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Short rib beef bourguignon is the luxury version of the original dish. Highly marbled, bone-in ribs yield a deep, earthy gravy that’s sweetened with forest-fruited red wine, and aromatic with a herb bouquet. Chestnut mushrooms and baby carrots complete the quintessential French dish.
Beef and red wine too much for your taste? Chicken in white wine, or as the French call it Coq au Vin Blanc, is a lighter way to enjoy French cuisine.
You might be wondering, what is bourguignon anyway?? It means ‘from Burgundy’, a region roughly in the centre of France. And we all know what Burgundy is famous for! Wine! So, you can expect plenty of it in this particular dish.
Being a bit of a wine buff and having visited Jura, Burgundy’s cheese-famous nextdoor neighbour, let me tell you a little about the wine needed for beef bourguignon. And you will need wine…
Red burgundies mostly use pinot noir grapes and are light to medium-bodied, i.e. not too heavy. The dominant flavour is sweet red fruits like raspberry, strawberry and cherry. But I have to admit, pinot noir is never my first choice!
So, I’m giving you full permission to stray from the authentic and use the wine you like to drink in your beef bourguignon recipe. I’ve used a full and dark-fruited Malbec. I think it makes for a richer, cocoa-deep gravy. And I can happily finish the bottle with the meal. Shiraz and Cab Sav are also solid contenders.
Santé!
Short rib bourguignon
If you’re no stranger to my blog, you’ll know there is already a cozy, belly-filling beef bourguignon recipe available. But recently I was inspired to try the recipe again with a meaty upgrade to short ribs.
Unlike cheaper chuck, the short rib recipe’s benefits are the heavily marbled meat and the marrow from the bones. You’ll find it offers a richer, more gelatinous gravy and guaranteed fall-apart tenderness.
I might have made a couple of switches to suit my taste, but in my opinion, this recipe still fits the bourguignon bill. Here is a checklist for the traditional French beef stew:
- beef: chuck roast, brisket or shin cut into cubes
- wine: Burgundy’s berry-heavy reds to braise the meat
- gravy: a blend of the meat juices, wine and beef stock
- aromatics: a herby bouquet garni, garlic, carrots and mushrooms, bacon lardons
Each ingredient perfectly expresses the region’s landscape, forests and fields, and its local produce in a divinely decadent meal. No wonder it’s France’s most iconic dish!
Important recipe tips and notes
- Trim the fat from the short ribs. I took 200g (7oz) off 1kg (2lbs) of ribs.
- Or melt the fat and store in the fridge for cooking with in the future.
- Wine. Burgundy is the traditional choice, but most medium to juicy reds will work.
- Wine in this recipe is unavoidable. If you want an alcohol-free beef stew, try Irish stew using zero-percent Guinness.
- Taste your beef for doneness. If it’s still chewy at the end of the cooking time, add a cup of water and put it back in for 40 minutes.
- Check on the dish to avoid it drying out. Your pan and oven will likely differ to mine and that can skew the cooking slightly.
What goes with it
Let this short rib beef bourguignon recipe be the centrepiece to a French-style feast. Although already brimming with mushrooms and carrots, I’d add:
- Garlicky green beans for bite and to brighten the earthy beef.
- Mashed potatoes for soaking up sumptuous gravy.
- Crusty French bread and salty butter for texture.
Storage and leftovers
Short rib bourguignon will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The flavours will develop and intensify over that time, making this short rib recipe a brilliant get-ahead.
To reheat leftover beef stew, use a saucepan on the stove top with a splash of water to loosen if needed.
To reheat your pre-prepared meal, set the oven to 150C/300F and cook covered for 30 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check the short ribs are piping hot at their centre.
More stew recipes to try
Short Rib Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients
- 1.5kg / 3 lbs beef short ribs
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 50g / 2 oz bacon lardons, or 2-3 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp flour
- 500ml / 2 cups red wine, (red Burgundy, Pinot Noir or Malbec for bolder tasting wine)
- 500ml / 2 cups beef stock
- 200g / 7 oz baby carrots, (chantenay carrots in UK)
- 200g / 7 oz chestnut mushrooms, halved or whole if very small
- 1 bouquet garni, (3 parsley stocks, 3 thyme sprigs and 2 bay leaves tied together)
Instructions
- Cut away as much visible fat as possible from the beef ribs and discard.(see notes) Season the beef with salt and pepper and brown over high heat in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy cast iron pan or pot (casserole), remove from the pan and set aside till needed.
- Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.
- To the same pan add the he bacon lardons until they render fat, remove with a slotted spoon to the same bowl as the beef.
- Now add chopped onion to the pan and cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes until tender and translucent, then add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly to prevent garlic from burning or it will turn bitter.
- Sprinkle the flour all over the onions and garlic and stir until the flour and the fat in the pan turn into a paste, continue cooking for a few seconds, then slowly stir in the red wine while scraping the bottom of the pan to release the brown bits into the sauce. Add the beef stock and bring to a simmer, now return the beef short ribs and bacon lardons to the pan making sure the meaty parts of the ribs are submerged in the liquid, place the bouquet garni into the centre. The beef should be mostly covered by the sauce. If your pan is too wide and the liquid is too low, add more water or beef stock. Cover with a lid and put in the oven for 1.5 hours.
- Take the beef out of the oven and check, the liquid should remain at the same level. If not, add some water, then scatter the mushrooms and the carrots around the beef, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour longer. Now take out of the oven and take the lid off. The liquid should reduce and thicken and beef should be tender and falling off the bones. If that is not the case, put back in the oven for 30 minutes longer uncovered.
- Serve sprinkled with additional chopped parsley over mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Trim the fat from the short ribs. I took 200g (7oz) off 1kg (2lbs) of ribs, which would add over 1,000 calories to your dish!
- Or melt the fat and store in the fridge for cooking with in the future.
- Wine. Burgundy (Pinot Noire) is the traditional choice, but most medium to juicy reds will work.
- Taste your beef for doneness. If it’s still chewy at the end of the cooking time, add a cup of water and put it back in for 40 minutes.
- Check on the dish to avoid it drying out. Your pan and oven will likely differ to mine and that can skew the cooking slightly.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
