Beef · Slow cooker adaptation

[Reupload] Marco Pierre White's Recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon with Wild Mushrooms

This boeuf bourguignon starts with a whole brisket hacked into enormous chunks, the kind that look too big until they braise down over three and a half hours. Marco Pierre White isn't fussed about neat knife work here; what matters is the fat, the caramelization, and the slow heat that turns tough meat into something genuinely delicious.

R By Richard · Adapted from TomTurboSwaggings' dumpster · Published 8 May 2026
👁 1.2M source views ❤️ 15.4k source likes
⏱Prep 35 min
🍲Slow cook 8 hr (Low) / 5 hr (High)
🍽Serves 6
✓Confidence 78% (review pending)
[Reupload] Marco Pierre White's Recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon with Wild Mushrooms

Source video by TomTurboSwaggings' dumpster on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

This is Marco Pierre White's take on the French classic, a rustic beef stew built on caramelised brisket, slowly roasted onions, garlic, a bouquet garni and a generous splash of red wine and port. The original is oven-braised for nearly four hours, which translates beautifully to a slow cooker. The dish is finished with a separate garnish of wild mushrooms, crispy bacon lardons and sweet caramelised baby onions. Serve with mashed potato or crusty bread.

Slow cooker notes: Original method braises in the oven at 140-150C for around 3 hours 45 minutes; converted to Low 8 hours or High 5 hours in the slow cooker. Liquid reduced: the original adds 1 litre of water after the wine reduction, this has been cut to around 500 ml because slow cookers retain liquid. Wine and port are still reduced on the hob first to concentrate flavour, as Marco insists on this step. Garnish (mushrooms, bacon lardons, baby onions) is still cooked separately in a pan and added at the end as in the source.

Ingredients

Main braise
  • 1.5 kgbeef brisket, cut into large 5-6cm chunks, fat left on
  • 1.5 wholeonions, roughly chopped
  • 1 wholegarlic bulb, halved horizontally, unpeeled
  • 1 tbspplain flour
  • 750 mlred wine (Bordeaux)
  • 250 mlport
  • 500 mlwater
  • 2 potsbeef stock pots
Bouquet garni
  • 4 sprigsfresh thyme
  • 1 small bunchfresh parsley
  • 2 leavesbay leaves
  • 1 stickcelery, roughly chopped
  • 1 large rasherstreaky bacon rasher
Garnish
  • 250 gbaby onions, peeled (frozen, defrosted, is fine) (add late)
  • 250 gwild mushrooms, cleaned, larger ones torn (add late)
  • 150 gunsmoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons (add late)
  • 25 gbutter (add late)
Seasoning
  • salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Heat a heavy frying pan until very hot. Pat the brisket chunks dry, season with salt and pepper, and caramelise in batches until deep golden brown on all sides. Do not crowd the pan or the meat will release water and boil.

    ~15 min

  2. Lift the beef out into a colander to drain. In the same pan with the rendered fat, add the chopped onions and slowly roast them until softened and lightly coloured, around 8-10 minutes. Add the halved garlic bulb and stir.

    ~10 min

  3. Sprinkle in a small pinch of flour and stir through the onions. Pour in the red wine and port, add the bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay, celery and bacon rasher tied together), and bring to a steady simmer. Reduce by about half on the hob to concentrate the flavour, around 15-20 minutes.

    ~20 min

  4. Transfer the reduced wine, onions and bouquet garni to the slow cooker. Add the beef chunks, the water and the two beef stock pots, stirring to dissolve the stock. The liquid should come most of the way up the meat.

    ~5 min

  5. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 5 hours, until the beef is fork-tender and the sauce has thickened naturally from the broken-down onions.

    ~480 min

  6. About 20 minutes before serving, prepare the garnish. Fry the bacon lardons in a dry pan over medium heat until crisp and golden, then drain off most of the fat.

    ~8 min

  7. Add the wild mushrooms to the bacon pan and fry until golden. In a separate pan, caramelise the baby onions in a little butter until glossy and sweet.

    ~10 min

  8. Lift the bouquet garni out of the slow cooker. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. Spoon the beef and braising liquor into a serving dish, scatter generously with the caramelised baby onions and mushrooms, and finish with the crispy bacon lardons on top.

    ~5 min

Frequently asked

Do I really need to brown the beef first?
Yes. Slow cookers steam rather than caramelise, so all the deep savoury flavour in this bourguignon comes from the crust you build on the brisket in the frying pan. Skip it and you will end up with a pale, watery stew.
Why reduce the wine on the hob before it goes in the slow cooker?
Slow cookers do not evaporate liquid, so raw alcohol does not cook off properly. Reducing the wine and port by half on the hob first concentrates the flavour and removes the harsh alcohol edge.
Can I use stewing steak instead of brisket?
Yes. Marco prefers brisket for its high fat content, but chuck or shin will also braise beautifully over 8 hours on Low. Avoid lean cuts like topside, which will dry out.
Why cook the mushrooms, bacon and baby onions separately?
If you put them in at the start they turn grey and slimy. Pan-frying them and adding them as a garnish at the end keeps the textures distinct and gives the finished dish that classic French bourguignon look.
Can I make this ahead?
Yes, and it improves overnight. Cook the braise the day before, cool and refrigerate, then reheat gently on Low. Cook the garnish fresh just before serving.
Extraction notes (transparency): Quantities for beef, garlic, bouquet garni herbs, bacon, mushrooms, baby onions and butter are not stated in the transcript and have been estimated from standard practice for a 6-serving bourguignon. Wine (750 ml), port (250 ml), water (1 litre original) and stock pots (2) are explicit. Onions stated as 'one and a half'. Water has been reduced for slow cooker adaptation.