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This elegant but hearty dish is a little more special than a bog standard stew, but it’s just as easy to make. This Beef Bourguignon recipe is filled with rich, red wine gravy and tender cuts of meat for a mouthwatering meal. Make it in the oven or slow cooker – your choice!
This step-by-step Beef Bourguignon recipe is simple but special.
By that I mean it’s a bit extra and more decadent than a normal beef stew (which obviously is always an amazing family favourite), but it’s also easy and low effort enough to not be a hassle to make.
It’s still got that classic and unmistakable depth of flavour and nourishment that makes it ideal for cooking for guests or when you want to cook for an occasion.
Why you’ll love this Beef Bourguignon recipe
⭐️ Perfect for cooking in the oven or slow cooker
⭐️ Like a warm hug in a bowl
⭐️ Great for freezing leftovers or batch cooking
Sarah’s notes
I wanted to create a version of this classic French style stew with red wine, pearl onions, mushrooms, carrots and beef stock, flavoured generously with herbs, as a way of making a rather special meal made easy.
Some recipes have lengthy lists of ingredients and take an age to perfect, which is understandable as this famous dish is known for its depth of flavour and richness.
However, we’re making this easy and simple, while making sure the flavour is still there.
The best thing about this recipe is that all the work is done initially and then your chosen cooking device does the rest, leaving you plenty of time in the kitchen to cook side dishes or enjoy yourself!
Ways to cook Beef Bourguignon
This dish can be made easily in the oven or in a slow cooker, depending on how you’d like to do it.
Both ways are easy and similar in methods, but just take different times to cook.
Details for each are in the recipe below.
Beef Bourguignon Ingredients
- Beef – This recipe uses braising steak (or braising beef), which is any kind of beef that is suited to long, slow cooking. This includes chuck, skirt, leg and flank. I sometimes use beef shin for these recipes. It can be more fatty though, but is super tasty.
- Bacon lardons – I use smoked for this recipe as they really add to the flavour.
- Pearl onions – I use frozen ones. They can be a little tricky to find so you can always use peeled shallots instead, or if you want to skip peeling lots of tiny onions you could use 2 normal onions and cut them in to 8 wedges each.
- Carrots – Peel and chop into large chunks so they keep some of their ‘bite’.
- Other veggies – Garlic and button mushrooms.
- Gravy – This is made up of red wine and beef stock. We’re also adding a little tomato puree.
- Herbs – We’re using plenty of dried thyme here and fresh parsley to serve.
- Flour – A little plain flour for the oven method, or cornflour for the slow cooker method if it needs thickening at the end. PLEASE NOTE that cornflour in the UK is NOT the same as it in the US! There it’s known as ‘corn starch’. Corn flour in the US is something different (the same as cornmeal in the UK), so please don’t use this.
How to make Beef Bourguignon
1. Brown the chunks of beef and bacon lardons in oil in a suitable pan or casserole dish and remove (as per the full recipe below).
2. Add in the rest of the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, stirring well to loosen the meat flavour from the bottom.
3. Add the flour for a minute or two, then the meat back in, followed by the liquid ingredients. Pop the lid on and cook according to the recipe below.
4. Thicken a little if necessary. Stir and serve.
How to make a ‘slurry’
If you’re cooking this dish in the slow cooker, the sauce may be a little thin. Making up a slurry is a trick to thicken the sauce, but without ending up with floury lumps.
First you add cornflour (called ‘corn starch’ in the US) to a small bowl, mug or jug, then use a little liquid from a dish (a spoonful or two) to mix the cornflour into a paste consistency. Add that back into the dish’s sauce.
If you just sprinkle cornflour straight into the dish, it will form lumps that are almost impossible to get rid of. I promise this step is worth the extra dirty bowl!
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully covered in the oven, microwave, or on the hob before serving.
In the freezer This is good to freeze for up to 3 months and reheat on the hob before you serve it again. The sauce will thicken even more on reheating, so just add a splash of water if you would like more gravy.
Recipe Tip
Be sure to dry your beef pieces with kitchen paper before frying.
This will mean that they brown more easily in the pan.
Serve this with…
FAQs
I would say it’s ideal for 6 hungry people, or 8 if you want to make the stew portions smaller, but you can always serve with plenty of mash to make up the quantity!
As with most of my recipes, I will say you could leave this stage out if you want to simplify, however for this one I would say it does add some flavour and it seems a shame to make something a little special like this (that involves using up wine!) and not doing it properly. It’s up to you though.
If you’re cooking this in the oven, a big one that will fit everything in and also go in the oven! I used a large ‘safe for hob and oven’ casserole dish as I could transfer straight into the oven.
I recently tasked myself with trying out a variety of one-pan pans in a quest to find out which ones were up to the important job of making an all-in-one meal. Read my pan review here. I hope it helps!
In the UK a beef stew (or any type of stew) is usually cooked on the stove top in a lidded saucepan, whereas a casserole (in the UK at least) tends to be a similar dish, but cooked in the oven in a lidded saucepan.
Beef Bourguignon is the name of a classic French beef stew, made using slow cooked beef and red wine.
The Morphy Richards Sear & Stew Slow Cooker is my all-time favourite because you can use it for initial browning on the hob and it’s really light.
I wrote up a whole slow cooker review though, where you might find another one to suit your needs. Have a read here.
Something along the same lines (special but easy) is my Beef Ragu or Marry Me Chicken recipe, Mushroom Wellington or Slow Cooker Pulled Pork.
A great impressive side dish is my Boulangere Potatoes or Cauliflower Cheese!
For dessert, has to be my Slow Cooker Chocolate Orange Pudding or a no bake cheesecake.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Beef Bourguignon {Oven & Slow Cooker}
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) Braising beef
- 200 g (7 oz) Smoked bacon lardons
- 4 Garlic cloves, Peeled and crushed
- 450 g (16 oz) Pearl onions, I use frozen
- 5 Large carrots, Peeled, trimmed and cut into big chunks
- 400 g (14 oz) Button mushrooms
- 2 tbsp Plain flour, ONLY for the oven method
- 400 ml (1.75 cups) Red wine
- 350 ml (1.5 cups) Beef stock
- 2 tbsp Dried thyme
- 3 tbsp Tomato puree
- Salt and pepper, Season generously
- 3 tbsp Cornflour, For the slow cooker method
- Chopped fresh parsley, To serve
Instructions
To cook in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 150℃ fan/170℃/Gas Mark 2/300F.
- Heat the oil over a medium heat and brown the beef and bacon. Remove from the pan but keep the bits in stuck to the bottom for flavour.
- Add the garlic, onions, carrots and mushrooms to the pan and stir for about 5 minutes to loosen the bits of the bottom from browning the meat.
- Stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes more.
- Add the bacon and beef back into the pan along with the red wine, beef stock, dried thyme, tomato puree and some salt and pepper. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 1 ½ – 2 hours or until the beef is tender.
- Remove the lid for the last half an hour of cooking to help the sauce thicken up. Serve scattered with the chopped parsley.
To cook in the slow cooker:
- Brown your beef and bacon in the slow cooker pan (if yours allows it) OR use a pan on the hob.
- Add all of the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours on LOW, until the beef is tender.
- With half an hour of cooking time left, mix the cornflour with a little of the sauce and stir in. Leave to cook with the lid on for 30 mins to thicken the sauce. Serve scattered with the chopped parsley.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This recipe was first published here on October 14th, 2018 and was fully updated with a new and improved recipe on January 8th, 2026, including step-by-step videos.
I don’t do recipes,I always pick ones that are mediocre and not with the effort. I’m amazed this was fabulous. I used frozen onions and chestnut mushrooms. The only thing I would say is,I oven cooked mine and it took twice as ling as stated. when i put it in,the sheer quantity of it,i thought 1 1/2 hrs can’t be right. It wasn’t. Has anyone else had this problem? I darent put it in the slow cooker in case it doesn’t taste as good,as it was amazing.
Made this in the slow cooker (Morphy Richards sear and stew) following the instructions precisely but the sauce didn’t thicken even with the cornflour, I had to siphon off the liquid and cook it on the hob to thicken it. Once I did that it tasted good although the meat and veg weren’t quite as tender as I’d hoped from the slow cooking.
Beef wasn’t as tender as I had hoped it was a bit chewey, Carrots were rock hard – perhaps my version of chunky was too chunky? I cooked it in the oven as my slow cooker was too small. Could it be cooked lower and slower in the oven?
Thanks Sarah, always a wonderful way to start a Sunday knowing dinner is cooking whilst you’re out and the slow cooker will have the house smelling AMAZING!! Lotsa luv. Sid
Aw, I hope you enjoyed it Sid!
Ok, I made the oven version in a simple pot on the stove, and it is the best thing we’ve ever eaten…I also replaced the vien with red grape juice as my husband doesn’t drink alcohol, and it is still amazing. Thank you!