Vegan Bourguignon

Bourguignon (yes, that’s how you spell it)…made with beef, butter, beef broth and all purpose flour. Or, what we could say is a heart attack in a bowl. Vegan bourguignon however, is made with fresh vegetables, coconut oil and tapioca starch, which also makes this recipe gluten free! Oh, and you get plenty of protein from the mushrooms, carrots, rice noodles and onions. Yes, all of these contain protein, especially the mushrooms!

Vegan bourguignon over a plate of rice noodles

This recipe is fairly easy, but you want to set aside time to chop up the vegetables and leave time for the simmering. This is a one pot meal, as you can eat it as a soup, or put it over some rice noodles, potatoes, toast, or really anything you want! The sauce is also made with red wine, which gives this dish a really great hearty flavor.

So without further ado…let us begin!

You will need:

a large cooking pot, stirring utensil or spoon or spatula
3 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 pkg (8 oz) mushrooms, sliced (these can be chantrelle or crimini)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced pearl onion (this can also be substituted with regular onion, shallots or green onion)
2-3 minced garlic cloves
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (this can also be substituted with coconut oil)
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp tomato paste (if you don’t have past you can substitute with tomato sauce)
2 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch
2 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

This is a long list of ingredients, but they are all going into the same pot! So the more you start cooking, the less overwhelming it will feel

Step 1:

The first step is to chop up all your vegetables. Slice the mushrooms, carrots and celery, dice the onions and mince the garlic. If you are using fresh thyme, just strip the leaves off the stem, and chop up a bit. This make take a bit of time to fully complete

Step 2:

Next you want to take 2 tbsp of the olive oil and put it into your large pot. Heat the oil then add in the mushrooms, yellow onion and garlic. Cook on high heat for about four minutes until the mushrooms and onions are golden brown, then remove from the pot.

Once the mushrooms, garlic and yellow onion is cooked, put on a plate and set aside to add to your dish later

Step 2:

Add the last tablespoon of olive oil to the pot, turn down the heat to medium and add the carrots, celery, thyme and pearl onion. Add some salt and pepper and cook on medium heat until the onions are golden brown.

Step 3:

After 10 minutes, add the wine to the pot and turn up the heat to simmer. You are going to reduce the wine by half, while also scraping the sides and the bottom to loosen up any cooked bits that may have stuck to the pot. The reduction time may take 5-10 minutes depending on heat

Adding the wine to the carrots, onion, celery and thyme mixture

Step 4:

After the reduction, add in your vegetable broth and the tomato paste. Bring the heat down to a simmer again, and simmer for ten minutes, after which time you may add in the mushrooms, garlic and onion. Continue to simmer for another ten minutes. You are going to simmer for a full 25-30 minutes!

Adding back in the mushrooms, onions and garlic

Step 5:

While the mixture is simmering, take a bowl and mix the two tablespoons of coconut oil with the 2 1/2 tablespoons of tapioca starch. Make a thick paste with this, as we will be adding it to the pot to thicken our sauce.

While you are making this, remember to keep mixing the bourguignon and scraping the sides and bottom of the pot.

Mixing the tapioca starch and coconut oil

Step 6:

After the mixture has been simmering for about 20 minutes, add in the tapioca mixture. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes as the mixture thickens

If sauce has still not reached your desired consistency level, add in some more tapioca starch, either with some more coconut oil or a bit of water.

Adding in the tapioca starch and coconut oil

Once your mixture has simmered for another five minutes, check the consistency. If everything looks good to you, then remove from heat and let cool for a bit.

You can serve this dish on noodles, toast, potatoes or anything you prefer! I personally eat it as a soup or serve over mung bean or rice noodles, as picture below: