Bistro Style Beef Bourguignon – A Rich & Comforting Classic

Make restaurant-quality Beef Bourguignon (a.k.a. Beef/Bœuf Burgundy) at home: brown beef cheeks or chuck, build a red-wine braise with tomato purée and stock, then finish with bacon lardons, mushrooms and pearl onions. Includes tips for wine reduction, flour-based thickening (roux in the pot), and a port-glazed garnish. No veal stock needed—supermarket ingredients, oven-braised until spoon-tender with a glossy, reduced sauce. 0:00 Intro & browning beef 1:50 Mirepoix, tomato purée, flour (roux-in-pot) 5:38 Red wine reduction & stock 7:44 Oven braise (3h @150°C) 8:13 Bacon–mushroom–pearl onion garnish (port glaze) 10:37 Assemble & serve Ingredients • Beef cheeks (or any braising beef joint), cut into large chunks: 1.2–1.5kg • Refined olive oil (or any neutral oil): As needed for browning • Salt: To taste • Lardons or diced streaky bacon: 150g, divided • Carrots (chunky cut): 2 medium • Celery (chunky cut): 2 sticks • Onion (chunky cut): 1 large • Mushroom stems (reserved from mushrooms used later): From 250g mushrooms • Tomato purée: 2 tbsp • All-purpose flour: 2 tbsp • Cognac (optional): 60ml • Red wine (cheap and cheerful): 500ml or as needed • Chicken stock (or water): As needed to top up • Bay leaves: 2 • Cloves: 2–3 • Chestnut mushrooms (quartered): 250g • Pearl onions (frozen or peeled): 150g • Tawny port (optional, for glazing garnish): 50ml • Fresh thyme, parsley stalks (optional for bouquet garni): As available • Black pepper (optional for garnish): To taste Instructions 1. Heat oil in a large pan until shimmering. Brown beef chunks in batches, seasoning with salt. Press them down with a spatula to maximise surface contact. Remove when deeply caramelised. 2. Lower the heat to medium-low and render half the lardons until a good amount of fat is released. 3. Add the carrots, celery, onions, and mushroom stems to the rendered fat. Season lightly with salt. Sweat gently until aromatic but not browned. 4. Add the tomato purée and cook briefly to remove rawness. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat the vegetables, cooking for another minute. 5. (Optional) Add cognac to deglaze, scraping the fond from the pan. Once reduced, add the red wine bit by bit, continuing to scrape and build flavour. Reduce wine if you prefer a deeper, less acidic sauce. 6. Return the beef (and juices) to the pan. Top up with chicken stock or water just enough to almost cover the meat, leaving a thin surface exposed for further browning in the oven. Add bay leaves, cloves, and any optional bouquet garni herbs. 7. Cover loosely with a lid or foil. Bake at 150°C for about 3 hours, rotating the beef pieces occasionally to encourage even Maillard reaction, topping up liquid if needed. 8. Render the remaining lardons in a cold pan. Once some fat is released, add quartered mushrooms, season lightly, and brown. Add pearl onions and cook until slightly caramelised. Deglaze with tawny port, scraping fond, and reduce to a glossy glaze. 9. Carefully remove beef from the braising liquid. Sieve and discard vegetables (or leave rustic if preferred). Combine beef, glazed garnish, and cooking liquid. Heat through gently. 10. Garnish with optional black pepper. Serve with buttery mash, crusty bread, or simply on its own. Notes • If pearl onions are unavailable, substitute chunky diced onions. • Rotating the meat during cooking builds deeper flavours from additional browning. ____ Follow us on Instagram:   / w2kitchn   #W2Kitchen #beefbourguignon