Beef bourguignon
Beef braised slowly in red wine with bacon, carrots and mushrooms until it falls apart, the French stew that makes the whole apartment smell incredible.
- 225 min total
- 60 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $5.81 a serving
- 580 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 2½ lb stew beef, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, cut into thick coins
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp butter
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, quartered
- 4 shallots, halved
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Each serving has about 580 calories, 44 g protein, 19 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $5.81 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No stew beef? Chuck roast works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No beef broth? Bone broth works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 325°F. the beef very dry with paper towels and it with the salt and pepper.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Cook the bacon in a over medium heat until , about 6 minutes. Lift it out onto a paper towel, leaving the fat.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
Turn the heat to medium-high, add the oil and brown the beef in three batches, about 5 minutes per batch, turning until well on most sides. Move it to a plate.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: This takes a while and it’s worth it. Deep brown beef is where the stew’s flavor comes from.Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and carrots and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic, tomato paste and flour for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Pour in the wine and scrape up all the from the bottom. Let it bubble for 2 minutes.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Add the broth, thyme, bay leaves, the beef with its juices and the bacon, and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
Cover and move the pot to the oven. Cook for 2½ to 3 hours, until the beef falls apart when pressed with a spoon.
Timer: 165 min
Dolly’s tip: Use oven mitts for the pot and the lid every time. The handles get just as hot as the oven.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
About 20 minutes before the stew is done, the butter in a over medium-high heat and cook the mushrooms and shallots, stirring now and then, for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 9 min
Stir the mushrooms and shallots into the stew, pull out the bay leaves, taste for salt, and serve with parsley.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Texas chili con carne
180 min
Instant Pot Hungarian goulash
90 min
Steak and mushroom pie
190 min
Slow cooker chile verde
510 min
High-protein dinners ›Cozy comfort food ›What to make with baby bella mushrooms and carrots ›