No trip to France would be complete without the classic Beef Bourguignon (I have SUCH trouble pronouncing this word for some reason). And so, I obviously had to make it as soon as I got home. Oui.
It’s basically the richest, most flavorful beef stew you’ll ever have and it’s my favorite one for the Instant Pot.
No wonder Julia Child (and her voice) made it so world renowned! I guarantee once you try it, this is going to be your #1 go-to for a beef stew from now on.
Here’s How I Made It!:
SO let’s begin with a simple flour mixture…
…and some cubes of beef that you’d typically use in a beef stew.
Let’s then dredge each piece of beef in the flour…
…and set aside once complete.
We’re going to then chop up a pack of bacon and set that aside as well.
To the Instant Pot, we’re going to add a little butter (of course)…
…and the bacon and some garlic.
Let that cook for a few and stir it up a bunch. The bacon will begin to slightly seem to burn on the bottom of the pot but this is perfectly normal and we actually want this to happen because we will deglaze (scrape) the bottom of the pan with our mixing spoon.
Add the beef and stir it up really good and cook until browned (but not fully cooked) on all sides.
So it should look just like this after a few moments of stirring.
Now let’s add some beef broth…
…and some dry red wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot again. Anything that was stuck on it should come up pretty easily by now and it will mix in with our wine/beef broth.
Then, let’s add a little tomato paste…
…some pearl onions and a bay leaf…
…some dried tarragon and dried thyme. Give it all a mix.
And lastly let’s add some mushrooms…
…and give everything a final mix so everything is tossed together all beautifully. Now let’s secure the lid and cook on high pressure.
And when the lid comes off, it’s going to look and smell pretty damn amazing if I do say so myself. Discard the bay leaf.
Now let’s add a little more red wine…
…and a cornstarch slurry. Bring the pot to a bubble for a few moments so the alcohol burns off and the cornstarch thickens the sauce.
After a few minutes, give it all a final stir.
And you’ll have a Beef Bourguignon that even Julia Child herself would (hopefully) approve of! Prendre Plaisir!
Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
Julia Child is who made this one famous. Beef Bourguignon, a French, red-wine based beef stew, is on another level. Apart from the wine, the bacon and pearl onions set this one apart from the typical beef stew you may be familiar with.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of beef round, cut into cubes (like the beef you’d use for beef stew – many markets already have it prepared this way)
- 1/2 cup of flour mixed with a few pinches of salt and pepper, for dredging the beef
- 4 strips of bacon, cut into tiny pieces
- 2 tbsp (1/4 stick) of salted butter
- 1 tbsp of crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp of tomato paste
- 1.5 cups of a dry red wine (I used a Pinot Noir – but it must be a dry red), divided in half
- 1 cup of beef broth (I used 1 tsp of Beef Better Than Bouillon + 1 cup of water)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups of pearl onions, drained (I used a 15 ounce jar – but do NOT get cocktail onions. Trader Joe’s has them frozen and they can be put in that way)
- 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I used white but you can use Cremini/Baby Bella instead)
- 1 tsp of dried tarragon
- 1 tsp of dried thyme
- 2 tbsp of cornstarch + 2 tbsp of water to form a slurry
Instructions
- Dredge all the beef cubes in the flour mixture and set aside
- On the Instant Pot, hit “Sauté” and “Adjust” so it’s on the “More” setting and wait for it to read “Hot”
- Add the butter so it’s melted and then add the bacon and garlic. Stir and let cook for a few minutes until the bacon begins to get crispy, stirring occasionally (It’s okay if the bottom of the pot begins to look like it’s burning. All of this will be deglazed later and the flavor that’s cooking up right now is amazing and key to the recipe!)
- Once crispy, add the beef to the pot and cook so it’s just very lightly browned (about 2 minutes of mixing around)
- Add half of the wine (3/4 cup), the beef broth, tomato paste, pearl onions, mushroom, thyme, tarragon and the bay leaf. Stir and secure the lid
- Hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” and then hit “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” High Pressure for 15 minutes (10 minutes if you want it a bit more tender). Quick release when done
- After removing the lid, hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” and then hit “Sauté” so it’s on the “More” setting and stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of red wine
- Once it begins to bubble, stir in the cornstarch slurry, mix well and let it bubble for about 2-3 minutes so the wine burns off and the sauce thickens a bit. Then hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” so it’s on the warm setting. Once the bubbling dies down, transport to a serving dish and serve
- Bon Appetit!
Jeffrey's Tips
My Aligot or mashed potatoes or cauliflower purée/mash makes a GREAT side as well as some french bread!
In step 6, you cook for only 10 minutes (or even 8) if you want it more tender. The choice is yours!
Abi
Hi, I only have a stovetop pressure cooker, my stove top is induction. Is sauteing then on the highest heat?
Once it boils after closing the lid, do I lower the heat?
Alain Charest
Bonjour.
Peux t’on remplacer le vin rouge par du bouillon de boeuf?
Lexi Quinn
Oui c’est bien. vous gardez simplement la même quantité de liquide dans la recette. J’aime les granules de bœuf de marque Knorr. c’est délicieux!
shelley
So if you want the beef to be more tender you cook it for less time? The opposite to a slow cooker. Thanks
Jim
Yeah, I thought that was weird. And 15 minutes for round seems short. Most chuck recipes say 30-40 minutes. Maybe it is a typo and he meant 20 minute for more tender round.
Micaela
If I want to make this without the bacon, do you think I can just… skip the bacon? Or do you have a non-pork based suggestion?
Jeffrey
You can def skip it!
jean-guy baribeau
Where can I find recipes for my 6 qt Instant Cooker?
Thanks,
jgb
Mark Broomfield-Ranney
I made this tonight. It was certainly tasty (served over mashed potatoes). It had a lot of liquid, though. It seemed more like a chunky soup than a stew. The book called for 1 c of red wine and 1 c of beef broth. Perhaps a large amount of liquid cooked out of the mushrooms and/or frozen pearl onions?
Laurel
Can I use stewing veal and fresh Pearl onions?
Can’t wait to try this!
Sharon Hood
I don’t believe we have canned pear onions. If I use fresh pear onions do I have to change the time in the recipe?
Carl
If I want to make a large serving in my 8qt pot, would I just double the ingredients, or is there a different ratio that should be used for the wine?
Paul
I followed as per the blue book. Yes I have two of your cook books! Yay me!
Blown away despite using pickled pearl onions because that is the closest thing I can get to pearl onion in my neck of the woods! So much Flavor!! Great one Jeff!!!!
Jeffrey
You’re a regular Julia Child now!