Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon - Shortcut The French Dish That Practically Cooks Itself

🇫🇷 Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon Recipe: A Southern French Holiday Inspired Red Wine Stew! 🍷

Escape to France with this rich, warming, and authentic Beef Bourguignon recipe, perfectly adapted for your slow cooker! Inspired by the deep, rustic flavors of a recent French holiday, this is the ultimate comfort food and a show-stopping dish for any dinner.

Forget the complicated versions! This recipe uses braising steak cut into cubes, which becomes incredibly tender after 6-8 hours on low in the slow cooker. We’ve added a delicious twist with nutty chestnut mushrooms (or button), the aromatic lift of herbes de Provence, and, of course, a generous splash of full-bodied red wine (like a Pinot Noir or Burgundy).
It's the perfect dish for freezing (up to 3 months!) and is an ideal, make-ahead weeknight meal that tastes like you spent all day in a French kitchen.
What You’ll Learn in This Video:
• Pro Tip: How to sear beef and render bacon for maximum flavor before slow cooking.
• Essential Ingredients: The best type of red wine and cut of braising steak for a deep, rich stew.
• The Southern France Secret: Using dried Herbes de Provence to bring that holiday flavor home.
• Slow Cooker Adaptation: Exact liquid measurements (300ml wine, 200ml stock) for the perfect Bourguignon texture in your crockpot.

Ingredients

Beef bourguignon
SERVES 4
FREEZE UP TO 3 MONTHS
200g streaky bacon rashers, chopped
1-2 tosp olive oil
900g (21b) braising steak, cut into 4cm (1½in) cubes
12 small shallots or 200g of pearl onions, peeled and left whole
1 tbsp plain flour
115g (40z) chestnut mushroom for a nutty flavour or button mushrooms
1 bay leaf dried, 2 fresh
1 tsp dried herbes de Provence salt and freshly ground black pepper
300ml (10fl oz) red wine (full bodies, in France a Pinot Noir or. Burgundy is often used, but a full bodies wine you’re comfortable with will work).
200ml (7fl oz) hot beef stock for the slow cooker (300ml/10fl oz for the traditional method)
Serve with Mash Potatoes or carrots, broccoli or French beans.

Method
in the slow cooker PREP 20 MINS COOK 20 MINS PRECOOKING; AUTO/LOW 6-8 HRS

1
Preheat the slow cooker, if required. Fry the bacon in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat until lightly browned. Drain on kitchen paper, then set aside and keep warm. Depending on how much fat is left from the bacon, add a little oil to the casserole, if necessary, so you have 2-3 tbsp, and increase the heat to high. Fry the beef (in batches, if necessary) for 8-10 minutes until browned all over. Remove, set aside, and keep warm. Reduce the heat to medium and fry the onions for 6-8 minutes and then remove these too, and set aside with the meat.
2
Stir the flour into the remaining fat in the casserole. If the casserole is quite dry, mix the flour with a little of the wine or stock. Pour the remaining wine and stock into the casserole and bring to the boil, stirring, until smooth. Add the mushrooms, bay leaf, and dried herbs. Add seasoning and then transfer everything to the slow cooker, including the bacon, beef, and shallots. Cover with the lid and cook on auto/low for 6-8 hours. To serve remove the bay leaf, and plate with mashed potatoes, baby carrots, and a green vegetable such as broccoli or French beans.

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