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If mushrooms had bones, these would be falling-off-of-them tender. This mushroom bourguignon recipe is about to become your new obsession. With meaty oyster mushrooms swimming in red wine and herbs, you will be downright psyched about how hearty, impressive, and secretly effortless your new Sunday dinner fave really is!
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This completely vegan and gluten-free French classic keeps the soul of the dish intact-deep, savory flavor and ultra-cozy vibes-while skipping the fuss (and the beef, thank the Lord).
I tried, I really did. But honestly, I can't think of too many things that go more amazingly next to some garlic sage Hasselback potatoes, as a sophisticated side to a bowl of Turkish string beans, or over a heaping mountain of vegan mashed potatoes than mushroom bourguignon.
Better still, it simmers all in one pot and transcends into a gloriously elevated stew. Reaching for just a little more buttery polenta? A baguette you definitely didn't just rip open with your hands in the car on your way home from the bakery? This vegan bourguignon solves most of life's problems, indeed.
This one is a keeper! It came together quickly and I finished it in the Instant Pot. I added some seitan from a new brand I was trying, just for fun. Served over polenta with roasted green beans. The flavors were so rich and complex. Hubby and I practically licked the bowls clean! Who cares if it's 95 degrees outside? Comfort food is always welcome.
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🥰Why you'll adore this mushroom bourguignon recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all of my gluten-free vegan recipes, this beauty skips the beef, ditches the butter, and tells bouillon cubes to go suck it. It's just plants and fungus doing their best and crushing it.
🍷 Wine-sday: A full cup of red wine (Cab Sav, Merlot, or Pinot Noir) adds body and richness with zero reduction drama. Um, this is the part where I mutter something about the French paradox, when in reality, I just want to help you make a killer dinner.
🥘 One-Pot Wonder: No night-long cleanup sesh. This all happens in one Dutch oven.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of my vegan recipes, this mushroom bourguignon has been tweaked into perfection with feedback from a team of hundreds of recipe testers from all over the globe.
💣 The BOMB vegan dinners that you need in your rotation
This guide to my most popular dinner recipes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰
🤷♂️ What is bourguignon?
First, how to say it: boor-gheen-YON - the last syllable is nasal, so you don't land hard on the "n."
What it means: Straight-up "from Burgundy." Burgundy = French wine country.
TLDR Backstory: Bourguignon dishes came out of Burgundy's wine-and-cow lifestyle. Farmers had tough cuts of beef? They drowned 'em in red Burgundy wine, tossed in onions, carrots, and mushrooms, then let time and slow heat do the heavy lifting. What started as rustic peasant fuel ended up getting the glow-up into one of France's most iconic wine-soaked stews.
This recipe gets rid of the cow part, because I love cows enough not to eat them.
🍄🟫Mushroom bourguignon ingredients
The Mushrooms
Cremini mushrooms (which are actually just prematurely harvested Portobellos, and are aka baby bellas) are super-common at most supermarkets and have a very earthy, meaty flavor and texture once simmered in wine. Portobello mushrooms work great too-just break them up into small, bite-sized pieces. I use both to make my mushroom Wellington and mushroom risotto too.
I also use oyster mushrooms in this. If you've never cooked them, they are super-versatile, and I use them in everything from my vegan shawarma to Japanese curry and even to make vegan shrimp paste. They soak up wine and herbs in this stew like a dang sponge.
Pearl Onions
My mom always makes a big pan of caramelized pearl onions for Thanksgiving, and they have become my kids' fave side. The only downside is that pearl onions require a lot of peeling because they are tiny. They can also sometimes be hard to find, but you can 100% substitute boiler onions or small shallots cut in half.
The Seasonings
This is the part where your kitchen smells so good that neighbors come knocking, pretending they left something at your house. Dried oregano, black pepper, bay leaves, and whole sprigs of rosemary and thyme?
I think this is a pretty nicely balanced bunch of seasonings, but feel free to make some substitutions if you are out of anything. Ground sage, marjoram, or a little poultry seasonings are all cool to swap in.
Red Wine
Use a dry red wine like Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon. Not being a drinker myself, I always just go for what's on the cheaper side, and I use whatever's left in the bottle to make vegan bolognese sauce, or a batch of vegan tiramisu.
If it matters to you, just make sure the wine you're using is actually vegan. Some wines get filtered with animal-based stuff like isinglass (fish bladders), egg whites, milk protein, or gelatin (animal collagen, usually from pigs or cows), which makes them not vegan.
Plenty of winemakers skip that now and use clay or charcoal instead in the clarifying process, but unfortunately, that info is rarely mentioned on the bottle or indicated with a vegan-certified stamp. You can check your bottle in seconds at Barnivore, an easy-to-use guide for vegan (and vegetarian) alcohol of all kinds.
The Stock
Make this with an unsalted stock so you're in control of the seasoning. Mushroom stock intensifies this dish's complexity, but vegetable broth tends to be a 'lil easier to find unsalted.
To make your own, just simmer dried mushrooms (like shiitake or porcini) with onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and herbs for about 30-45 minutes, then strain.
Tamari
This is the only actual source of salt in the whole recipe. Use tamari if you're keeping it gluten-free. If you can't be bothered about gluten, regular soy sauce is totally fine. And if you're going soy-free altogether, coconut aminos work fine in the recipe.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖 How to make mushroom bourguignon
So hangry you could gnaw on a raw carrot while you get din din ready? I got you, m'dear. Scroll down for the printable recipe card if you need speed. Otherwise, here's the complete breakdown:
Step One
Shroom With a View:
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté the mushrooms and pearl onions for 6-7 minutes until browned and tender.
Step Two
Garls Darwin:
Add the garlic and carrots. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally until fragrant.
Step Three
Herb Your Enthusiasm:
Add oregano, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and tomato paste. Cook 3 minutes, stirring to coat.
✅ Make sure to use a wooden spoon to keep scraping any buildup off the bottom of the pan. Those caramelized sugars from the tomato paste and onions will keep melting back through the mushrooms and will deepen the flavor of the sauce.
Step Four
Wineona Ryder:
Pour in the red wine. Reduce the heat to medium. Simmer 10 minutes until the sauce reduces and carrots are fork-tender.
Step Five
Stock Options:
In a bowl, whisk cornstarch with mushroom stock and tamari.
Step Six
Simmer Lovin' Had Me A Blast:
Stir the starch slurry into the pot and cook 4-5 minutes until thickened.
Step Seven
Hit Me Baby One More Thyme:
Remove rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. Serve over mashed potatoes, some vegan scalloped potatoes, or polenta, garnished with parsley or chives.
💡Serving Ideas
Planning this for Thanksgiving? Oh, you fancy now.
Skip traumatizing any more turkeys and roll deep with roasted carrot lentil soup and a slab of pan-fried vegan cornbread. Then roll straight into this bourguignon, flanked by vegan stuffing, vegan green bean casserole, Southern candied yams, and a tower of maple balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots so fine they should have their own OnlyPans page.
👉Top tips
- Mushrooms Need Space: Pick a wide pan, or a rondeau if you have one, and don't overcrowd the pan or you'll end up steaming instead of searing, which is the culinary equivalent of texting "u up?" to your ex. Make sure there's some direct contact between the pearl onions and the pan. Give those 'shrooms room to breathe, or cook in batches if you have only a small pot, so they get lightly golden at first.
- Deglaze With Gusto: When that wine hits the pan, don't be shy. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up every caramelized bit from the bottom-those browned bits are where the flavor lives. And those caramelized flavors will melt back into the sauce.
- Stock Smarts: If you just can't get fully unsalted stock, make sure to tweak the amount of tamari in the recipe so that it's not too salty.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Yes, but sear the mushrooms and aromatics first for flavor. Then toss everything in your slow cooker and simmer on low for 4-5 hours. Or if you have an Instant Pot, you can do it all in there, start to finish, by beginning with the sauté function.
Stir in 1 cup of cooked green or brown lentils with the stock mixture for a thicker, heartier vibe. Or use pan-fried shreds of vegan chicken instead.
Totally! The alcohol in the wine cooks off, and the sauce is savory and rich. Serve it over noodles or rice if mashed potatoes aren't your kids' jam.
❄️ Refrigerating:
Store in a sealed container up to 5 days.
🧊 Freezing:
Cools and freezes beautifully. Freeze for up to 2 months. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating:
Warm over medium heat, making sure to stir often.
🍁 You'll adore these vegan holiday recipes too:
Mushroom Bourguignon Recipe
Equipment
- Dutch oven (or heavy pot)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces cremini or portobello mushrooms cut or broken into bite-sized pieces
- 8 ounces oyster mushrooms hand torn into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups pearl onions or small shallots, peeled
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 2 thin carrots peeled and roll-cut
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup red wine Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ cup mushroom stock or vegetable stock (unsalted, if possible)
- 4 teaspoons tamari or other soy sauce
Optional garnishes:
- Parsley leaves
- Minced chives
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds when the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and pearl onions, and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.
- Add the garlic and carrots, and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften and become fragrant.
- Add the oregano, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and tomato paste. Sauté for 3 minutes until the tomato sauce breaks down and the herbs are well incorporated.
- Pour in the wine and lower the heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces and the carrots are fork tender.
- In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the mushroom stock and tamari until smooth.
- Add the starch and stock mixture to the pot. Stir well and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Optionally, remove the rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves before serving. Garnish with parsley leaves or minced chives.
Notes
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Deborah M Gonzales says
This recipe is outstanding. We dug in so fast we failed to get photos. It was straight forward and easy to make and SO, SO delicious. We will make this often.
Lisa says
Great depth of flavor. Made it tonight and will use it on the Sheperd's Pie that I plan to make tomorrow. Can't wait!
Sharon says
Great recipe perfect for Sunday dinner.
Cyn says
Sooo good! Made this in about 1 hour with mashed potatoes. It is rich and warm. The herbs made my tummy happy and the house smell amazing. I will make this again and again. Thank you, Cinnamon Snail! And please sell your Mexican Hot Chocolate donuts soon.
Jeff B. says
I've been a vegan for about five years and I cook for my wife and I every day. I get a number of blogs sending me recipes each day, so I rarely use any of the large number of vegan cookbooks I own, finding it easier to select one from my inbox. I purchase the ingredients I need in the afternoon, make the meal in the early evening, and silently steam as my wife, who is not vegan, pushes the food around her plate, eating like a bird. Then, I take the printout of the recipe, rip it in pieces, and throw it in the garbage. Occasionally, I find something worth keeping to make again.
This dish was one of those keepers. Tremendous depth of flavor in a very short time. I added the lentils for protein, and substituted portabellos for the oyster mushrooms, which are never available in any supermarket near me. I would not use the portabellos again, as I find regardless of how long they cook, they retain some chewiness that I dislike. I served the dish on a bed of a bean puree and it was great. Thank you.
Adam Sobel says
It made me so happy to read that, Jeff. Glad both of you loved it!
Tee Hansen says
This was absolutely delicious! It’s got that rich, slow-cooked flavor like it’s been simmering all day, but it’s surprisingly easy to make. Perfect for a chilly night, and I served mine over wide noodles...pure comfort in a bowl!
Lisa Braithwaite says
This one is a keeper! It came together quickly and I finished it in the Instant Pot. I added some seitan from a new brand I was trying, just for fun. Served over polenta with roasted green beans. The flavors were so rich and complex. Hubby and I practically licked the bowls clean! Who cares if it's 95 degrees outside? Comfort food is always welcome.
Janet says
Fantastic recipe, love the depth of flavour!