Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon)

Beef chunks simmered in red wine in the slow cooker create a melt-in-your-mouth delicious stew. Make this crockpot version of the classic French stew, Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon), in the morning and enjoy it for dinner!

 

I feel the chill in the air! It has started to get cooler the past few days, and I have seen leaves fall all over the place already, which means Autumn has started. Yay!

 

I love the fall season, with all the gorgeous colors it brings and the wonderful and aromatic dishes we associate with it.

This is all truly fascinating to me. I come from a country which has only 2 seasons – wet and dry.

Our temperature averages in the high 80s throughout the year except perhaps for a few weeks between December and February.

That means our cooking style and food remain the same throughout the year. You can grill the whole year through and unless you have an aircon, it would always be too warm to turn on the oven.

So, I love that here in the US, with each change of the season comes a new set of food and culinary methods. I find that to be very exciting, indeed!

Indeed, the onset of fall brings with it thoughts of comfort food to help us ease through the cooler months to come. The best comfort food for my family for fall and winter is a delicious bowl of stew!

We love to try a different one each time, but we often repeat a couple of favorites, and this classic French beef stew—Boeuf Bourguignon—is certainly one of them!

I have made this many times before, but I haven’t done a slow cooker version of it on the blog. This time, I also decided to add carrots and potatoes to the mix in addition to the usual mushrooms and onions.

Beef chunks are simmered in red wine in the slow cooker and results in a melt-in-your-mouth delicious stew! Make this crockpot version of the classic French stew - Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon) in the morning and enjoy it for dinner. | manilaspoon.com

Doesn’t that look so good? Now, I am starving!

When you make either the French or Belgian stew, one ingredient is crucial, and that is the bouquet garni. Don’t be intimidated by the foreign-sounding term—it’s just herbs bunched together in a string if using fresh ones or dried ones placed inside a sachet. Below is a photo of what it looks like fresh.

Beef chunks are simmered in red wine in the slow cooker and results in a melt-in-your-mouth delicious stew! Make this crockpot version of the classic French stew - Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon) in the morning and enjoy it for dinner. | manilaspoon.com

When I use a fresh bunch of Bouquet Garni, I add it towards the end of the cooking together with the mushrooms, but when I place the dried herbs in a sachet, I simply add them together with the beef at the beginning. So feel free to choose whichever you like.

You can also buy dried bouquet garni in the grocery store (in the spice section), and simply add one little pouch when you cook your stew. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do! Happy Eating!

 FOR FULL RECIPE & INSTRUCTIONS and to PRINT, SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW

NOTES ON INGREDIENTS FOR Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon)

By: Manila Spoon
Published: 09/17/2016

Beef chunks simmered in red wine in the slow cooker result in a melt-in-your-mouth delicious stew! Make this crockpot version of the classic French stew, Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon), in the morning and enjoy it for dinner!

  • Stewing Beef (pref. chuck steak or roast) – use marbled beef or one with some fat for a more delicious and robust-flavored stew. 
  • Olive Oil – or your frying oil of choice
  • Bacon strips – preferably all-natural and nitrite-free
  • Onions – use regular yellow onions or pretty pearl onions for their sweet-tangy flavor
  • Garlic cloves – peeled and crushed
  • Carrots
  • Red Potatoes – they hold their shape better so I prefer to use them.
  • Bouquet Garni – use either fresh or dried – this is a combination of thyme, bay leaves and parsley
  • Red Wine – Use a good quality red wine (not the cooking wine) but one you would actually drink. For any leftover wine, simply have it for your dinner.
  • Mushrooms, chopped (like mini-Bella)
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon)

Liberally season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a deep pan or large skillet. Brown the cubed beef to sear. Please do this in batches to avoid overcrowding the meat and for even heating. Place the beef cubes on a large platter as you cook. Searing is worth the extra work to add more depth of flavor.

Add the bacon strips to the same pan you cooked the beef in. Allow them to brown and render their fat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté briefly with the bacon. Scrape all those yummy brown bits in there as you saute. Pour in the red wine and quickly deglaze the pan.

Place the sauteed onions and garlic, bacon, and everything else left on the pan in the slow cooker. Add the seared beef cubes, sliced carrots, and potatoes together with the bouquet garni (if using dried herbs in a sachet or packet). Give it a quick stir. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for about 8 hours or until tender to your liking.

When the beef is already tender, add the sliced mushrooms and fresh herbs (if using fresh Bouquet garni, add at this point). Cook for 30 minutes to one hour or until the mushrooms are tender.

Transfer to a platter, removing the bouquet garni before serving. Enjoy with some rice or mashed potatoes.

Yield: 6-8 Servings
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.
Cook time: 08 hrs. 00 mins.
Total time: 8 hrs. 15 mins.
Tags: French, Stew, Beef, Slow Cooker, Main Dish, Fall, Winter, Comfort Food

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Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon)

Manila Spoon
Beef chunks are simmered in red wine in the slow cooker and results in a melt-in-your-mouth delicious stew. Make this crockpot version of the classic French stew – Beef Burgundy (Boeuf Bourguignon) in the morning and enjoy it for dinner!
4.67 from 9 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 6

Ingredients
 

  • 1 kilo or 2.2 lbs stewing Beef, pref. chuck roast or chuck steak, cubed
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil, or as needed
  • 4 Bacon strips, sliced
  • 2 medium Onions or 1 pack pearl onions, peeled (sliced if you are using regular onions)
  • 3 loves Garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 1/3 cup dry Red Wine, use a good quality wine not the cooking wine but one you would actually drink
  • 1 1/2 cups Carrots, sliced (same size as cubed beef)
  • 1 1/2 cups red Potatoes, sliced (same size as cubed beef)
  • 1 Bouquet Garni, use fresh or dried (in sachet or packet) made of thyme, bay leaf and parsley
  • 8 oz brown Mushrooms, chopped (like mini-Bella)
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Liberally season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a deep pan or large skillet. Brown the cubed beef to sear. Do this in batches to avoid overcrowding the meat and for even heating. Place the beef cubes in a large platter as you cook. Searing is worth the extra work to add more depth of flavor.
  • Add the bacon strips to the same pan you cooked the beef in. Allow to brown and render its fat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté briefly with the bacon. Scrape all that yummy brown bits in there as you saute. Pour in the red wine and quickly deglaze the pan.
  • Place the sauteed onions and garlic plus bacon and everything else left on the pan on the slow cooker. Add the seared beef cubes, sliced carrots, and potatoes together with the bouquet garni (if using dried herbs in a sachet or packet). Give it a quick stir. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for about 8 hours or until tender to your liking.
  • When the beef is already tender, add the sliced mushrooms and fresh herbs (if using fresh Bouquet garni, add at this point). Cook for another 30 minutes to one hour or until the mushrooms are tender.
  • Transfer to a platter, removing the bouquet garni before serving. Enjoy with some rice or mashed potatoes.

Notes

TIPS & TRICKS
 
Use marbled beef or one with some fat for a more delicious and robust-flavored stew. 
Use a good quality red wine not the cooking wine but one you would actually drink. For any leftover wine, simply have it for your dinner.
The initial steps may take some effort but, trust me, it’s worth doing all that because the flavor comes out tastier. The initial searing of beef adds depth of flavor to the stew so do it, if possible.
If time is an issue, simply season the beef before using it. At least fry the bacon and add it with the rest of the ingredients including its (some or all) of its drippings. This would add extra flavor too.
Use regular onions for convenience but use pearl onions for that extra tang they add to this yummy stew. 
Pearl onions, if using, need to be peeled first. Place in freshly boiled water for 3 minutes and then scoop out with colander and transfer to a bowl with cold water to cool down. Simply slice off the root ends of the onion and then push from the top to pop out the portion of the onion you are using. This is the easy way of peeling pearl onions.
Keyword beef burgundy in the crockpot recipe, beef stew cooked in red wine, beef with bouquet garni recipe, Boeuf Bourguignon, easy beef bourguignon, how to make bouquet garni, Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy, slow cooker beef stew with red wine
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

Last updated on September 9th, 2024 at 06:44 pm

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20 Comments

  1. September 21, 2016 / 3:25 pm

    Just a lovely meal, cannot wait to try!

    • September 21, 2016 / 11:38 pm

      The mushrooms sure add a lot of flavor here! Thanks Lauren!

  2. September 21, 2016 / 10:42 pm

    This looks great, warm and comforting, perfect for Autumn!

  3. Lorna
    November 17, 2017 / 8:18 am

    Can I use beef tenderloin strips??

    • abigail
      Author
      December 7, 2017 / 10:16 am

      Yes, that should be fine. Thanks and hope you enjoy this!

  4. December 7, 2017 / 7:02 am

    That looks absolutely perfect on a cold day like today!

  5. Carolyn
    December 8, 2017 / 6:41 pm

    This looks so yummy!

  6. December 10, 2017 / 12:49 pm

    Great combo and this is a wonderful choice for dinner!

  7. Carol S.
    January 3, 2020 / 10:33 am

    When you say a “small bundle” of dried herbs, that would be… a bay leaf plus 1 tsp. parsley and 1 tsp. thyme?

    • abigail
      Author
      January 29, 2020 / 3:08 am

      I actually buy a pouch of dried herbs already prepped and measured so I don’t know exactly how much that is. If you wish to try simply double the amount (based on your measurements) to make sure the flavors would come out or adjust to taste. Thanks!

  8. Swathi
    October 21, 2021 / 8:17 pm

    5 stars
    Slow cooker beef burgundy boeuf looks yum. This makes an excellent meal.

  9. Natalie
    October 22, 2021 / 6:34 am

    5 stars
    Perfect winter comfort food. Looks amazing. Such a lovely family dinner. I haven’t made it in a while. I will try your recipe this weekend.

4.67 from 9 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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