Mushroom Bourguignon
This mushroom bourguignon is the ultimate hearty, comforting vegan stew (and it’s also surprisingly low calorie!).
If you want a hearty winter warmer to serve to guests, which sounds super fancy, but is actually really easy to make… mushroom bourguignon is the dish for you. Pretend you’re posh and wow your friends with this French veggie stew, which you actually prepared in about 20 minutes!
What is mushroom bourguignon?
This mushroom bourguignon (pronounced ‘bour-gin-yon’… kind of) is based on a French dish called boeuf bourguignon. If you speak even a little French, you’ll know that boeuf means beef, so obviously the original recipe isn’t vegetarian – it’s a rich beef stew made with red wine.
This version is totally vegetarian – in fact it’s actually vegan too! The beef is replaced by some ‘meaty’ mushrooms (don’t hate me for saying that, meat eaters), along with baby carrots and baby onions*.
*(no actual babies were harmed in the making of this dish)
Vegan beef bourguignon
This hearty vegan stew begins by frying off the vegetables in a dash of oil. Since whole baby onions and baby carrots need a fair bit of cooking, they won’t really soften up at this stage, but the mushrooms will, releasing the juices that will ultimately give heaps of flavour to the casserole’s rich sauce.
Don’t forget plenty of garlic too!
Red wine
Next, add a good slosh of red wine – almost a cupful.
I’m actually not a red wine drinker, at all – I don’t like it much. But it works really well in this mushroom bourguignon, giving the sauce a beautiful deep flavour. So don’t worry if you’re not a red wine fan either – you might still love this mushroom bourguignon!
As the name of the dish suggests, it’s traditional to use a Burgundy wine to make a bourguignon (the French region of Bourgogne is known as Burgundy in English). But, since I’m not overly fussed with authenticity, I just used any old cheap red wine (don’t hate me for saying that, French people), and it still worked beautifully.
Hearty baked stew
After adding some fresh thyme, bay leaves, and a glug of veggie stock, it’s time to bake the stew in the oven. This helps the sauce to intensify, releases all the flavour from the herbs, and softens the onions and carrots.
If you have a big casserole dish that can be used both on the hob and in the oven, you’ll save yourself some washing up. I used my enormous cast iron Le Creuset casserole dish (Amazon UK* / Amazon US*). It’s almost worth cooking up this kind of big stew just so I can use that thing – love it.
How do I serve mushroom bourguignon?
After 40 minutes or so in the oven, your mushroom bourguignon is ready to eat!
I served mine with mashed potato – it’s the perfect combination. Rich gravy poured over creamy mash, with all those hearty veggies. The best comfort food ever (and pretty healthy too, if you ignore the wine!).
If you’re not a fan of mashed potato, I find you very strange (don’t hate me for saying that, mashed potato haters), but luckily this mushroom bourguignon is really versatile. It would also be great served with boiled potatoes, pasta, crusty bread, or just about anything else. It’s hard to go wrong with a good gravy.
How can I adapt this mushroom bourguignon recipe?
As always, feel free to make this recipe your own! There are all sorts of ways you could adapt the recipe to give it your own flair. Here are a few ideas:
- Add a tin of chickpeas or butter beans to make your casserole extra hearty.
- Add some vegetarian sausages for a tasty sausage stew (just fry them off a bit before adding!).
- Or, use ‘fake beef’ pieces for a more realistic take on beef bourguignon.
- Use different vegetables – anything that’s great cooked for a long time. Root vegetables (e.g. parsnips) will all work well!
- Instead of serving with mashed potato, add some baby potatoes to the stew itself so they can soak up the gravy.
- Add a pastry top to make a beautiful mushroom bourguignon pie, much like I did when I made my mushroom stroganoff pie (this would be a great way to use up any leftovers!)
- Add a splash of cream to the finished stew for an extra indulgent dish.
Whatever you do, it’s hard to go wrong with this kind of hearty comfort food.
Is mushroom bourguignon healthy?
Despite the fact that this mushroom bourguignon is really rich and hearty, it’s actually surprisingly low calorie – less than 200 calories a bowl! Of course, by the time you’ve added a huge heap of buttery mashed potatoes, it’s going to be significantly more than that, but you can certainly go easy on the side dishes if you’re trying to keep things light.
As well as being pretty low calorie, this mushroom bourguignon is also high in fibre and iron, and super high in vitamin D (it’s all those mushrooms!).
Who says comfort food can’t have a place in a calorie controlled diet?! This mushroom bourguignon certainly can!
Mushroom Bourguignon
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 250 g (~ 9 oz) baby onions
- 250 g (~ 9 oz) baby carrots
- 1 tbsp oil
- 850 g (~ 1 3/4 lb) mushrooms, cut into chunky pieces (I used chestnut mushrooms and mini portobellos)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 185 ml (~ 3/4 cup) red wine
- 2 tbsp tomato puree / paste
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 250 ml (~ 1 cup) vegetable stock
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the baby onions, and remove the tops and tails, but otherwise leave whole. Also top and tail the baby carrots.
- Heat the oil in a large pan (if you use a large casserole dish that can also go in the oven, that will save on washing up!), and add the mushrooms, baby carrots and baby onions. Cook over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, adding the garlic for the last couple of minutes of cooking time. The mushrooms should be soft and should have released their juices. The carrots and onions will still be quite hard.
- Add the red wine, and turn up the heat. Simmer for a few minutes, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine.
- If needed, transfer the mixture to an oven-safe casserole dish. Cover with a lid or some foil, and bake at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 40 minutes, or until the carrots and onions are cooked to your liking. Check the seasoning, and serve hot.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
This was delicious! I used vegan butter instead of oil, and added a little cornstarch. I made it with mashed potatoes as suggested. Even my 7yr old ate it 👏🏻 I will definitely make this again!
Ahh that’s great to hear, thanks Jen!
Cant wait to try this. Can i use vegan beef boullion and this dish is best served with what? Rice or potatoes or bread?
Yes you could definitely use that in place of the veggie stock! I like serving it with mashed potato as it feels like proper comfort food, but crusty bread would be great too, to mop up the gravy :)
This looks so delicious and comforting! Can it be made without the red wine and still turn out? What would be a good substitute?
Thank you!
I’ve not tried substituting the wine, but if you check out Sara’s comment on this post, there’s an idea for a version without the wine! Or there are some more alternatives here: https://www.thespruceeats.com/red-wine-substitute-1388895
It like okay good but red wine is neither vegan or vegetarian due to gelatin. So I don’t think it should be labeled as such. But I’m sure it’s delicious
Hi Crystal, there are lots of vegetarian wines available, so as long as you use one of those, this will be totally vegan.
@Crystal, go to Barnivore.com they have an extensive list of vegan wine.
Very nice recipe! A bit time consuming, but so worth it.The only thing I tweaked was adding parsnips, since I enjoy them with mushrooms. I served this over herbed white cheddar polenta, it made for a hardy dish on a cold January night
Sounds amazing, thanks! :)
This looks so delicious and I love that it is vegetarian! Do you think this will fit a 4qt dutch oven or do you think I should put it in my 7qt (which feels really big)? Thank you!
Hmm we don’t measure our pots in quarts over here but based on a quick Google image search, I think mine is probably closer to the 7qt one. If it fits in the 4qt one though, I imagine that would be fine, as the mushrooms cook down a lot anyway! :)
Perfection! A huge hit with the family and my carnivorous husband! Thank you.
Thanks Dawn! :)
LOL! At quick glance I thought it said coronavirus, and thought, what does that have to do with this dish?” 😂
Haha!
So good! Even my hard-core carnivore husband was satisfied.
As I can never leave well enough alone, I sprinkled flour over the onions/carrots/mushrooms as they were cooking down so the stew would thicken later. I was also very liberal with the wine – and it turned out great! Thanks, Becca!
Thanks Christy, sounds good! :D
The flavour in this dish was incredible; considering I am a meat-eater and was not expecting a vegetarian version to compare. Christy, your idea of adding a starch is a good idea. I found the broth to make this more soup-like, rather than stew-like. One other thing I might try next time is to remove the mushrooms before step 3, then add them again just before serving. I found them too over-cooked for my tastes. No matter these small changes, I am definitely making this dish again! With the cost of meat skyrocketing, meatless meals are more economical. The bonus is that they are also healthier!
Loverley!!! Good to prepare, cook and eat, who could ask for more!
Thanks Anne!
I made this last night and we enjoyed it very much. The family joke was that the cats had the beef and we had the bourguignon. Since I didn’t have enough fresh mushrooms (I never seem to for your recipes) I did my usual trick of using some dried mushrooms and using the soaking water as the stock. I also found some own brand vegetarian red wine stock pots in my local supermarket (the Bradford based one) and one of those went in as well as the wine. I served it with baked potatoes, which cooked with the casserole.
Sounds delicious, glad you enjoyed it Helen! :)