Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon
Beef Bourguignon is a classic French braise that is absolutely made for the slow cooker. In this
adaptation, beef chuck is browned to build deep flavour, then slow-cooked for 8 hours in a rich
Burgundy wine sauce with mushrooms, lardons, pearl onions, and fragrant herbs. The result is fall-apart
tender beef in a glossy, deeply flavoured sauce that tastes like it took all day - because it did,
but with barely any effort from you.
Watch: Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon
Original recipe video — click to play
Original method: 2–3 hours in a casserole dish at 160°C
Slow cooker adaptation notes
Ingredients
Main
- 200 g beef chuck, cut into 4cm chunks
- 150 g smoked lardons (or streaky bacon), roughly chopped
- 150 g pearl onions (or shallots), peeled and left whole
Sauce
- 85 ml Burgundy or Pinot Noir red wine
- 125 ml beef stock
- 1 tbsp tomato purée, heaped
- 1 tbsp plain flour, for dusting the beef
Vegetables
- 85 g chestnut mushrooms, halved
Add in the final 1–2 hours of cooking
Aromatics
- 65 g carrots, cut into 2cm chunks
- 1 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaves
To finish
- 1 tsp cornflour
Stir in during the last 30 minutes
Mixed with 1 tbsp cold water - stir in to thicken
- 1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Scatter over just before serving
Seasoning
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For browning
- salt and black pepper
To season
Method
- 1
Pat the beef chunks dry with kitchen paper. Season generously with salt and black pepper, then dust lightly with the plain flour, turning to coat all sides.
~5 mins - 2
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Brown the beef in batches - don't overcrowd the pan - until a dark crust forms on each side (about 2–3 minutes per side). Transfer each batch to the slow cooker as you go.
~12 mins - 3
In the same pan, fry the lardons over a medium-high heat until golden and beginning to crisp. Add the pearl onions and cook for 2 minutes until lightly coloured. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Tip everything into the slow cooker.
~6 mins - 4
Deglaze the frying pan with the red wine, scraping up all the sticky browned bits from the bottom - this is pure flavour. Pour into the slow cooker. Add the beef stock, tomato purée, carrots, thyme, and bay leaves. Stir gently to combine.
~3 mins - 5
Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours (or High for 4 hours). After this time, add the halved mushrooms, nestling them into the sauce. Replace the lid and cook for a further 1–2 hours on Low until the beef is completely tender and falling apart.
~8 hrsTip: Resist opening the lid - each peek adds 15–20 minutes to cooking time.
- 6Optional step
If you prefer a thicker sauce, mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoon of cold water to make a slurry. Stir it into the slow cooker, replace the lid, and cook on High for a further 20–30 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
~30 mins - 7
Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprig. Scatter with freshly chopped parsley and serve with buttery mashed potato or crusty French bread.
Nutrition
Detailed nutritional information is coming soon. For now, we recommend using a tool like MyFitnessPal to calculate values for your specific brands and quantities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes - replace the red wine with extra beef stock and add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for depth. The flavour will be different but still very good.
Comments (2)
Made this last Sunday — absolutely stunning. The sauce was so rich and glossy. My husband said it was the best thing I'd ever cooked!
Tip: use a good quality Burgundy — the difference in the final sauce is noticeable. Worth every penny.