Mushroom Bourguignon

Dinner

Mushroom Bourguignon is a delicious vegetarian twist on the classic French beef stew from Burgundy. It swaps tender beef for earthy champignons de Paris mushrooms, slow-cooked in rich red wine and aromatic herbs to create a deeply flavorful, comforting dish. Perfect for cosy evenings, this recipe captures all the warmth and soul of the original without any meat!

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Servings 4

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Ingredients  

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• 500 gr white button mushrooms
• 500 gr brown chestnut mushrooms
• 3 carrots
• 3 shallots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 25 gr unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1½ tbsp plain flour
• 300 ml red wine preferably Burgundy Pinot Noir like for example the "Mme. Claude Parmentier Pinot Noir"
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• salt and black pepper
• 1 handful parsley fresh chopped to garnish

Equipment

• 1 dutch oven
• 1 wooden spoon
• 1 knife
• 1 chopping board
• 1 measuring jug

Instructions

1. 1. Prepare the vegetables

   Prepare the vegetables and mushrooms. Slice the carrots and shallots thinly. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into bite-sized pieces. and mince the garlic.
2. 1. Brown the mushrooms

   Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the mushrooms in batches to avoid overcrowding and sauté until they are golden and their juices evaporate. Remove and set aside. This step develops deep mushroom flavour through caramelisation.
3. 3. Cook shallots, carrots, and garlic

   In the same pan, melt the butter. Add the shallots, carrots, and garlic and gently cook for 5-7 minutes until softened and beginning to caramelise. This soft sweetness forms the flavour base of the dish.
4. 4. Add tomato paste and flour

   Stir in the tomato paste and plain flour, cooking for a minute to get rid of the raw flour taste. This thickens the sauce and adds richness.
5. 5. Deglaze with wine and add broth and herbs

   Slowly pour in the red wine while stirring and scraping up browned bits from the pan. Add vegetable broth, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Return the mushrooms to the pan. This creates the classic bourguignon sauce.
6. 6. Simmer gently

   Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook slowly for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the carrots are tender. This slow cooking melds all the flavours beautifully.
7. 7. Final seasoning and garnish

   Remove the bay leaves and herb sprigs. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley before serving to add a fresh note!

Notes

• You can serve this Mushroom Bourguignon over creamy mashed potatoes, fresh egg noodles, or polenta to enjoy every drop of the luscious sauce!

About this recipe

At its heart, Boeuf Bourguignon is a living slice of French heritage, particularly from the Burgundy region, which lends the dish its name. Dating back centuries, this dish reflects the resourcefulness and culinary spirit of the French peasantry who transformed humble ingredients into a gastronomic treasure.

Burgundy, situated in eastern France, is famous for its fertile lands, exceptional wines, and cattle breed Charolais, renowned for tender, flavoursome beef. It was here, amid the rolling vineyards and pastoral farms, that Boeuf Bourguignon was born. The earliest ancestors of the dish trace back to the Middle Ages as a practical, nourishing way to soften tough cuts of beef. Peasants and labourers, often working long, arduous days, needed food that was filling and could be made with affordable, readily available ingredients.

This rustic stew combined slow-cooked beef with local seasonal vegetables, a generous splurge of the region’s abundant red wine, and aromatic herbs like thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. This method not only tenderised the meat but infused it with the rich, deep flavours that eventually became its hallmark. Interestingly, drinking wine throughout the day, including at breakfast, was common in rural France centuries ago, as water quality was uncertain, using wine in cooking was as natural as it was flavourful.

An emblem of French gastronomy

Though Boeuf Bourguignon began as a simple, hearty dish for peasants, its rich flavours soon caught the attention of the aristocracy, with Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy serving it at his 14th-century banquets, praising its exquisite taste. Over the centuries, it evolved from a countryside staple to a celebrated emblem of French gastronomy, becoming a fixture in urban bistros.

By the 19th century, “bourguignon” became shorthand for dishes cooked with Burgundy wine, mushrooms, and onions, with the recipe first recorded in cookbooks like Pierre Larousse’s 1867 publication, securing its place in French culinary history. The dish’s global fame soared in the early 20th century thanks to Auguste Escoffier, the legendary “king of chefs,” who refined the recipe into an elegant classic for fine dining, helping the dish become a beloved comfort food worldwide.

From beef to mushrooms: a vegetarian homage

While the classic dish stars tender beef, its mushroom bourguignon variant preserves the spirit and complexity of the original. Using champignons de Paris slow-cooked in the same wine and aromatic herbs creates a vegetarian celebration of Burgundy’s flavours without compromising depth or tradition!