Worlds best Beef Bourguignon recipe (keto & low carb) (2024)

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Beef Bourguignon is right up my alley.

If you have ever read my “about” page (which I am sure you haven’t) you would know that I have a bit of an affinity for France. I love everything about France and the food is very close to the top of the list.

In fact, I daydream about Paris for a significant part of every day….but onto the Beef Bourguignon.

It’s a filling, rich stew that was originally made famous by Julia Child in her fantastic cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

Jump to Recipe

This is a pretty simple dish that has been mystified. Beef Bourguignon is easy to make but you do have to plan ahead because a long cooking time improves the results in the crock pot…

You also have the bonus of filling your house with it’s rich aroma all day…i.e, it’s going to make your drool and wish you could eat dinner at 4:00pm.

I forgot to add parsley to make it look fancy. Just imagine it for me because someone (ahem, Thom) ate this before I could re-shoot the photo.[/caption]

If you are on the Keto Diet than this traditional dish needs a bit of tweaking. The original recipe calls for potatoes but I have found that leaving them out doesn’t change the flavor too much.

I also discovered when making faux-tato salad that if you boil radishes before you add them to Keto Beef Bourguignon they are a great replacement for the potatoes.

If you are already accustomed to the high carb version of Beef Bourguignon, you can add a couple of stalks of celery without changing the nutrition or the flavor toooooo much. This sort of makes up for the potatoes. I add celery when I have it and skip it when I don’t.

As a Keto Blogger, I rarely make a dish more than once. Even our favorites wait for months in between.

But this is a dish that I made wayyyy before Keto and try to fit it in a least every other month because it’s a family favorite, keeps well and isn’t too complicated.

I know it by heart and it’s a comfort food around here.

It’s also pretty forgiving and still tastes great even with substitutions. Plus, it can be made in a slow cooker or instant pot. I still really love my crockpot and use it because the slow cook does something extra special to the meat.

Beef Bourguignon Recipe Tips:

• If you can, buy organic bacon. You will be using the bacon grease to fry the meat.
• Chuck roast is best for this dish because it’s marbled with fat (fat = flavor).

But, you can use a London Broil if it’s on sale too. Like I said this dish is fantastic and there are only a couple of key processes that really should be followed to get the best results.

*A word about beef:

I may get some angry emails squawking about this but I know what I’m about so……

Buy and eat organic, grass fed beef when you can.

I understand that not everyone can afford this every time so if you do buy the regular beef, don’t eat it everyday and remember to get some extra Vitamin C. It’s okay to eat “regular beef” and red meat has some compounds that you can’t get elsewhere.

Ok? Ok.

• Make sure you pat the beef chunks dry with a clean paper towel. This will help the next step go smoothly.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Don’t skip frying the beef in the bacon fat. Get it good and crispy on all sides. Use medium high heat on your stove top and only add a few cubes at a time to get the singe going. You don’t want to cook them all the way through. You are just sealing in the moisture and flavor.
• The original dish is often made with pearl onions. You can use these or chopped onion in this dish. I prefer chopped onion.
• Use powdered or canned beef stock or chicken stock, whatever you like.
• This dish contains wine but all of the alcohol cooks out.
• Don’t worry, the kids wont catch a buzz but you can replace the wine with more beef or chicken stock if you don’t want to use it.

Note about replacing the wine:

The wine tenderizes the meat and enriches the broth. You don’t have to use it but trust me, it’s better with the wine. My alcohol tolerance is extremely low and I never have issues with this dish giving me a “buzz”.

• HERE IT IS—-THE ONE STEP YOU SHOULD NOT SKIP = Saute the mushrooms in butter and add them to the pot 5-10 minutes before serving.
• Don’t overcook and make sure you add all of the “mushroom juice” from the pan as well. The flavor is exquisite.

I have had a lot of dishes with overcooked mushrooms (it’s easy to do since they are so delicate). They come out slimy and you should try hard to avoid this. Saute on high heat until soft…not mushy. There are going to cook a little more in the crockpot anyway.

Beef Bourguignon, the last note:

• I use flour in this dish to thicken the sauce (gasp!). But you can use xanthan gum if you want. The nutrition info is figured using xanthan gum.
• I am not a huge fan of xanthan gum because if you make a mistake and add too much the “gravy” comes out slimy. (The tween calls it “slide down your throat sauce”)

Adding two tablespoons of flour adds one gram of carbs per serving. I feel like this is okay because it still fits in with most peoples macros. But if you have a gluten issue or don’t like using flour feel free to use whatever works for you.

It’s still going to be the best “Beef Stew” you have ever made in your life.

This salad is excellent with this stew…look at how gorgeous it is!

It’s something we shared in a little roadside bistro near Beynac-a-Cazenac, France before our Beef Bourguignon arrived.

If you are looking for drinks to serve with this meal, try this Mulled Holiday Wine. It goes PERFECTLY with this dish or while you are waiting for this stew (wink).

More Healthy Recipes to Love:

• Slow Cooked Tender Lamb
• Easy Smothered Pork Chops
• Beef Stroganoff

* Please note:

The nutritional information in this dish is provided as a courtesy. I am very careful about the contents and information but if it looks off to you please feel free to do your own calculations for this site (or any site).

I know that you are going to love this dish. It’s excellent. Have fun with it though and feel free to add a comment with your favorite way to serve this dish!

The Keto Friendly Almond Yeast bread makes a fantastic, chewy accompaniment as well and rounds out this meal served with a fresh green salad.

Cheers for now Keto People!

Brandy