Boeuf Bourguignon
Bourguignon is a dish for a slow Sunday: almost all the work happens in the oven while you catch the smell of wine and thyme every now and then. We use beef chuck, because over three hours its connective tissue melts into gelatine and turns the sauce velvety. Choose a wine you’d happily drink; there’ll be a glass left over anyway.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 3 h 35 min
- Total
- 4 h 15 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Challenging
- Per serving
- 630 kcal
Ingredients
For the beef
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What to use instead
Pancetta works in place of bacon. For a less winey sauce, replace 250 ml of the wine with more stock.
For the garnish
Makes: 6 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
Oven
160 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan
With a fan: 140 °C
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Step 1: Prepare the beef
Heat the oven to 160 °C (325 °F). Cut the beef into 5 cm chunks, pat thoroughly dry with paper towels and season with the salt and pepper.
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Step 2: Render the bacon
Cut the bacon into 1 × 3 cm lardons. In a lidded cast-iron casserole, fry them in the oil over medium heat for 6–7 minutes until golden, then lift out with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat behind.
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Step 3: Brown the beef
Turn the heat to high and brown the beef in 3 batches, 3–4 minutes per side, until deep brown. Don’t crowd the pot or the meat will steam. Transfer to the bacon.
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Step 4: Add vegetables and flour
Lower the heat to medium and cook the diced onion and thickly sliced carrots for 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then sprinkle in the flour and stir for another 1–2 minutes.
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Step 5: Pour in the wine
Pour in the wine, scraping up everything stuck to the bottom, which is where most of the flavour lives. Return the beef, bacon and juices, and add the stock, thyme and bay leaves. The liquid should almost cover the meat; bring it to a boil.
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Step 6: Braise in the oven
Cover and transfer to the oven for 2½–3 hours. The beef is ready when a chunk breaks apart easily under the edge of a spoon.
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Step 7: Cook the garnish
30 minutes before the end, put the shallots in a frying pan with half the butter and 3 tbsp water, cover and cook for 10 minutes, then uncover and let them brown. Separately, fry the mushrooms in the remaining butter over high heat for 6–8 minutes until golden.
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Step 8: Bring it together
Remove the thyme and bay leaves. If the sauce is thin, simmer it uncovered on the hob for 10–15 minutes until it coats a spoon. Stir in the mushrooms and shallots and scatter with parsley.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Bourguignon is even better the next day: the flavours settle, and the set fat lifts off the surface easily with a spoon before reheating.
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Swap
Pancetta works in place of bacon. For a less winey sauce, replace 250 ml of the wine with more stock.
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Variation
You can braise it on the hob instead: covered, over the lowest heat for 2½ hours, stirring every half hour so nothing catches.
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Storage
Keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently over low heat.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 630 kcal | 3,780 kcal |
| Protein | 42 g | 252 g |
| Fat | 43 g | 258 g |
| Carbohydrates | 15 g | 90 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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