I love meals where it’s pretty much ‘throw everything in this pot and cook’. This isn’t 100% that, but it’s almost all the way there. This Beef Bourguignon Instant Pot Recipe is so tasty and I have to say the perfect comfort food!

My inspiration actually came from eating at a French Bakery & Cafe called La Madeleine. There’s a seasonal dish there called Beef and Parmesan Potatoes that was oh so good! If you’ve never had it before, here’s their description just so you can imagine it:

“Tender beef in a rich red wine sauce with sautéed mushrooms, red bell pepper and onion served in a ring of Parmesan mashed potatoes”

Hungry yet? I am! So I wanted to make my own. Something similar at least, but not exactly alike.

Where does beef bourguignon come from?

The place of origin is France. Which makes sense that I had something super similar in the French cafe/bakery.

If you’re in to cookbooks, you may have heard of Julia Child, the author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Child has studied cooking in France, and according to Child, Beef Bourguignon is “certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man”

French food is super tasty, so if you are looking to try more french dishes, check out this French Onion Soup!

What is beef bourguignon?

Beef bourguignon is a beef stew braised in red wine, beef stock, and cooked with carrots, onions, garlic, pearl onions, mushrooms, bacon, and a bundle of herbs usually tied together such as thyme.

For this recipe, I made some shortcuts – for example, I skipped the pearl onions and only used white onions, instead of a bundle of fresh herbs, I used dried herbs (ex: thyme). Of course, if you prefer to add pearl onions, fresh herbs you can also do that, but I was trying to keep things simple.

What is beef bourguignon traditionally served with?

It’s traditionally served with potatoes or pasta. Of course you can serve it with whatever you want. As someone that had the Beef and Parmesan Potatoes dish, I made a side of Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes to serve it with.

Of course if you’re looking for more low carb options, you can make some other sides too. For example, Oven Roasted Asparagus or Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan Broccoli.

How do you pronounce bourguignon?

LOL – that was my first question, so I figured I’d help you out in case you’ve been wondering this the whole time.

It’s boo r-geen-yuhn.

What meat to use?

You can purchase beef stew meat usually literally labeled this way, or you can purchase the meat and cut it in to 1-1/2 to 2 inch cubes too.

I recommend using Chuck Roast as it will be juicy and tender after long cooking.

I bought ours from our local grocery store – but if you can’t find any around your area, you can try online meat delivery services! Some of them are really good – For example, Crowd Cow – they ship to anywhere in the US other than Alaska and Hawaii sustainable and healthy meats/seafood!

How do you make Beef Bourguignon?

First, gather your ingredients:

• 3 bacon, chopped
• 1-1/2 lb beef stew meat, cut in to 1-1/2 to 2 inch cubes.
• 1/2 cup of carrot, cut in to 1/2 inches
• 1 cup of white onion, chopped
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup red wine (I use pinot noir)
• 1-1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and pepper, as desired

Make sure to chop, slice, mince everything so all ingredients are ready to go when it’s their time to be cooked.

Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode.

Fry the bacon

Cut bacon slices in half and put in the Instant Pot in a single layer. Cook bacon slices for 2-3 minutes, then change sides with a tong or spatula (or chopsticks like me lol) and cook for another 2 minutes until crispy.

Remove bacon from instant pot and place on plate with paper towels. Very important – keep the bacon grease in the instant pot! 🙂

Add Ingredients

Now, add the meat and let it brown on all sides.

Add garlic, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and stir letting it all cook for 2 minutes.

Add beef broth, tomato paste, red wine, and bring to a boil.

While waiting for it to boil, go ahead and chop up that bacon from earlier.

Add the bacon bits, thyme, bay leaf and parsley and stir to combine.

Cooking It!

Cover the instant pot and switch the mode to Manual because it’s time for pressure cooking! Let it cook for 40 minutes.

When it’s complete, let it naturally release. If you really don’t have time, CAREFULLY switch valve to vent. As it is very hot and since it’s liquidy, it is more likely to spew hot food content at you.

Once float valve drops, you can remove the lid.

Now, set the instant pot back to sauté, and let it cook for another 10 minutes or until sauce thickens to your preference.

Add salt and pepper, as desired. Turn off instant pot, let cool a little and serve!

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If you like this Beef Bourguignon Instant Pot Recipe, you might want to check out my other beefy delicious recipes here!

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