A full-flavored Slow Cooked Beef Burgundy with lean stew beef, mushrooms, pearl onions, and carrots. Add a wonderful red wine and beef consommé to create an exquisite sauce for this robust French bourguignon.
Oh, I can hear y’all! “Yippee! Another slow cooker beef dish. Just what we need!”. Before you click away…WAIT! Because there is a difference between this dish and all the others!
Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy, or as the French call it, “Beef Bourguignon” (This is the total sum of 3 years of High School French Class! Please be impressed!) is different from your typical slow cooked pot roast or slow cooked beef stew!
Pot Roasts typically have a rich beef broth. Beef Stew is steeped in a tomato and beef broth base. However, Beef Burgundy has a robust flavor derived from its use of deep local French Burgundy wine (Yep load up the suitcases…you’re gonna have to go to France to buy the wine!) and Beef Consommé.
It’s a French recipe, and we all know the French are known for their full-flavored dishes. (Allow me to wallow in a decadent French Sauce any day of the week! I’d die happy! )
The other difference with a Slow Cooked Beef Burgundy and typical slow cooker beef recipes is that Beef Burgundy contains no potatoes! What’s the reason for this? This dish is generally served over pasta! I know, I know, I served mine over mashed potatoes…what can I say? A meat and potatoes Man lives at this Nest! I recommend the pasta for the full Beef Burgundy experience.
How To Make Beef Burgundy in a Slow Cooker
The beauty of this dish is it makes its own gravy and only uses a handful of ingredients.
You’ll need two pounds of cubed beef stew meat. Place the stew beef in the bottom of a 3-1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker. Season the beef with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper.
Sprinkle 1/3 cup all-purpose flour over the top of the beef. Using a wooden spoon toss/stir the beef to coat it in the flour. Mix well.
TIP: The flour helps create the rich gravy as the beef cooks.
TIP: Trim off any extra fat on your cubed stew beef to prevent the gravy from being too greasy! It’s a tricky balance. You don’t want to trim off all the fat because fat is flavor!! So you have to figure out what works best for your family and their tastes.
Adding the Vegetables
Add one bay leaf and one clove minced garlic on top of the beef. Next, add 1-1/2 cups fresh baby carrots, cut in half crosswise. The carrots add a hint of sweetness to this dish, not to mention beautiful color!
Next up…1 (8 – 10 oz.) package of fresh pearl onions, peeled! (You want to peel these…unless you’re trying to kill someone with this dish! ) Place the onions on top of the carrots and beef. You want to use fresh onions, not canned, in this dish. The juices from the onions adds an extra depth of flavor to this dish.
TIP: Now these little gems can be a pain to peel! There are several ways to peel them, including placing them in boiling water for 2–3 minutes and then pushing them out of the softened skins. However, I generally trim off the tops and bottoms, then peel the skins off.
Add 1 (8 oz.) package fresh small whole mushrooms with the stems removed. You can leave the stems on, however, it presents nicer if they are trimmed.
All that’s left is to add 1 cup water and 1/2 cup red Burgundy wine.
Let’s pause here and chat a minute about why we’re using wine and why Burgundy wine? First let’s state the obvious…why are we using wine? It’s a French dish! Hello!!! Is there a French sauce that doesn’t contain wine?!!
Which brings us to the second “why” Burgundy? Because wine in a meat dish, any meat dish, adds a depth of flavor you will NOT find using anything else. Not only does it add flavor, wine tenderizes meat! It’s important, though, when cooking with wine, that you use the right wine! Finding a true “burgundy” is hard. You can substitute with a Merlot, Cabernet, a California or Oregon Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir is the type of grape used to make the wine. I went with a deep, medium priced, Cabernet. You can use a red cooking wine found at any grocery store. Just be aware that cooking wines sold in markets tend to have a lower alcohol base, which means it won’t tenderize as well as an actual full-bodied wine, but it will give you some of the flavor found in a bottle of Merlot or Cabernet.
Lastly, add 1 can of condensed beef consommé!
What is Beef Consommé? It is a richer and thicker beef concentrate. Beef broth is thinner and has a weaker beef flavor. For the robust flavor we are trying to accomplish in this beef dish I use the beef consommé.
How To Cook Crock Pot Beef Burgundy
Cover the stew; cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally, to prevent the stew from burning to the bottom of the dish.
10–12 hours may seem like a long cook time with newer slow cookers that cook at higher temps. However, I have found this recipe really takes a solid 10 hours in order for the liquids to thicken and create the amazing savory gravy that makes this dish famous!
Serving Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy Stew
As stated at the beginning of this post, this dish is generally served over pasta. Egg Noodles are the preferred pasta, but you could use Fettuccine, even Orzo would add a wonderful texture to this dish. To keep the meat and potato lover at this nest happy, I went with my creamy Savory Herbed Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes.
I L.O.V.E. everything about this dish!
The beef is so tender it falls apart, yet holds it shape for serving. Tender sweet carrots absorb all the wonderful flavor from the wine and beef consommé! The pearl onions!!! I don’t even know where to begin with them. Each one is a sweet little bite, full of succulent flavor….and the mushrooms…heavenly!
The rich flavorful gravy is worthy of its place on the center stage of this dish! Your can lap it up till the plate is clean…but don’t! Like Grandma would say “You weren’t raised in a barn!”. Instead, use a piece of Soft Homemade French bread to chase it all over the plate till every last drop has been sopped up and gobbled up! Bread and gravy has its own special place in Heaven’s Food Court! (Oh there’s a Food Court in Heaven!!)
Other Great Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy
- Easy Slow Cooker Hawaiian Haystacks
- Slow Cooker Cuban Pork
- Copy Cat Cafe Rio Chicken
- Slow Cooker Peach Glazed Ham
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Thighs from Joyous Apron
I hope you enjoy this hearty beef dish as much as we do! It’s a fantastic dish that slow cooks while you get on with all your busy Holiday “to-do” lists!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Happy Nesting!
Easy Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy
A full-flavored Slow Cooked Beef Burgundy with lean stew beef, mushrooms, pearl onions, and carrots. Add a wonderful red wine and beef consomme to create an exquisite sauce for this robust French bourguignon.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 2 lb. cubed, trimmed, beef stew meat
- 1-1/2 cups fresh baby carrots, cut in half crosswise
- 1 (10 oz.) package (3 cups) fresh pearl onions, peeled
- 1 (8 oz.) package fresh small whole mushrooms, stems trimmed
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 (10-1/2 oz.) can condensed beef consomme
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup red Burgundy Wine, or Merlot, or Cabernet
Instructions
- In 3-1/2- to 4 quart slow cooker, combine flour, slat, pepper with beef stew meat. mix well. Add all remaining ingredients. Mix well.
- Cover, cook on Low setting for 10-12 hours, stirring occasionally.
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