This cozy vegan mushroom bourguignon is the deeply savory and comforting dish you’ll want to eat all winter long. Mixed mushrooms offer a hearty texture and umami in addition to high nutritional value. The mushrooms are stewed with red wine, garlic, pearl onions, and herbs. The result is in an ultra-flavorful finished dish that can be served over mashed potatoes, polenta, toast, or a cooked whole grain.

When I tasted my first bite of this vegan mushroom bourguignon, I exclaimed “YUM” out loud, alone in my apartment.

I hadn’t been sure about a vegan attempt at this classic dish. I’d thought about making it in the past and had considered a number of ingredients to use in place of boeuf: seitan, tempeh, and so on.

In the end, hearty and earthy mushrooms were the perfect choice for a plant-based expression of the deeply savory, wine-infused, wintery stew.

Of course, you could make the mushroom bourguignon at any time of year, whenever you’re craving wholesome comfort food.

But I think that it’s a perfect dish for evoking coziness through the colder months of the year. It can be a great vegan crowd-pleaser for holiday meals, too. So, let me say a little more about how it comes together.

What is bourguignon?

When you see a recipe for bourguignon, your might immediately hear Julia Child’s lilting voice, exclaiming “boeuf bourguignon!”

In fact, bourguignon isn’t a specific recipe, but rather a preparation style. It includes onions and mushrooms that have been simmered in red wine.

Usually that wine is red Burgundy, hence the classification of this recipe as a Burgundian dish. And the simmering liquid is usually seasoned with a bouquet garni: a cluster of bay leaves, parsley stems, and thyme sprigs.

A protein, like beef or veal, can be added to the stew. Alternatively, if one simmers mushrooms and onions in a savory red wine sauce and pours it over a filet of beef, then the meat becomes beef “à la bourguignonne.”

What stands out to me here is that the vegetables—mushrooms and onions—are what give bourguignon its character.

Bourguignon may have become associated with meat over time, but it’s fundamentally a mushroom dish.

This is why a plant-based expression of the recipe makes so much sense and feels so authentic.

Mushroom bourguignon ingredients

Mushrooms are of course the star of the show in this recipe, but there are a few other key components.

Mushrooms

My bourguignon calls for a pound and a half of mushrooms. This is a lot of mushrooms, of course, but mushrooms cook down so much that it won’t feel overwhelming once the dish is finished.

As a dietitian I’m a big skeptical of the term “superfood.”

However, we can use the word as a means of talking about exceptional nutrient density. In that context, it points us to a lot of worthy plant-based ingredients.

Beans, kale, and beets, for example, are superfoods. And by that definition, mushrooms earn superfood status, too.

Mushrooms rich in phytonutrients that are associated in disease prevention, a well as fiber, folate, Vitamin D, selenium, potassium, and some protein.

Even better, these benefits aren’t limited to a seasonal, rare, or especially expensive type of mushroom. White, or button, mushrooms are sources of the above.

You can use a mix of your favorite mushrooms for the mushroom bourguignon. I almost always use chopped portobello caps, sliced baby Bella, and sliced white mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms are also delicious additions to the stew.

Pearl onions

Growing up, I always ate pearl mushrooms around the holidays. But why only then? Pearl mushrooms are so sweet and delicious, and I love that it’s easy to find them frozen.

I usually use frozen pearl mushrooms when I make the bourguignon, but you can of course use fresh ones if they’re in season and easy to find.

Red wine

For the record, I don’t pour nice red Burgundy into my mushroom bourguignon, even if that’s the traditional choice!

A dry red wine—preferably something full or medium-bodied—will work just fine in the recipe.

If you prefer not to cook with wine, then you can skip the step in the recipe where wine is added and then cooked down. Instead, add a little extra broth (I give instructions for this in the recipe card).

Broth

Vegetable broth is the type of broth that I keep in my house most regularly. Yet I find it very helpful to also store vegan chicken-style and beef-style broth or bouillon as well.

These types of broth can add distinctive flavor to soups. For example, I really like to use a vegan chicken-style broth in my chickpea noodle soup. And I think that a beef-style broth works best for mushroom bourguignon.

There are a number of vegan beef broth bases out there. Orrington Farms makes one, as does the Gardein brand and Better Than Bouillon.

If you can’t find an option for beef flavoring, then vegetable broth will work well in the mushroom bourguignon, too.

Tomato paste

On first inspection tomato paste might not seem to make sense here. However, it’s included in Julia Child’s classic beef bourguignon recipe, and who am I to question Julia?

Actually, tomato paste really does make sense in the stew: it’s very rich in umami, a savory taste that we tend to associate with protein rich foods. The tomato paste helps to create a rich, salty sauce.

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Also on the topic of umami, and saltiness, Bragg Liquid Aminos adds both to the recipe.

I think that liquid aminos has a distinctive flavor of its own, and for dishes that are supposed to be meat-like, I prefer its unique savoriness to either soy sauce or tamari.

That said, you can definitely substitute soy sauce for liquid aminos if that’s what you have at home.

Herbs

I don’t actually use a bouquet garni in the mushroom bourguignon, though you’re welcome to! Instead, I add chopped fresh thyme and rosemary leaves.

Parsley can be a good addition to or substitute for either of the others.

How to make vegan mushroom bourguignon

This isn’t an ultra-quick recipe to make, but it’s not a difficult recipe to make.

As with making risotto or caramelizing onions, the key here is to summon up some patience and be content with quite a bit of simmering and stirring.

The finished dish is worth it, I promise.

Step 1: Sauté onion, carrot, and celery

Mushrooms and onions aren’t the only veggies in the bourguignon: a traditional soup base of onion, carrot, and celery is included, too.

These vegetables should be sautéed for about six minutes, or until just tender.

Step 2: Add and cook down your mushrooms

Next, you’ll add your many, many mushrooms to the skillet or pot that you’re using (I like my sauté pan for this).

Cook them down until they’ve released most of their juices and are greatly reduced in size. Next, you’ll stir in the tomato paste, and then deglaze everything with red wine.

The wine should be simmered until it’s reduced by about three quarters. If you aren’t cooking with wine, then you can use a quarter cup of broth to deglaze the pan and move on with the recipe.

Step 3: Add onions, broth, and seasonings to the stew

Next, you’ll add your pearl onions, broth, liquid aminos, and herbs to the skillet. Bring everything to a gentle simmer.

Cover the bourguignon and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are tender. Then, uncover the skillet or pot and allow the stew to simmer for five minutes more. This will thicken the dish a little before you serve it.

If you’re using pearl onions that are frozen, be sure to thaw them before you make the mushroom bourguignon. If they’re not thawed and drained, they might dilute the stew and prolong its cooking time.

Step 4: Season to taste and serve

Finally, taste the stew and add black pepper. If you like, you can add a little extra liquid aminos.

If the stew is too thick for your liking, you can add a splash of broth. And if you’d prefer it to be thicker, you can simmer it for another five minutes or so, allowing more liquid to reduce.

Serving suggestions

There are many ways to serve the mushroom bourguignon. Here are some ideas:

• Over mashed potatoes
• On top of a bed of pasta
• With a cooked whole grain, like quinoa or farro
• Over a some soft polenta
• With a few slices of bread or focaccia

Personally, I like the mashed potato option best. My perfectly fluffy vegan mashed potatoes are a pillowy base for the stew, and they complement its comfort food energy.

Meal prep & storage

Mushroom bourguignon, like most stew recipes, is great for making ahead. You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days and freeze it for up to eight weeks.

The dish becomes even more flavorful as you store it.

I love this recipe so much, and I’m already thinking about when I’ll make it again (maybe Christmas Eve?).

It’s joining my mashed potato bowls with tempeh gravy, skillet lasagna, and chickpeas à la king in the category of favorite comfort food classics, made vegan.

I hope you’ll feel the same!

xo

This wheat berry salad is festive, textured, and wonderfully hearty, which makes it perfect for the winter months. It features kale, radicchio, warm Medjool dates, candied walnuts, and a tangy apple cider vinaigrette. This is a wholesome dish for holiday gatherings, and it’s also a salad that you can make ahead and store for a few days.

When the weather turns cold, my salads become warmer and more hearty. This wheat berry salad is a perfect example of a dish that’s colorful and refreshing, as salads should be, but well-suited for winter.

Part of the salad’s heartiness is thanks to the wheat berries themselves. Once cooked, wheat berries are a nicely substantial whole grain.

There are also crucifers (kale) and chicories (radicchio) present. These leafy vegetables each has a little more heft than, say, mesclun or butter lettuce.

Finally, for texture, crunch, and sweet notes that offset the bitterness of the vegetables, there are candied walnuts and warm, chopped dates.

I can’t think of too many salad dishes that offer so much variety of texture and temperature, not to mention flavor.

Of course there are no hard and fast rules about when a dish beckons. If you’ve got wheat berries in your pantry and a bunch of kale in the fridge, then you can make this salad at any time of year.

What are wheat berries?

If you’re new to cooking with wheat berries, then you’re in for a treat. They’ve always been one of my favorite grains to work with, and grain salads are my favorite use for them.

Wheat berries are similar to farro, but with a rounder, firmer shape and a slightly longer cooking time. The similarities between these grains is thanks to the fact that they’re both a form of wheat.

Wheat berries are kernels of whole wheat. Technically, this could be any variety of wheat. Most wheat berries sold for cooking in the US are kernels of hard red winter wheat, hard red spring wheat, or soft wheat.

On the other hand, farro refers specifically to kernels of Emmer wheat. Emmer is an ancient wheat variety that’s popular in Mediterranean cuisine, and especially in Italy.

Where to find wheat berries

You can find wheat berries in the bulk sections of many health food stores or natural groceries. It’s also possible to order them online.

Lately, I’ve been cooking with Hayden Mills White Sonora Berries and love them; I also love that they cook a little quicker than other wheat berry varieties.

Wheat berry cooking time

Whereas rice, barley, and farro all cook within 35-45 minutes, wheat berries demand a little more patience.

You can expect to simmer them for 50-90 minutes, or until they’re tender. The cook time will depend on the variety of wheat berry that you’re working with, but you should put aside an hour at least.

Soaking wheat berries overnight before boiling can shorten their cooking time a little, to 45-50 minutes. If you do this, be sure to drain the soaking water and use fresh water for cooking.

A seasonal salad

Kale is available year-round in many places, and I appreciate the brassica’s density and substance for cold weather salads.

I’m a big fan of Tuscan (lacinato) kale, and that’s what I like to use here. However, chopped curly kale is also a fine base for the wheat berry salad.

At some point in the past few years, I fell head over heels for any and all chicories. Since then, most of my winter side salads have been loaded with endive, escarole, frisée, and radicchio.

Radicchio is my favorite type of chicory, so it’s fitting that I use it for the wheat berry salad. Its burgundy color makes the salad look especially festive and fun.

Wheat berries themselves give the salad a lot of texture, but crunchy diced celery, dried fruit, and nuts add to that effect.

The nuts in question are vegan candied walnuts, which are especially delicious and super crispy.

If you don’t have time to make candied nuts, toasted, chopped walnuts are fine to use instead. And you can swap the walnuts for pecans (candied or regular) as well.

Finally, there are the dates. But let me say a little more about those.

Lightly seared dates = deeper flavor

The instruction to pan-sear Medjool dates might alone come as a surprise, let alone going to that effort for a salad.

But it’s worth it, I promise.

First and least importantly, you’ll sear the dates with a little oil. This makes them easier to chop and prevents them from clumping together when you mix them into the salad.

The real reason to cook your dates like this is to bring out their caramel-like flavor. Just as heating sugar will result in caramelization, so too does heating these wonderfully sweet fruits.

The cooking method—4-6 minutes in a frying pan over medium high heat—could be called light searing or pan-sautéing.

The dates acquire pleasantly browned edges in the pan. The slight crispiness helps them to hold their own in a sea of other wheat berry salad ingredients with big personalities.

How to prepare a winter wheat berry salad

Step 1: Cook the wheat berries

Before mixing the salad, you’ll need to set aside some time to boil your wheat berries.

Wheat berries can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days, and you can also freeze them for up to eight weeks. It’s easy to get a head start on the salad if you make the grains in advance.

When I make wheat berries at home, I always boil them in a large pot of water, just as I’d do for pasta. Increasingly, I prepare most of my grains this way.

It’s a choice that I write about in A Grain, a Green, a Bean. The upshot is that I think it leads to better consistencies—fewer mushy or dry/burned pots of grains—and requires less mental energy than using a precise grain-to-liquid ratio.

The wheat berries will need between 50-90 minutes of simmering on the stovetop. You’ll know that they’re done when they’re tender, yet still chewy.

Step 2: Lightly sear the dates

Begin by halving lengthwise and pitting the dates. Press them gently to flatten them, then add them to a small frying pan with some olive or avocado oil.

Lightly pan-sear the dates for about 3 minutes on each side, or until they’re gently caramelized, glistening, and hot.

Allow them to cool for a few minutes, then chop the dates roughly.

Step 3: Whisk together the vinaigrette

The wheat berry salad dressing is an appropriately bold, punchy apple cider vinaigrette.

You can read more about this dressing, which is a favorite of mine, in the original recipe post. Preparing the vinaigrette is as simple as shaking/whisking.

Step 4: Mix

Finally, the fun part: mixing.

This step is self-explanatory, but do be sure to use a large mixing bowl, so that everything can be tossed together without overflowing!

As you can see, I add chopped green onion tops to the salad for extra savoriness and a little bite.

Taste the salad right before you serve it. Feel free to adjust salt and pepper to taste, and add as many extra drizzles of the vinaigrette as you like.

Step 5: Serve

Finally, plate and enjoy the salad. A few extra chopped green onion tops can be a nice finishing touch, but this isn’t a salad that needs too many flourishes.

Storing wheat berry salad

One of my favorite features of kale salads is their sturdiness over a few days of fridge storage. This is definitely a salad that can be mixed ahead of time, and it’ll actually acquire more flavor as the ingredients mingle.

My only recommendation, if you choose to make it ahead, is to store the candied walnuts separately and add them right before serving, so that they retain their crispiness.

A few possible variations

If you don’t have kale around, you can try arugula, roughly chopped baby spinach, thinly sliced collard ribbons, or chopped escarole in its place.

There’s also room to substitute the radicchio: I think that any member of the chicory family (red or white endive, frisée, etc.) would be fine to use. The addition of thinly sliced raw fennel would add nice crunch and some new flavor notes.

While wheat berries should technically be the star of a wheat berry salad, they aren’t the only grain that will work in this recipe.

Cooked farro, short-grain brown rice (a gluten-free option), barley, and spelt berries are all good substitutes for the wheat berries.

From a nutrition perspective, the offer similar benefits of dietary fiber, and the other forms of wheat will be similarly rich in protein.

For me, the challenge and joy of winter cooking is to create color and brightness within a leaner, darker season.

This salad is so wonderfully celebratory and special. I hope that it’ll bring joy to your table and your plate!

xo