This easy recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon Soup takes this classic French favorite and turns it into a slow cooker soup that is a snap to make. All the rich flavor of Beef Bourguignon with a fraction of the work!
Before I get into the sheer magic that is this soup, I should say that (after obsessively watching the Julie and Julia movie) I did spend an entire day making Julia Child’s classic recipe for beef bourguignon.
Actually more than a day, if you count the trips to various supermarkets in search of all the ingredients, including lardons. Lardons turned out to be little matchstick sized pieces of slab bacon, and I will do anything in the name of bacon, so that was okay with me.
Anyway, once I made it and we ate it, we agreed that Beef Bourguignon was wonderful, and that I was glad I tried it once, but since I had to take a nap between making it and eating it it was probably a One Night Only event…but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Was there an easier way?
Of COURSE there was, and as usual, it involved my trusty slow cooker. I didn’t want to just replicate the original in slow cooker form though, I wanted to put my own spin on it, and so slow cooker Beef Bourguignon soup was born.
Here’s how you make slow cooker beef bourguignon soup!
This soup includes pretty much all the ingredients of the classic recipe (except for mushrooms, because mushrooms and I don’t get along), and instead of the elusive lardons I used (you guessed it) good old regular bacon.
Take those ingredients – chuck steak that you have cut into bite sized pieces, carrots, celery, onion and garlic that you have chopped in your food processor, red wine (beef bourguignon is traditionally made with Burgundy but I’ve found all different kinds of red wine to work just fine!), beef broth and a few other herbs and flavorings (except for the bacon) and place them in your slow cooker along with a little flour. Give the whole thing a stir.
Press LOW and go away for 8 hours.
Come back, stir in the remaining flour, let it cook on HIGH for another 15 minutes or so while you cook up the bacon until it is nice and crispy.
Ladle your luxuriantly delicious slow cooker beef bourguignon soup into warm bowls, garnish with that bacon, and slurp it up. See, I promised you it was easy!
And so now we can have Kate’s version of beef bourguignon, with love and thanks to Julia, any old time we want. And so can you!
PrintSlow Cooker Beef Bourguignon Soup
This easy recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon Soup takes this classic French favorite and turns it into a slow cooker soup that is a snap to make. All the rich flavor and a fraction of the work!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker, Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into bite sized pieces
- 3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
- 1 sweet onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup flour
- 6 slices bacon, chopped into bite sized pieces
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except for flour and bacon in your slow cooker and give them a stir.
- Add 1/4 cup of the flour and stir again. Press Low, set the slow cooker for 8 hours, put the lid on and let it cook away.
- After 8 hours, stir in the remaining flour, raise the heat to high and let it cook while you make the bacon.
- Cook the bacon until it is crispy and then drain on paper towels.
- Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, garnish with bacon and serve!
Annette says
This looks delicious. I love making soups all winter long.
Can I make this in a le creuset pot instead of a slow cooker
I’m thinking just to brown the meat then add veggies and broth and cook over low flame maybe stirring occasionally
Of course add flour and bacon at the end
Would this be a correct way to cook it just over a low flame for a few hours or is this a bad idea
Thanks for your help
Hi Annette! You definitely can make this on a stovetop instead of the slow cooker – the slow cooker just replicates a super low flame. I would make it exactly the way you are describing, leaving the cover on the pot and stirring from time to time. I’m guessing this will take several hours on the stovetop (as opposed to the eight hours in the slow cooker). If you try it this way, could you come back and let us know how it came out? And yes, winter is soup season for sure! :)
Theresa Murphy says
Mmmmmm….that looks amazing! I’m so glad it is hearty, cozy soup season! And I’m even more glad because you have posted some awesome soup recipes! All that needs is a loaf of crusty bread and, perhaps, a glass of red wine. :)
Oh, DEFINITELY a glass of red wine, my friend! :)