Making slow cooker Beef Bourguignon without mushrooms shows how easy it is to prepare this French classic at home. Tender beef, smoky bacon, carrots and pearl onions slowly braised in a rich red wine sauce make a comforting, flavorful meal.
Using a slow cooker keeps things simple: you brown a few ingredients, add everything to the crockpot, and let it do the work. Cleanup is minimal compared with stovetop or oven braising.
Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon
Beef Bourguignon may seem like an intimidating dish, but it’s simply a matter of building layers of flavor and allowing time to tenderize the meat. This version is adapted for the slow cooker and skips mushrooms without sacrificing depth of flavor. Leftovers freeze well if you want to save some for another meal.
I left out mushrooms on purpose and found they weren’t missed — the wine-reduced sauce, bacon and caramelized onions provide plenty of savory complexity.
Stew in the Crockpot
I used to braise everything in a cast iron pan, but the slow cooker preserves the texture of the vegetables and makes the meat fall-apart tender. Low-and-slow cooking develops deep, concentrated flavors with minimal hands-on time.
What do you need for Crock Pot Boeuf Bourguignon?
Below are the main ingredients for this slow cooker Beef Bourguignon. Exact quantities are listed in the recipe card further down.
- Bacon bits: Smoked bacon adds savory fat and a salty, smoky note to the sauce.
- Beef chuck roast: A well-marbled cut that benefits from long, slow cooking. You can also use top or bottom round or tri-tip, but chuck gives excellent tenderness and flavor. Pat the meat dry before searing for better browning.
- Salt and pepper: Simple seasoning to enhance the beef and sauce.
- Red wine: Pinot Noir works very well — it’s fruity with body and lifts the sauce. A Burgundy-style wine is a good choice.
- Carrot: Adds sweetness and texture.
- Tomato paste: Fry briefly with the aromatics to deepen the sauce and tame acidity.
- Thyme: Dried or fresh thyme lends an earthy, herbaceous note.
- Pearl onions: Small, pickled or fresh pearl onions become tender and sweet when cooked. Rinse if they’re pickled to remove excess vinegar.
- Flour: Lightly dusting the meat helps the exterior brown and thickens the sauce slightly.
- Onion and garlic: Foundational aromatics for the stew.
- Beef stock: Adds depth. Homemade stock is ideal, but a quality store-bought stock or bouillon works too.
- Bay leaf: Adds warm, subtle herbal flavor; remove before serving.
- Butter: Used to caramelize the pearl onions for a glossy finish.
How to prepare Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy
A printable recipe card with step-by-step timing is available in the recipe section below. The method summarized here covers all major steps for a successful slow-cooked Bourguignon.
- Fry the bacon in a frying pan until crisp. Remove and reserve. Pat the beef dry, toss with flour, salt and pepper, then sear in the bacon fat until golden on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- In the same pan, sauté the sliced onion, garlic, carrot and tomato paste for a few minutes to soften and build flavor. Return the beef and bacon to the pan and transfer everything to the slow cooker.
- Deglaze the frying pan with the red wine, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Pour the wine into the slow cooker with the meat, then add beef stock, thyme and a bay leaf. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 6–8 hours, until the beef is very tender and the flavors are melded.
- While the stew finishes, sauté the pearl onions in butter until golden. Add a splash of stock so the onions are just covered and simmer gently until tender and the liquid has mostly evaporated — about 20–25 minutes.
- Strain the cooking liquid from the slow cooker into a saucepan, skim excess fat, then simmer the sauce with the caramelized onions for a few minutes on high until glossy and slightly reduced. Return the meat and vegetables to the slow cooker or combine everything in the pan to serve.
Serve with parsley-potatoes, buttery mashed potatoes or crusty bread and a crisp salad to balance the richness. Garnish with chopped parsley for freshness.
If you make this recipe, tag #byandreajanssen on Instagram — it’s lovely to see your versions. If you enjoyed it, please rate the recipe in the card below so others can find it more easily.
For more inspiration, check video recipes on the author’s YouTube channel or save recipes to your favorite board for later.
📖 Recipe
RECIPE CARD
Using a crockpot keeps cleanup simple: brown a few things, combine, and let the slow cooker do the rest.
Equipment
- slow cooker
- frying pan
Recipe Help
Cooking mode keeps your screen on during step-by-step instructions. The easy-step option shows each step with the ingredients needed and lets you adjust servings.
Ingredients
- 7 oz. bacon bits
- 3 lb. chuck roast, cut into 1-inch (2 cm) cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 onion, sliced very thin
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic, squeezed
- 3 cups red wine (Pinot Noir)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 18 pearl onions
- ⅓ cup beef stock (for onions)
- Fresh parsley for garnish
All measurements are available in both Metric and US Customary in the original recipe card.
Instructions
- Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper.
- Fry the bacon until crisp, then remove and reserve.
- In the bacon fat, sear the floured, seasoned beef until golden on all sides; remove with a slotted spoon.
- Sauté onion, carrot, garlic and tomato paste in the remaining fat for 2–3 minutes, then add the beef and bacon back to the pan. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Pour wine into the pan, bring to a boil and scrape up browned bits. Pour the wine into the slow cooker.
- Add beef stock, thyme and the bay leaf. Stir, cover and cook on low for 6–8 hours.
- During the last 30 minutes, melt butter in a pan and brown the pearl onions. Add ⅓ cup beef stock so the onions are just covered and simmer until tender, about 20–25 minutes.
- Strain the stew from the slow cooker into a bowl, reserving the liquid. Return the meat and vegetables to the crockpot.
- Skim fat from the strained sauce, then simmer the sauce with the caramelized onions on high for about 5 minutes until glossy and slightly thickened. Pour the sauce back over the meat and heat for 2–3 minutes to combine.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
1. Beef choice: Chuck roast is recommended for its marbling and tenderness after long cooking. Other slow-cooking cuts such as top or bottom round or tri-tip can also be used. Always pat meat dry before searing.
2. Pearl onions: If using pickled pearl onions, rinse them before cooking to reduce excess acidity.
3. Wine: Pinot Noir or another Burgundian-style red is ideal; choose a wine you’d enjoy drinking.
4. Stock: Homemade beef stock gives the best depth; otherwise use a good-quality store-bought stock or prepare from a bouillon cube.
5. Scaling: If you increase meat volume significantly in a slow cooker, add ¼–⅓ cup (50–100 ml) additional liquid to ensure enough braising liquid.
6. Oven option: If you don’t have a slow cooker, braise in an ovenproof pan at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 2½ hours, covered, then finish the onions and reduce the sauce in the last half hour.
7. Storage: Cool quickly, then refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months in a sealed container. Reheat gently with a splash of water or stock over low heat.
8. Nutrition: Nutrition values are per serving assuming six servings (without side dishes).
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 19 g
Protein: 51 g
Fat: 41 g
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
Spicy minced beef tacos with salsa-
Kapsalon with a healthy twist
-
Crockpot Mongolian Beef
-
Beef Shepherd’s Pie with Puff Pastry
