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Beef Bourguignon (also known as bœuf bourguignon, beef Burgundy, and bœuf à la Bourguignonne) is a hearty and delicious dish of French origin. Truly on a cold winter’s day or when under the weather there are few things more warming and comforting than this delicious French stew. However, when cooking this dish for the first time, you may be unsure what to serve with beef bourguignon. If so, don’t worry, we’ll help you to figure it out with some excellent suggestions.
Table of Contents
- What Is Beef Bourguignon?
- What Goes With Beef Bourguignon?
- What To Serve With Beef Bourguignon?
- Answered: What To Serve With Beef Bourguignon?
- FAQ – What To Serve With Beef Bourguignon?
What Is Beef Bourguignon?
As mentioned above beef bourguignon is a type of beef stew with origins in French cuisine. However, this rich French stew is far from ordinary due to being braised in a rich red wine gravy made from red burgundy wine and beef stock.
Additionally, the beef will also often be braised alongside and flavoured with vegetables such as carrots, onions and garlic, along with bouquet garni seasoning (a combination of bay leaf, thyme and parsley). Finally, this will be garnished with pearl onions, sauteed mushrooms, and diced bacon.
The resulting stew is incredibly rich and flavourful with an assortment of different flavours and textures to enjoy. The combination of tender beef, plump and soft vegetables, rich wine gravy, salty and crispy bacon, soft but crunchy onions and earthy and buttery mushrooms and herbs is truly a dazzling taste sensation that is filling, warming, hearty and of course morish.
What Goes With Beef Bourguignon?
Beef bourguignon is an incredibly rich and hearty stew and as mentioned it already contains a diverse array of taste and texture sensations. As such many people will often eat this dish by itself without a side dish.
However, whilst there are a diverse array of flavours and tastes on offer, beef bourguignon can be enhanced by the addition of certain side dishes. Naturally, with all the flavours of the beef stew being present you’ll want them to speak for themselves.
As such though, when you serve beef bourguignon, the side dish options should mainly provide extra texture. This is because overly flavourful dishes may disrupt the intricate balance of tastes present with the beef bourguignon.
What To Serve With Beef Bourguignon?
With the above in mind, deciding on what to serve with beef bourguignon might feel somewhat limited. However, like when picking sides for beef stroganoff or a regular beef stew there are actually a wide variety of options open to you. Some of the best options include the following:
- Polenta
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Mashed Cauliflower
- Roast Potatoes
- Green Beans
- Steamed Asparagus Spears
- Fresh Baguette
- Parmesan Herb Popovers
- Rice
- Egg Noodles
Polenta
Polenta is a rich and creamy dish that originated in Italy but found immense popularity in the southern United States. This dish pairs wonderfully with both seafood and meat of all kinds, including of course beef bourguignon.
The combination of polenta and beef bourguignon is shockingly good and truly has to be tried to truly be believed. When served together the result is an even more rich and hearty dish than beef bourguignon already is. This of course is because of the added creaminess and subtle sweetness polenta provides.
An added bonus of using polenta as your side dish is that it is quick and easy to rustle up something to pair with your beef bourguignon whilst it’s in the slow cooker.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
In a similar vein to polenta, another wonderfully creamy dish to serve alongside beef bourguignon is of course some creamy mashed potatoes. In fact, when most bourguignon lovers are asked for their go-to side dishes it is more than likely that mashed potatoes will always get a mention.
The reason that the combination of earthy and starchy potato alongside beef bourguignon works so well is that the potato adds thick creaminess along with buttery and earthy tastes. Additionally, the starchy mash helps to soak and that delicious red wine gravy which will blend wonderfully.
When making the mashed potatoes, using plenty of butter, garlic, salt and sour cream are all recommended to make it extra special. However, another excellent addition is of course chives.
Mashed Cauliflower
If you want something in a similar vein to mashed potatoes but healthier, then some mashed cauliflower is an excellent choice. Flavour-wise, mashed cauliflower is slightly different from mashed potatoes as whilst still earthy, it is also slightly nutty.
Like mashed potatoes, this will add some extra heartiness to your meal and make for something that is truly delicious and creamy. As such, whilst it is certainly a healthier option, that doesn’t by any means make it less appealing or delicious.
Roast Potatoes
Back on to the topic of potatoes though, another excellent spud based side dish for beef bourguignon is of course roast potatoes. These will add a wonderful texture combination from the crispy exterior and fluffy middle which both compliment your main dish beautifully.
Now regular roast potatoes will make for one of the best beef bourguignon sides, however, there are ways to elevate this dish even further. Some excellent options are to make oxo roast potatoes, marmite roast potatoes or to sprinkle them in honey or parmesan cheese and garlic powder before roasting.
Green Beans
A healthy and delicious option to pair with your beef bourguignon is of course some green beans. These go wonderfully with all sorts of fish and meat dishes but with beef in particular they are fantastic.
Green beans add a distinctive crunch to the meal along with a noticeable earthy flavour that wonderfully compliments the ingredients found in the stew.
When serving green beans alongside your beef bourguignon, there are a myriad of possible ways to do so. Some great ones are to make a green bean potato salad or cook them in a balsamic glaze to provide a slight extra tang.
Steamed Asparagus Spears
Another delicious crunchy green to serve with your French beef stew is some delicious broccoli spears. When steamed they retain their distinctive crunch whilst being slightly softer. Additionally, they will also add a distinctive earthy yet bitter flavour to the meal.
Broccoli spears can be served in a number of ways with the steaming process also helping to lock in any seasonings you may be inclined to add to them such as garlic or rosemary. Additionally, serving them wrapped in bacon or prosciutto or in butter will add extra dynamic flavours to the dish.
Fresh Baguette
Due to beef bourguignon having a rich delicious red wine gravy, an excellent idea of what to serve this dish is something that can mop up some of this gravy. As such, some slices of crusty fresh baguette is a wonderful way to accompany your stew.
Not only is some french baguette fitting in terms of theme and perfect for soaking up gravy, but it also adds extra delicious texture. This of course comes in the form of the wonderfully crusty exterior, partnered with a deliciously spongy middle that is even better with some generously spread butter.
An alternative bread option though is to use bread rolls instead of a fresh baguette. Whilst these are still wonderful for soaking up the sauce, the texture is more buttery, fluffy and tender. As such whichever suits your preferences more is what you should serve.
Parmesan Herb Popovers
In a similar vein to the prior option are parmesan herb popovers. These are made using an egg batter and are similar in texture and taste to Yorkshire puddings and are even made in a similar way. However, unlike Yorkshire puddings, they tend to expand much more and be more doughy and puffy whilst being less crispy.
These make for an excellent pairing with beef bourguignon because they are perfect for dunking into your stew to soak or mop up the deliciously rich liquid.
The beauty of popovers though is that if you want to have some they are quick and easy to make with only a few ingredients. When doing so though, mixing some fresh herbs and parmesan into the batter will make them even tastier
Rice
One of the most popular options for pairing with nearly any kind of stew though is a delicious steaming bowl of rice. This is because like with mashed potatoes, the starchy nature of the rice makes it perfect for soaking up some of that delicious sauce.
Additionally, though, the texture of the rice adds an extra subtle chewy sensation to the meal whilst also adding a subtle nutty flavour. Additionally, you can use practically any type of rice to slightly alter this dynamic. As such whether you have white or brown rice, short grain or long in the house, this is guaranteed to be a winner.
Egg Noodles
Like with beef stroganoff, homemade egg noodles make for an excellent choice of side dish for beef bourguignon. Or, if not in the mood for making you own, a good quality store-bought packet will also do wonderfully.
Noodles are an excellent choice for a light but still a quite substantial side dish that offers lots of wonderful texture to your meal. Truly this is brilliant comfort food as when combined it essentially creates a bourguignon noodle soup that is absolutely delicious.
If you find the flavours of bourguignon, particularly the umami nature a little overwhelming then this is also a great choice of side. This is because the noodles naturally mellow out these flavours without making the beef bourguignon bland.
Answered: What To Serve With Beef Bourguignon?
Beef bourguignon is a delicious French beef stew dish recipe. As such, it should be allowed to properly shine by being paired with side dishes like those above that are happy to play second fiddle.
Sides like egg noodles, French baguettes, green beans and mashed potatoes are all excellent at performing this role. However, each dish does so in its own way, with the results naturally being slightly different.
As such, when making bourguignon, it is a good idea to next just stick to one side but to maybe combine multiple options. Whether they’re all from above, or some inspiration of your own though, the results are sure to be marvelous as long as the beef remains the star.
FAQ – What To Serve With Beef Bourguignon?
What is best served with Beef Bourguignon?
Beef bourguignon is best served with side dishes that do not have overwhelming flavours and aren’t too heavy. As such, sides such as mashed potatoes, egg noodles, French baguettes and green beans are all recommended.
What is the best wine for Beef Bourguignon?
The wine used in a beef bourguignon doesn’t have to be bank breakingly expensive and in fact, probably shouldn’t be. That said though a good quality Burgundy wine is what you should use since this type of wine is where the dish gets its name from.
Is boeuf bourguignon a main course?
Beef bourguignon is a delicious and incredibly rich beef stew of French origin. Due to being a very hearty, heavy and filling dish, it is typically served as a main course. However, it may be served in small portions as an appetiser on rare occasions.
Is Beef Bourguignon a peasant dish?
Beef bourguignon has its origins as a French peasant dish from the middle ages. However, over the centuries this dish had been refined and is nowadays often seen as a staple dish of the Parisian style bistro.
