Easy Beef Bourguignon with Slow Cooker

One of my favourite movies is Julie & Julia. I never get bored from watching it and it goes without saying that the best food shown there is the beef bourguignon. The preparation of this classic French dish is pictured like a magical moment, where each step of the recipe is carefully followed and perfectly executed (or almost, as the first attempt of beef bourguignon by Julie fails 🙂 ).

Beef bourguignon is probably one of my favorite dishes. It is ideal for winter or for those colder days when you crave some comforting, mouth-watering and rich-flavoured meaty dish.

In order to slow-cook the beef, I use a proper slow cooker, which makes this recipe even simpler. I first sauté all the ingredients in a pan and then combine them all in the slow cooker pot. I usually set the slow cooker to medium heat and let the beef bourguignon cook for 6 hours, stirring only a couple of times. The more you cook the meat, the better (max. 8 hours).

These are my tips for the perfect beef bourguignon: the meat must be of high quality (I got mine from the butcher); use big chunks of meat, vegetables and mushrooms; in order to obtain a thick sauce, coat the meat with cornflour.

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Easy Beef Bourguignon with Slow Cooker

Author: Stella

Difficulty: Medium Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 360 min Total Time 6 hrs 15 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients

Servings

• 600 grams Beef (cut in big chunks)
• 1 Onion (roughly chopped)
• 2 Carrots (roughly chopped)
• 150 Chestnut Mushrooms (sliced)
• 2 tablespoons Cornflour
• 2 pinches of Salt
• Pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
• 100 milliliters Red Wine (I used a Bordeaux wine)
• 200 milliliters Water
• 1 cube of Beef Stock
• 1 Large Shallot (cut in quarters)
• Fresh Thyme (2-3 sprigs)
• 3 Bay Leaves
• EVO Oil (to saute the meat, vegetables and mushrooms, approx 3 tsp)

Instructions

1. Heat a tsp of olive oil in a large pan and add the beef chunks. Fry the beef over a medium–high heat until nicely browned on all sides.
   
2. As soon as the beef is browned, transfer to the slow cooker pot.
   
3. Add the cornflour, 2 pinches of salt and pepper and mix well.
   
4. Pour a little more oil into the pan in which the beef was browned and fry the chopped onion and carrots over medium-low heat for 5–6 minutes, stirring often until softened. Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker pot.
   
5. Finally, pour a little more oil into the same pan and fry the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often until browned. Transfer the mushrooms to the slow cooker pot.
   
6. Add all the remaining ingredients into the slow cooker pot: pour over the wine and water. Stir in the tomato purée, crumble over the stock cube, add the herbs and the shallot. Stir well.
   
7. Place the pot in the slow cooker, set heat to medium, and cover with the lid. Cook for 6 to 8 hours, stirring a couple of times.
   
8. Serve the beef bourguignon with some roasted vegetables or mashed potatoes or polenta.