If you've ever enjoyed a bowl of beef bourguignon, you're well aware that this warm, rich dish belongs on any elegant winter menu. But did you know that the famous French favorite actually has pretty humble beginnings? Culinary creator Matthew Ryle writes in his cookbook, French Classics, that the hearty stew was initially made out of necessity: "This is a dish — like so many of the classics — that started as a peasant meal made at home, a way to slow-cook tough, unwanted cuts of meat using ingredients already on hand. Over the years, it has been refined. Now, it's the perfect meal if you want to impress but don’t want to work too hard."
In fact, Ryle describes this fancy-seeming dish as "easy." He explains, "All that’s required is patience, to allow time and the cooking process to work their magic. Although the timings may look a little daunting, there is actually very little active effort needed during this recipe; it’s only cutting, marinating, then a quick sear in the pan before the oven takes over. Plenty of time to kick back and enjoy your day."
And by the time it’s ready, you’re rewarded with a deeply flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth dish that makes every step worth it.
Beef Bourguignon
Prep time: 25 minutes, plus 4–12 hours marinating
Cooking time: 4 ½ hours
Serves: 4–6
Ingredients
- 1 bottle of full-bodied red wine, ideally Burgundy
- 2¼ lbs (1kg) braising beef
- 7oz (200g) smoked cured belly bacon, such as pancetta
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- ½ garlic bulb
- 1 bouquet garni (see below)
- 1½ tbsp (25ml) olive oil
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- Scant 1 cup (200ml) beef stock
- Sea salt flakes and fresh-cracked black pepper
- ⅔ cup (100g) baby onions, peeled
- 3½ oz (100g) button mushrooms
- 4 tsp (10g) chopped parsley leaves
Instructions
- Pour the red wine into a saucepan set over a high heat, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute, then leave to cool in a large bowl. This is to remove the alcohol and intensify the flavor.
- Cut the beef into pieces, aiming for 1 ¼ inch (3 cm) cubes. Cut the bacon into lardons.
- Put the beef in a large bowl with the lardons, vegetables, garlic, and bouquet garni. Pour the cooled wine over, making sure the ingredients are fully covered. Marinate overnight in the fridge, or for at least 4 hours if you are stretched for time.
- Pour the marinated ingredients through a sieve over a bowl and leave to drain for a few minutes, reserving the red wine. You want the ingredients to be as dry as possible, so they get maximum caramelization in the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 275ºF.
- Place a large, heavy-based pot which has a lid over a medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil, followed by the beef, turning until all the pieces are nicely browned all over. Remove from the pot and repeat this process with the lardons, then finally the vegetables and garlic bulb, keeping the bouquet garni separate. Once the vegetables are nicely browned, reduce the temperature and evenly sprinkle over the flour, then cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
- Gradually add the red wine to the vegetables, stirring, to form a smooth sauce that starts to thicken. Then add the beef stock in the same way. Follow with the colored beef, lardons, and bouquet garni. Check the seasoning, cover with a lid and place in the oven for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, everything should have begun melding together nicely. At this stage, you want to remove the vegetables from the sauce. The easiest way to do this is to place a large colander over a clean pan and pour everything into the colander. Now that the sauce is in a clean pan, pick out the beef and lardons from the colander and return them to the sauce, discarding the vegetables, garlic, and bouquet garni.
- Add the baby onions and button mushrooms to the beef, then place back in the oven for a final hour.
- At this stage, your sauce should be luscious and thick: beef completely tender and melting and all vegetables nicely cooked. Finish with the chopped parsley and serve.
Notes: Any braising cuts of beef, from chuck to short rib, would work equally well with this recipe. However, the best cut for me is beef cheeks: a little harder to find (though all good butchers will have them), cheeks give the most satisfying results, thanks to being packed with melting collagen and marbled fat. They are marinated, slowly cooked with red wine and vegetables, then finished with bacon, onions, mushrooms, and chopped parsley. And you can’t beat a proper pommes purée (pureed potatoes) to go alongside. This is also a great dish to batch-cook, as it freezes so well. As a quick midweek dinner, it’s pretty versatile and is great with some green vegetables and a microwaved sachet of rice, if you don’t prefer boiling your own.
*A bouquet garni is a small bundle of herbs and herb stalks, usually hard herbs including bay leaf, thyme, and parsley, tied together with kitchen string. Used in stocks, sauces, and stews to add flavor and easily removed by means of the string.
From French Classics: Easy and elevated dishes to cook at home by Matthew Ryle, on sale from Bloomsbury Publishing. Copyright © 2025 by Matthew Ryle. All rights reserved.
