Keto Beef Bourguignon
This keto beef bourguignon is a rich French beef stew made with tender beef, bacon, mushrooms, and red wine. Slow cooking creates a deeply flavored sauce while keeping the recipe low in carbs.
Ingredient Notes
- Beef Chuck or Brisket: Use a well-marbled cut such as beef chuck or brisket. These tougher cuts become tender during the long cooking time and develop far more flavor than lean cuts of beef.
- Smoked Bacon: The bacon adds both flavor and fat to the stew. Starting it in a cold pot allows the fat to render slowly, creating the base for the dish.
- White Mushrooms: White button mushrooms were used for this recipe, but cremini mushrooms can also be used. Cut larger mushrooms into similar-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
- Onion: Onion adds sweetness and depth to the sauce as it slowly cooks down.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic provides the best flavor. Finely chop or mince it so it distributes evenly throughout the stew.
- Red Wine: Use a dry red wine such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon. The alcohol cooks off during the long simmer while the flavor remains in the sauce. If you prefer not to use wine, substitute it with 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and make up the remaining liquid with additional beef stock.
- Beef Stock: Use a good-quality beef stock as it forms a large part of the finished sauce.
- Bouquet Garni: A bouquet garni is simply a bundle of herbs used to flavor the stew while it cooks. For this recipe I used parsley, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. You can tie the herbs together with kitchen twine, or finely chop the fresh herbs and add them directly to the pot. If using the second method, add the bay leaf whole and remove it before serving.
- Cayenne Pepper: Optional, but adds a gentle warmth to the finished stew.
- Xanthan Gum: Optional if you prefer a thicker sauce. Only a very small amount is needed.
- Chives: Added at the end for freshness and color.
Expert Tips
Brown the Beef in Batches
Avoid overcrowding the pot when searing the beef. If too much beef is added at once, it will steam rather than brown. Taking the time to brown the meat properly adds a huge amount of flavor to the finished stew.
Don’t Rush the Mushrooms
Cook the mushrooms until they release their moisture and most of it evaporates. This concentrates their flavor and prevents them from watering down the sauce.
Scrape Up the Browned Bits
After adding the wine, scrape the bottom of the pot thoroughly. The browned bits left behind from the beef and bacon contain a lot of flavor and help build the sauce.
Storage and Leftovers
Beef bourguignon is one of those dishes that often tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had more time to develop. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
This stew also freezes very well. Allow it to cool completely, then transfer it to freezer-safe containers or portion bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
To reheat, warm the stew gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until hot throughout. You can also microwave individual portions, stirring halfway through. If the sauce has thickened during storage, add a splash of water or beef stock to loosen it.
More Recipes You May Like
- Keto Beef Stroganoff
- Keto Beef Steak with Herbed Butter
- Garlic Butter Mushrooms (3 Ingredients)
- Keto Coq Au Vin
Keto Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs beef chuck or brisket
- 7 oz smoked bacon cubes
- 14 oz white mushrooms halved or quartered
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ cup Red Wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 bouquet garni parsley, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 1/4 tsp Xanathan Gum optional
- 1 tbsp chives chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Place the bacon into a cold Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Cook slowly until the fat renders and the bacon is cooked. Remove the bacon and set aside.
- Season the beef with salt and pepper. Working in batches, sear the beef in the rendered bacon fat until well browned on all sides. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pot, add the diced onion and cook over medium heat until softened and slightly browned.
- Add the mushrooms and season lightly with salt. Cook until they release their moisture and it evaporates.
- Add the garlic and cook briefly until fragrant.
- Pour in the red wine and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits. Add the beef stock, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves, then stir.
- Return the beef and along with the cooked bacon.
- Add enough water to just cover the beef. Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the beef is fork-tender, remove the thyme, parsley, and bay leaves. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
Hey Sahil this looks awesome! I think if I cook this I will use just wine and beef stock and not dilute it with the water. Xanathan gum is a fantastic thickener, it works best for gravy’s when you add after you get a boil going. it goes along way so be careful you can always add a little more.
Yes true that, I added water because I used the beef stock pot which is concentrated jelly otherwise I would have just poured in stock not water.
I think this recipe is great although you might want to mention in the recipe that if your not using beef concentrate that you should add more beef stock and not water. I added 300ml beef stock, 1 cup red wine and filled with water to cover. I hope it won’t be too watered down 🙁
I will do that and also you can always reduce the sauce down to get the flavour you want 🙂
In the written ingredients it doesn’t say how much baco you used. In fact in the written recipe it doesn’t even list bacon as an ingredient but,you show it.
I will just check and fix that. It’s 200 grams of bacon. raw uncooked bacon.
I couldn’t find where/how to sign up for the newsletter! D’oh! Please help! 🙂
It’s on the page page. just look for it just under the pictures on the main page.
OMG!! So much flavour is packed into this meal. My second favourite dish after your Beef Ragu.
My whole family loves it, and i cook double so we get left overs.
Highly recommend ????
This looks amazing! Thank you. I’ll cook it tomorrow. But can you please tell me when I should add the xanathan gum (as I’ll be wanting to use it)?
Just before you shut the lid to slow cook it, add the gum, stir it in and then let the beef cook.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly!
Hi Sahil. I made this the other day. The meat was very tender. I loved it. It was even better the next night. Thanks for your recipes. i love them.
Yeah these always taste better after a day or 2
Red wine is not only keto-friendly; it is also the most metal of all alcoholic drinks. Yeah, mead is pretty metal too, with the viking connotation and the fact that the main ingredient is stolen from highly-cooperative social insects who are just trying to keep their family fed through the winter.
But to make good wine—to get the vines to put their energy into the fruit instead of into the leaf canopy—you have to torture and starve them within an inch of their life. And then you crush their reproductive organs and collect the juices. How metal is that?
Good recipe, by the way. Thank you. Before I went keto I used to serve this dish over egg noodles. I think I’ll try it with riced cauliflower this time. And I know xanthan gum is the default keto thickener, but classic non-keto recipes call for gelatin (about 30g for a recipe this size) and that’s also keto-friendly (pure protein, no carbs).
How Much bacon, it does not show in the ingredients list?
I just fixed it Mike, thanks for pointing that out.
Sahil, we made this a couple of weeks back exactly to your recipe (with the exception of using cornstarch to thicken as we didn’t have xantham on hand). Dude. It was soooooooo delicious. Delicious enough, in fact, that we are making it for Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner this year because we’ve been craving it ever since we first made it. Horns up! Keep the recipe’s coming!
So glad to hear that, thank you.
What is the best kind of red wine to use?
A nice dry red wine will do.
Hi, can this all be done using an Instant pot with the sauté & slow cook option? Or it has to be stove top?
Thanks 🙂
Oh you can absolutely do this in an instant pot it will be great. Doesn’t have to be stove top.
Hi Sahil,
This recipe is awesome and am currently cooking in however I can’t seem to find how many grams make a serving. Normaly would just eye ball a serving but am trying to lose weight and learn portion sizes.
Mandy
I would just weigh the dish at the end and do maths. So if it weights 800 grams and it makes 8 servings then 1 serving is 100grams of the stew.
Okay, so I don’t much like slow cooked beef. I make a lot of stews, beef stroganoff etc (my family are Irish/Scottish so it’s a regular in our house). I tend to always make myself something different on those evenings. I made this on Wednesday night for Thursday nights dinner. I had been given a large stewing steak and didn’t want it to go to waste (I hate wasting food – I also never post reviews/comments)! WOW!!! I made this recipe and it is the best beef I have ever tasted! I made enough for 3 people but I’m going to make a HUGE pot of this over the weekend and get it into the freezer as my go to meal for the rest of Winter! My other half was given potatoes and vegetables with his but as I’m doing KETO, I had mine with cauliflower rice and it was absolutely divine! I didn’t have any Xanathan Gum so I just slow cooked until the gravy had reduced enough. I also didn’t have any Bouquet Garni so I just put in a couple of Bay Leaves. The flavours were outrageous and I haven’t enjoyed a meal that much in a very long time (and I cook every night)! I have a lot of friends doing KETO and I’ll certainly be sending them to your website. I can’t WAIT to try more of your recipes!
I am so glad to hear that! made my day! <3
I have been making coconut flour slurry and its very healthy and you can add as much as you want
I also got some Espelette from a friend winemaker and also used ground coriander salt and pepper on beef tender loin trimming from a beef Wellington we do for the holiday. I made this for my wife on Oscar night 2020 and got rave reviews from her. Served with Mashed Keto cauliflower. A 2015 dry Oregon Pinot was all we have up here And it was perfect
Recipe looks really good! May I know what’s the size of the dutch oven you used, please? I may want to get one for myself before I try this recipe.
Hey it’s the Le Creuset #24 4.5 Quarts 4.2 Liters
Hi Sahil, Thanks for your recipe. How do I use the xanathan gum?
This is a keto version of a favorite recipe for our crockpot. So I have it in the crockpot now. I did some changes. We don’t eat bacon, and so I used oil to saute the patted dry beef chunks. Then I sauteed the onions and garlic to help flavor them with beef flavor. I added the wine to the pan to deglaze it and get every last drop of beef flavor. Oh, yes, I added 1/3 cup of tomato paste.
I used to use flour on the beef chunks, but that isn’t necessary if you pat it dry.
I would love to know how to thicken the gravy with the xanathan gum. Maybe heat some of it and then add xanathan gum to that, then to the crockpot? Thank you so much.
I saw you put in a stick of butter but it is not in the ingredients anywhere
Oh will fix that!
actually where did you see that? I watched the video again and didn’t see it.
Hi! This recipe looks awesome. I am in Provence this month and thought this would be perfect on a cold day. What am I doing with the mushrooms? Putting them in whole, slicing? They are quite large.
Cut them into bite size pieces then if they are very large.
Absolutely delicious, it made a great change (on keto) served with some lovely green UK winter veg. Will be scrutinizing some new recipes 🙂
Thank you so much!! I’m actually gonna be in the UK end of March touring with my band.