.
- After 7 hours, add in your potatoes.
- Cook for another 30 minutes
- Saute your mushrooms.
- Pour your mushrooms into the slow cooker.
- Mix those in well.
- Once this is done, taste the broth and see if it needs any salt or pepper and adjust to taste
Tips
First, you want to sear your meat before it goes into the slow cooker. This is extremely important.
This is going to give your meat that beautiful golden crust and also give your pan that brown bottom which is essential for deglazing and making a rich broth.
Second, although you are making this beef bourguignon in the slow cooker, it is important to also start most of your ingredients in a saute pan. The slow cooker is just for the slow cooking portion of making this dish.
You will be working in steps, cooking in one pan and then transferring to the slow cooker pan as you go until the everything is assembled!
Last, make sure the size of your vegetables is uniform and the right size that the recipe calls for. This is important to prevent the vegetables from getting mushy.
Some of your vegetables will go in at the beginning of the slow cooker process and others will go in towards the end.
You will have spent money on nice ingredients. You also spent time on assembling this beef bourguignon recipe so you want to avoid mushy vegetables in the final product which will not be so pleasant.
What to serve with Beef Bourguignon:
I really love serving this easy slow cooker beef bourguignon with some crostini. It is delicious and hearty and adds a little crunch to the meal. Sometimes I make my own ciabatta (if I have extra time), cheese scones and sometimes I just buy store bought bread and toast up my own crostini.
This beef bourguignon is very easy to put together and requires no special skills. It just requires following steps and a little time at the beginning and at the end of the cooking process. It makes a wonderful Sunday supper or dish for entertaining.
Best Wine for Beef Bourguignon:
Choosing the right wine when making this beef bourguignon slow cooker recipe is important. You want to have a full bodied red wine that can stand up to the meat and flavors of this beef bourguignon recipe.
You also want to try to find wine wines from the region that this dish originated which is the Burgundy region. This is a common thing to do with French cooking and I have a similar Provencal Beef Stew recipe but that uses reds from the Provence region.
Here are some suggestions of wine that you can use when making beef bourguignon:
- Burgundy wine. This is the classic wine used for this recipe.
- Pinot Noir
- Cabernet Sauvignon
Pairing Ideas
Here are some of our favorite things to serve with this slow cooker beef bourguignon:
For more Slow cooker Recipes:
- Amazing Pulled Pork and Sides
- Jewish Brisket
- Pork Chops in Tomato Sauce
- Mexican Barbacoa
- Cuban Ropa Vieja
- Pulled Pork Sliders
- Pot Roast Sandwich
Beef Bourguignon- A Slow Cooker Recipe
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds good quality stew beef (like chuck) cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 ½ cups Burgundy wine you can also see substitution suggestion in post.
- 1 cup beef stock good quality
- 2-3 pieces of bacon we are using the fat from the bacon
- 4 large carrots peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch thick pieces
- 1 small bag of small red or gold potatoes (about 10 small potatoes) cut into halves and making sure they are all uniform in size. Some potatoes may not need to be cut in half if they are very small.
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- ½ large Spanish onion sliced thin
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste I like to buy the tubes of tomato paste so I can refrigerate what is not used
- 2 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian parsley Optional
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Clean and cut your carrots, onion and garlic.4 large carrots, ½ large Spanish onion sliced thin, 3 cloves of garlic minced
- Get out your slow cooker and have it ready and set up.
- Pre-heat a large saute pan on medium high heat.
- Add your bacon and cook until crisp.2-3 pieces of bacon
- When done, remove the bacon and save for another time but leave the bacon fat in the pan.
- Add your cubed stew meat and sear on all sides (about 5 -6 minutes, turning the meat to brown all the sides). If your meat sweats a lot of liquid out, drain that out by scooping it up with a large spoon so your meat is not boiling in the pan.)2 pounds good quality stew beef (like chuck)
- Once the meat is seared, pour the meat into your slow cooker.
- Add ½ cup of your wine to pan and deglaze it and cook off some of the alcohol for about 2 minutes.2 ½ cups Burgundy wine
- In the same saute pan over medium heat, add your onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes.4 large carrots, ½ large Spanish onion sliced thin
- Next, add your garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.3 cloves of garlic minced
- Sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt and mix well then pour the vegetables into the slow cooker.salt and pepper to taste
- Bring the saute pan back to the heat and now add ½ cup of your wine and deglaze the pan and cook off the alcohol for about 2 minutes.
- Now add your tomato paste and mix it into your wine until it is smooth and no lumps remain.2 tablespoon tomato paste
- Now pour this into the slow cooker.
- At this point, your meat, carrots, onions, garlic and tomato paste should be in the slow cooker
- Next, into your slow cooker add your beef stock, the remaining red wine, bay leaf, a pinch of salt and pepper.Do not add your potatoes, parsley or mushrooms yet. Those will be added later!1 cup beef stock, 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste
- Cook in your slow cooker on low heat for 7 hours.
- After 7 hours, turn your cooker down to low and add in your potatoes.
- Cook the potatoes for about 30 minutes or until they ar easily pierced with a fork.1 small bag of small red or gold potatoes (about 10 small potatoes)
- Once the potatoes are cooked through, ladle out a small amount of the broth into a small bowl.
- Mix the broth with your corn starch until there are no more lumps left2 tablespoon corn starch
- Add this cornstarch mixture into the slow cooker and mix it in well
- Place the lid on the slow cooker
- In a saute pan over medium heat, heat your olive oil.3 tablespoon olive oil
- Once that is heated, add your mushrooms and saute until just tender.8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- Once cooked, add a pinch of salt, mix well and then pour your mushrooms into the slow cooker.
- Mix those in well.
- Once this is done, taste the broth and see if it needs any salt or pepper and adjust to taste
To serve
- Ladle two ladles full of your bourguignon into each bowl
- Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley2 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian parsley
- Serve with a good bread or crostini for dipping
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Meghan says
This dish tastes wonderful! People couldn’t believe I never made this before- they all loved it.