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This slow-cooker beef bourguignon is a French classic made simple! This version is gluten-free and easy to modify for AIP.

What is Beef Bourguignon?

If you’re familiar with Julia Child, you may know Beef Bourguignon. Beef Bourguignon or “Beef Burgundy” is a savory French stew that’s similar to coq au vin. It’s made by slowly stewing stew meat, hearty vegetables, and red wine… and some bacon for good measure! It’s often served over mashed potatoes or noodles and topped off with fresh herbs.

Though this dish can seem a bit labor-intensive, it’s really not that complicated at all. Using the slow cooker makes this a really simple dish that will still impress your dinner guests.

This Beef Bourguignon is gluten-free, paleo, and can be made AIP and whole30 depending on whether or not you choose to add the classic red wine to the dish.

The Ingredients for Beef Bourguignon

  • Beef stew meat. You can also use chuck roast sliced into pieces.
  • Bacon. Bacon adds a nice smokey flavor to the stew.
  • Carrots, mushrooms, white sweet potato, and pearl onions. Pearl onions can be challenging to find fresh, but I was able to find them frozen. As for the white sweet potato, you can also use orange sweet potato or parsnip.
  • Beef broth & red wine. Red wine is a key ingredient in this recipe. Alcohol typically cooks out during cooking, however, if you’d rather not have alcohol, you can also substitute more beef broth.

How to Make Beef Bourguignon in the Slow Cooker

  • Brown the protein. Crisp the bacon in a pan, and then brown the stew meat. Place in the slow cooker. 

  • Deglaze the pan with wine. 
  • Fill the slow cooker. Add the wine to the slow cooker along with the sweet potato, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and pearl onions. Pour 3 1/2 cups of beef broth, tomato paste, and seasonings (reserving the parsley) into the slow cooker and stir well to combine. 
  • Cook on low and then thicken the broth with arrowroot starch. 
  • Serve! Spoon the beef bourguignon into serving bowls with a side of mashed white sweet potato. Top with chopped parsley to serve. 

Tips & Tricks

  • Don’t skip the pearl onions. They really add something to the dish! You can find them frozen, or often in a jar or clamshell packaging near the produce.
  • Serve this with a side. You’ll definetly want a side like mashed parsnip, cauliflower, or white sweet potato.

Can you make this recipe ahead of time?

You can! Simply keep in the the fridge for 3-4 days and reheat it in a pot on the stove over low heat until warm.

Can you make this recipe in the instant pot?

You can either use the slow cooker setting to make this in the instant pot, or the “stew” setting.

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Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

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Description

This slow cooker beef bourguignon is a French classic made simple. It’s made without white flour and is paleo-friendly.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 pieces of bacon, chopped
  • 2 lbs beef stew meat
  • 1 1/2 cup red wine, (see notes for AIP)
  • 1 cup white sweet potato, chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 cup pearl onions
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups beef broth, divided
  • 2 tbsp arrowroot starch
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste (sub nightshade free for AIP)
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper (omit for AIP)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

  1. Using a large, deep skillet, cook the chopped bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Reserve the fat in the pan.
  2. Add the stew meat to the pan and lightly brown on each side. Remove from the pan and add to the slow cooker. 
  3. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape any browned bits off the pan, stirring it into the wine. Allow the wine to simmer for 2-3 minutes. 
  4. Add the wine to the slow cooker along with the sweet potato, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and pearl onions. Pour 3 1/2 cups of beef broth, tomato paste, and seasonings (reserving the parsley) into the slow cooker and stir well to combine. 
  5. Place the lid on the slow cooker the slow cooker to low and allow to cook for 7 1/2 hours. To thicken the broth, use a small bowl to whisk together ½ cup of beef broth and 2 tbsp of arrowroot starch. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker and cook on low for another half an hour. 
  6. Remove the lid and discard the bay leaf.
  7. Spoon the beef bourguignon into serving bowls with a side of mashed white sweet potato. Top with chopped parsley to serve. 

Notes

Though alcohol is not AIP compliant, cooking wine allows the alcohol to cook off. If you still choose to forgo the wine, just substitute for broth. 

All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Nutritional information does not include optional ingredients.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 341
  • Fat: 15.3g
  • Carbohydrates: 12.9g
  • Fiber: 2.3g
  • Protein: 35.2g

This recipe was published in 2019 and updated in 2023. Photos by Modern Food Stories.