Beef Bourguignon {Oven, Slow Cooker or Instant Pot}

A big bowl of beef bourguignon on a white surface, ready to eat. Filled with meat, onions, carrots in a rich gravy.

4.48 from 67 votes

Beef Bourguignon {Oven, Slow Cooker or Instant Pot}

This Beef Bourguignon recipe is filled with rich, red wine gravy and tender cuts of meat for a mouthwatering meal. Make it in the oven, slow cooker or instant pot - your choice!

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 35

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Family Food

Servings: People

Author: Sarah Rossi

Ingredients

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 kg Braising beef
200 g Smoked bacon lardons
4 Cloves of garlic Peeled and crushed
450 g Pearl onions I use frozen
5 Large carrots Peeled, trimmed and cut into big chunks
400 g Button mushrooms
400 ml Red wine
350 ml Beef stock
2 tbsp Dried thyme
3 tbsp Tomato puree
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp Cornflour
Chopped fresh parsley to serve.

Metric - Imperial

Instructions

To cook in the oven:

Heat the oil over a medium heat and brown the beef and bacon. Remove from the pan but keep the bits in stuck to the bottom for flavour.
Add the garlic, onions, carrots and mushrooms to the pan and stir for about 5 minutes to loosen the bits of the bottom from browning the meat.
Add the bacon and beef back into the pan. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for about 1.5hrs at 150C.
Towards the end of the cooking time, make a cornflour slurry to thicken (see notes below). Serve.

To cook in the slow cooker:

Brown your beef and bacon in the slow cooker pan (if yours allows it) OR use a pan on the hob.
Add all of the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 6 hours on LOW.
Towards the end of the cooking time, make a cornflour slurry to thicken (see notes below). Serve.

To cook in the pressure cooker:

Heat the oil over a medium heat in your pressure cooker and brown the beef in batches. Remove from the pan but keep the bits in stuck to the bottom for flavour.
Put in the bacon pieces and fry on a high heat until starting to go brown and crispy.
Add in the garlic, onions, carrots and mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes until just starting to colour.
Put the browned beef back into the pan, along with the red wine, beef stock, dried thyme, tomato puree and plenty of salt and pepper. Give everything a good stir.
Lock on the lid of the pressure cooker, turn the pressure to II (or whichever regular setting your pressure cooker uses), wait for the pressure indicator to show you that it has reached pressure and then reduce the heat until it reaches a low, regular hiss.
Cook for 45 minutes and when the time is up, quick release the pressure (making sure it's away from your face/hand).
Spoon a ladle or two of cooking juice out of the pan into a small bowl and whisk in the cornflour to make a smooth paste with no lumps. Add back into the pressure cooker and stir well.
Allow this to bubble for 5 minutes to thicken and serve.

Notes

Pearl onions: Life is too short to peel a miniature onion in my opinion! BUT they really do make a difference in this, so I use pre peeled frozen ones. These are available from Ocado and some other big supermarkets

Carrots: Keep in in large chunks for texture in the dish

Beef: This recipe uses braising steak (or braising beef), which is any kind of beef that is suited to long, slow cooking is fine. This includes chuck, skirt, leg and flank. I sometimes use beef shin for these recipes. It can be more fatty though, but is super tasty

Before browning the beef: Be sure to dry your beef pieces with kitchen paper before frying. This will mean that they brown easily more in the pan

How to make a ‘slurry’: First you add cornflour to a small bowl, mug or jug, then use a little liquid from a dish (a spoonful or two) to mix the cornflour into a paste consistency. Add that back into the dish’s sauce. If you just sprinkle cornflour straight into the dish, it will form lumps that are almost impossible to get rid of

If using an instant pot: Make sure you follow the instructions on your own pressure cooker for safety, as they may vary

Nutrition