Easy Stovetop Beef Bourguignon
A simplified take on the French classic — tender beef simmered in red wine with mushrooms and carrots. One pot, no fancy cuts, perfect for a cozy weekend. The dish comes from Burgundy, where the local wine was cheap enough to cook with and country cooks braised whatever cut they had on hand. Long, gentle cooking is the whole trick: it is what turns a tough shoulder into meat that gives way under a fork.
Prep time20 min
Cook time90 min
Total time110 min
Servings6 servings
DifficultyMedium
Ingredients
- 1kg stewing beef, cut into chunks
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3 carrots, sliced thick
- 250g mushrooms, quartered
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- 1Toss the beef with the flour, salt and pepper until every piece wears a thin, even dusting. The flour helps the meat colour and thickens the sauce later without any extra step.
- 2Heat the oil in a heavy pot over high heat until it shimmers, then brown the beef in batches — about 3-4 minutes per batch, leaving space between the pieces. Crowd the pot and the meat steams instead of searing. Set each batch aside as it finishes.
- 3Lower the heat to medium and soften the onions and carrots in the same pot for 6-8 minutes, scraping up the browned bits as they loosen.
- 4Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the mushrooms have released their water and started to colour again.
- 5Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a full minute until it darkens and smells sweet rather than raw, then pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot clean.
- 6Return the beef along with any juices on the plate, add the stock and bay leaves, and bring to a bare simmer — a few bubbles breaking the surface, not a rolling boil.
- 7Cover and cook gently for about 1.5 hours, stirring every 20 minutes, until a fork slides into the meat with no resistance at all.
- 8Season to taste. If the sauce still looks thin, simmer it uncovered for 10 minutes to reduce, then serve with mashed potatoes or crusty bread.
Tips
- Brown the beef in batches so it sears instead of steaming.
- Any dry red wine works — you don't need anything expensive.
- The stew tastes even better the next day, so make extra.
- If the finished sauce tastes sharp or strongly of alcohol, stir in a teaspoon of sugar and simmer for another 5 minutes to round it out.
- Chuck, shin and other stewing cuts are what you want here. A lean steak cut will turn dry and stringy after an hour and a half.
