Bœuf Bourguignon

Burgundy Beef Braised in Red Wine

Beef, a bottle of red wine and three hours. The meat is browned, braised until it can be cut with a spoon, and finished with bacon, mushrooms and small onions that are cooked separately so they keep their shape. The French put it first when asked which dish stands for their country.

In an Ipsos poll reported in April 2025, bœuf bourguignon was named by 39 per cent of respondents as the dish that best represents France, ahead of cassoulet and blanquette de veau.

Both recipes read brown the beef and bacon, add flour, wine and aromatics, and cook the casserole covered in a low oven for three hours. One marinates the beef in the wine overnight first. Both note that it is better the next day.

Ingredients

For the braise

  • 1.3 kg beef shin or chuck, cut into 5 cm pieces
  • 750 ml dry red wine (a Burgundy or other pinot noir if possible)
  • 2 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley stalks)
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 200 g smoked lardons
  • 20 g plain flour (about 2 tbsp)
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 400 ml beef stock
  • Fine sea salt and black pepper

For the garnish

  • 20 g butter
  • 250 g small shallots or pearl onions, peeled
  • 250 g button mushrooms, halved if large
  • Chopped parsley, to serve

Method

  1. Marinate (optional) Put the beef, carrots, onion, garlic and bouquet garni in a bowl, pour over the wine, cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. Drain, keeping the wine, and pat the meat very dry.
  2. Brown Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan). Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over a medium-high heat and fry the lardons until golden, then lift out. Brown the beef in the fat in three batches, 5 to 6 minutes each, until dark on all sides. Lift out.
  3. Build the braise Cook the carrots and onion in the casserole for 5 minutes. Return the beef, sprinkle over the flour and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomato purée, wine, stock, garlic and bouquet garni and bring to a simmer, scraping the base.
  4. Braise Cover and cook in the oven for 3 hours, until the beef is tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
  5. Cook the garnish About 30 minutes before the end, melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the shallots over a medium heat for 10 minutes until golden and nearly tender. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes more.
  6. Finish Stir the lardons, shallots and mushrooms into the casserole and return to the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni, taste for salt and scatter with parsley. Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes.

Dry the meat well. Wet meat steams instead of browning.

Make it a day ahead. It improves, and the fat lifts off when cold.

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