I made this recipe for my Friendsgiving this year, which was and will be A Very Merry Jim Carrey Thanksgiving furthermore. I’d never made it in the slow cooker before, but didn’t have an extra Dutch oven to spare for the rest of the dishes. So I winged it! Which I used to do in my previous life as a food editor. The result was incredible and only got better as leftovers.
Slow Cooker Mushroom Bourguignon
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter or extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 2 pounds mushrooms, such as baby portobello, shiitake, chestnut, or oyster, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 10 cups)
- 8 ounces peeled pearl onions (2 cups)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 celery stalks, sliced
- 3 large carrots, sliced into 1-inch chunks
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour (cornstarch for gluten-free)
- 1½ cups Burgundy red wine, divided into 1 cup and ½ cup
- 3-4 cups beef, mushroom or vegetable broth (see Step 3 for note)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more to taste
- 3 large fresh thyme sprigs or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Parsley, diced, for serving
- Egg noodles or mashed potatoes, for serving
Directions
Step 1: Add 2 tablespoons butter or oil to a large wok over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms and pearl onions, and sauté for 7 minutes. Add the minced garlic cloves and sauté for 1 more minute.
Step 2: Reduce heat to medium-low. Add celery and carrot and sauté until the celery starts to soften, 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and soy sauce, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Transfer to the slow cooker and add the rest of the wine, the broth, thyme, and a bay leaf. This is where it gets interesting. Add about 3 cups of broth if you want something less stew-like, but 4 cups if you want something with more broth. It also depends on the size and shape of your mushrooms. When I’ve made this, I’ve used as little as 2 cups and as much as 4 cups based on the volume. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Step 4: Serve mushroom bourguignon over noodles, polenta, or rice. Top with parsley and sour cream. See note below on iterations.
Recipe adaptations
I’ve adapted this recipe from the following sources: Cooking with Mushrooms by Andrea Gentl, Mushroom Bourguignon by Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman, and the New York Times Cooking’s Mushroom Bourguignon by Melissa Clark. We’ve cooked from Gentl’s cookbook before: King Trumpet Schnitzel and Soupy Eggs and Chanterelles. My big innovations to this recipe are cooking it in a wok, skipping the batch cooking to save time, using a slow cooker.
On how to eat it
Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman suggests topping with sour cream and parsley in each bowl. She also serves it with egg noodles. I served it with mashed potatoes in Friendsgiving theme. I would also recommend it with crusty bread and treating it like a dippy soup-au-jus.
On woks
All of these recipes ask that you remove the mushrooms from the pan, and in the case of Gentl’s recipe, you coat them in flour for a quick pan fry. This is so the mushrooms have a good texture. In my use case and opinion, you do not need to do this if you use a wok. I don’t require crisper mushrooms in the equivalent of a beef stew, but if you do, all of the recipes referenced have a version of batch cooking.
The wok originated in China over 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty. Enough said. If you don’t have one and cook with mushrooms, you’ve been missing a key component to chef-level shrooms. A wok is preferable because:
- Shape: Woks have high, sloped sides and wide surfaces that cook evenly without things becoming too soggy.
- Economical: You don’t need as much cooking oil.
- Lightweight: You can toss it around to let the steam escape.
My mom gifted me this wok nine years ago and I’ve used it every other day since.
On the extra work of pearl onions
Pearl onions are obviously a huge pain to prep and peel, but I parked in front of Shrek for the first time in 15 years and got to work. I wouldn’t skip them. In a beef bourguignon, where the meat really steals the show, you can get away with regular onions, but in this vegan version, the pearl onions add such a delicious, melty pop to each bite. The NYT Cooking recipe takes credit for using pearl onions here. Most of the other veggies are a rough chop for a chunkier dish. I like it that way, but you do you. Shallots will also add proper depth to this dish, too, if you have on hand.
On broths
Choose your own broth! Gentl suggests a lion’s mane mushroom broth, which sounds awesome. However I just had vegetable stock, but if you’re not a vegetarian, you can also use beef broth to really make it meaty.
On mushrooms
I just think you’re more special than button mushrooms. The meatier the mushroom, the better it will taste in this dish. Shiitakes, chestnuts, cremini, and porcini are perfect, but the look of those chunky little baby portobello mushrooms made it a real showstopper.
I don’t think I’d use maitake, too fragile. I also think lion’s mane sings better in a different setting, but you might like it. And if you love button mushrooms, who cares, add ‘em in. Sometimes it’s all you can find.
I can safely say this vegan mushroom bourguignon recipe was a hit. Whether you’re a devoted vegan or an enthusiastic meat eater, comfort food knows no boundaries. The total time might seem long, but the actual prep time is short – and your slow cooker does all the heavy lifting. While traditional boeuf bourguignon requires constant attention, this easy recipe lets you go about your day and come back to something yummy.