Anthony Bourdain's Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe

If you've heard of boeuf bourguignon, you may have immediately been turned off by the name. It sounds like a recipe made up of difficult-to-find ingredients and way too many steps. It also sounds pretty tricky to master, right? Well, not so fast. Recipe developer and photographer Petar Marshall is here to walk us through just how to make boeuf bourguignon in the comfort of your own kitchen. But this isn't just any old boeuf bourguignon recipe — it's Anthony Bourdain's famed boeuf bourguignon recipe ... with a twist.

"It's essentially a cross between a soup and a stew," says Marshall. "And while the name is intimidating, it's a classic French dish, and it comes together pretty easily." While Bourdain's recipe is certainly delicious on its own, Marshall decided to make a few tweaks to kick the flavor profile up a notch. It still only requires easy-to-find ingredients, but this recipe is now perfectly dressed up for your next dinner party or simply a cozy date night at home.

To get started on this recipe, you'll first want to gather all of the required ingredients. The process for putting everything together in a Dutch oven goes quite quickly, so having everything out on the counter will make it that much smoother.

For this boeuf bourguignon recipe, you'll need a beef roast (3 ½ to 4 pounds) cut into chunks, four cloves of garlic (minced) four sprigs fresh thyme, four sprigs of fresh rosemary, three bay leaves, ¼ cup of olive oil, four onions (cut into chunks) 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 cup of red Burgundy wine, 2 cups of port wine, six carrots (cut into chunks), salt, pepper, and flat parsley (chopped for garnish).

Once your ingredients are all laid out and ready to go, it's time to start cooking the meat. Place a Dutch oven or pan on the stove, and add in the olive oil. Turn the stove on to high heat, and allow the pan to heat up.

Sear the meat on each side until each piece is browned, and then set the meat aside. "Be sure you're not crowding the pan while you're searing the meat," says Marshall. "Sear as many pieces as you can at a time, and then continue until all of the meat is seared."

Once all of the meat has been seared and set aside, it's time to sauté the onions. Using the same pan, add in the onions, and cook on medium heat until they're softened and golden brown. "The caramelization of the onions and the seared meat gives the dish incredible flavor," Marshall notes. Once the onions are cooked, add in the tablespoon of flour, and stir well before adding the red wine and port into the pan.

According to Marshall, you can sear the meat and cook the onions in the Dutch oven, and then simply add the wine directly into the pot. If you choose to utilize a different pan for searing the meat and sautéing the onions, simply transfer the onions to the Dutch oven once you're ready to move on to the next step.

With the cooked onions in the Dutch oven, pour the wine and the port over top, and stir. Then, turn the stove on high, and start to bring the mixture to a boil. 

With the onions in the Dutch oven and the wine and port starting to heat up, add all of the remaining ingredients to your pot. Add in the diced carrots, the minced garlic, the herbs, and the seared meat.

Chances are, you won't have enough liquid from the wine and port to cover all of the ingredients in the pot. Add water until the ingredients are covered, and bring the remaining ingredients to a boil with the wine. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the stovetop temperature to low, and allow the dish to simmer for at least two hours. "As it simmers, the beef will start to break down so it can easily fall apart," says Marshall. "Check the dish every 20 to 30 minutes and stir. Cook the boeuf bourguignon until the meat is nice and tender and the sauce has reduced."

Once the dish is ready, remove the large pieces of rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves from the Dutch oven, and garnish the boeuf bourguignon with chopped parsley before serving.

While Anthony Bourdain's recipe for boeuf bourguignon is certainly delicious on its own, Marshall wanted to take the flavor profile to a whole new level. Bourdain's dish utilizes the traditional seared beef, carrots, garlic, and red wine. By adding port, which is a sweeter dessert wine, Marshall enhanced the flavor profile. "It makes it a hint sweeter with a bit more caramelization," he says. "It's the ultimate comfort food — especially for cooler months."

The other change to Bourdain's tried and true recipe was the addition of rosemary. Bourdain's recipe calls for one bouquet garni, but Marshall wanted to put the aromatic flavor of rosemary into the dish by making sure it was front and center. By adding three sprigs of rosemary, you'll really get that delicious herbal flavor.