La Daube Provençale is the South of France version of the classic "Boeuf Bourguignon". Many of the ingredients and methods of cooking are the same, however it is the addition of orange zeste and Niçois olives that make this dish unforgettable.
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I will never forget my first Daube Provençale. I was an exchange student in Nice and was out to lunch on sunny winter day in the old town with my Swedish friends. We stopped at a restaurant in the old town, next to the market that advertised a "plat du jour" (dish of the day) for 12 euros . The main course was la Daube Provençale. Stewed beef in a rich, winey sauce, served over a heaping pile of spaghetti. Not potatoes. That first bite with the orange zest hitting my tongue was a revelation!
Julia Child became famous for her Boeuf Bourguignon and it is not hard to see why - meat that has been stewed for hours in a red wine sauce until it melts in your mouth it nothing short of incredible. La Daube Provençale has all the tastes of Boeuf Bourguignon but with the added brightness of orange zest that cuts through the hearty sauce. Plus , pasta with stew is amazing (sorry potatoes)!
17 years after that first experience in the old town of Nice, I have learnt to make La Daube Provençale the way that my husband, French Chef, Sébastien Giannini has taught me. I am honored to share our family recipe with you. You will certainly pick up a few French cooking tips along the way. Allons-y!
Frequently asked questions
Both are very similar - beef stewed in red wine for hours. Boeuf Bourguignon originates from the Burgundy region of France while La Daube Provençale is from Provence. La Daube Provençale has orange zest and olives for a distinctive South of France flavor. La Daube Provençale is very similar to la Daube Niçoise as well.
Drying the meat (patting it down with a paper towel) is an essential step to get a good sear on the beef. If you don't pat down the meat, it won't sear.
While the process is spread over couple days, the actually active cooking time is less than an hour. It is important to let the beef marinate for 24 hours in the fridge before cooking. I also recommend serving La Daube the day after you have cooked it. The flavors are so much richer!
Ingredients List
- 2 pounds of Top Round London Broil
- 2.5 pounds of Chuck Roast
- 1 cup of pancetta or lardons (use chopped up bacon if you can't find either)
- 4 shallots, peeled and cut into strips, lengthwise
- 4 large carrots, diced
- 2 branches of celery , diced
- 6 branches of thyme
- 2 branches of rosemary
- 1 star anise
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ cup flour, all purpose
- 1.5 cups pearl onions peeled (to peel, place onions in a pot of boiling water, strain and let cool - they will be easy to peel!)
- 4 cups of mushrooms, cleaned and cut in 4
- 2 cloves
- 1 cup of Niçois olives (Taggiasca also are amazing or Kalamata if you can't find the either)
- 2 tsps sugar
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 bottle of red wine
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 2 oranges for zesting
Equipment Needed:
Cast Iron Dutch Oven - I use this Le Creuset 6.75 QT
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Instructions
The day before...
La mise en place:
Chop your beef into cubes, about 2 inches thick.
Chop the carrots, celery and garlic for the marinade.
In a dutch oven, place the beef, carrots, celery, garlic, 4 thyme branches (left whole), 1 rosemary sprig, star ainse, cloves, 2 bay leaves and the skin of one orange (use a vegetable peeler). You don't need to make a bouquet garni (or herb bouquet) as we will be straining the marinade afterwards.
Top with a half bottle of robust red wine. We are looking for a wine with lots of tannins like a cabernet franc, syrah, mourvèdre or grenache. I like to use a French Pinot Noir too that has light fruit but lots of body.
Using a big spoon, fold the ingredients over each other so it is nicely mixed.
Cover your dutch oven with plastic wrap (so it is air tight) and set in the fridge for 24 hours.
Cooking La Daube Provençale:
Set a pasta strainer inside a big bowl. Transfer the contents of your dutch oven into the strainer - making sure to keep all the juice in the bowl! You will use this later.
Remove the chunks of marinated beef from the strainer and pat dry with paper towels. You must dry the meat! If you skip this step it will not sear.
Lay the dried pieces of meat flat on a cutting board and lightly dust with flour. I like to use a sieve for this - you don't want too much flour.
There is no cutting corners with a Daube, but I promise you it will be worth it!
Make sure to keep the carrots and celery from the marinade as well. Do however, discard the star anise and cloves.
Wipe down your dutch oven and put it back on the burner at medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil.
In small batches, sear the meat so that there is a light crust on each piece. Allow the meat to brown and remove the pieces once the meat begins to render liquid in the dish. You don't want the meat to boil!
Use tongs , not a spoon, to place the meat in the dutch oven because you want to make sure you are not adding extra liquid.
**Careful not to add more pieces of meat than can fit in one layer in your dutch oven - you want each piece to brown. This may take several batches to sear all of the meat.
Repeat until all the meat has been seared, making sure to continuously scrape the bottom of your dish with a rubber spatula - this is where all the flavor is! Set the meat aside.
**Le Chef's tip - use a marinade brush to wipe the sides of the dutch oven every so often to keep the sides clean
In the bottom of your dutch oven on medium heat, add the pancetta. Allow to brown and then add the peeled mini onions and quartered mushrooms. Sprinkle 2 tsps of sugar on top and sautée until slightly caramelized on medium heat, stirring frequently.
Add the seared meat & marinated vegetables back into the dutch oven as well as the remaining rosemary, laurier (bay leaf) and thyme.
Add the remaining half bottle of wine and the marinade liquid that you kept in the bowl. If there is room in your pot, add the beef stock. Careful not to fill the dutch oven too full.
Stir a few times, folding the ingredients over each other so that it is all well mixed
Place the lid on your dutch oven and set on the middle rack of your oven at 350 degrees for 2.5 hours.
Stir every half hour or so.
When the time is up add in the olives and stir. We don't add the olives earlier in the cooking process as the olives we are using a soft and stored in olive oil - they are perfect for adding at the end.
The fragrance from this dish is absolutely delectable!
Expert Tips
- Start making La Daube the day before - the meat needs time to marinade.
- Always, always dry the meat before searing - the texture of the meat will be so much more enjoyable.
- Use a marinade brush to wipe the sides of the dutch oven every so often to keep the sides clean. You get all the flavor in the dish and clean up is so much easier afterwards.
- Don't Skimp on the cooking time. Tender meat needs to cook low and slow.
- If there is too much liquid at the end, take the lid off of your dutch oven and add ½ hour cooking time to allow the liquid to reduce.
Serving La Daube Provençale
When you have finished cooking La Daube (recipe card below), cook your favorite pasta as per the package recommendations. I recommend spaghetti, linguine, tagliatelle or fettuccine for this dish (I like to twirl my pasta in the sauce) but I have also had La Daube Provençale served with pillows of fresh gnocchi, which was delightful!
After you have strained your pasta - put it back in the cooking pot and immediately pour a few spoonfuls of hot Daube sauce over the noodles. Stir so the sauce fully coats each noodle - this will ensure every bite is full of flavor!
Serve a portion of noodles in each dish (I love to serve La Daube in shallow pasta bowls like these), then top with a generous helping of La Daube using a large spoon to scoop up all of the sauce as well.
Top with orange zest and chopped fresh parsley & serve immediately.
What to serve with La Daube Provençale
I highly recommend serving with a homemade French Baguette - my super simple 2 hour recipe is perfect for making at the same time as your Daube cooks. There is nothing better than a crusty piece of bread dipped in the rich, winey sauce of La Daube. Simply turn the oven up to 460 degrees once your Daube is done to cook the baguettes while the Daube cools down. Don't forget to add the dish of water into the oven to create steam for the baguette!
Wine to serve with beef stew
A Provençale red wine that is coarse yet fruity is best served with La Daube. I personally love a Bandol such as a Domaine Tempier or Restanques du Pibarnon.
Reheating La Daube Provençale
La Daube Provençale is even better the day after it was cooked. If serving for a dinner party or special occasion, feel free to marinate the daube one day, cook it the next day then store it over night in the fridge before serving it on day 3! You can skim the fat from the top, place the dutch oven on the stove top uncovered and bring to a slow simmer before serving.
Both are very similar - beef stewed in red wine for hours. Boeuf Bourguignon originates from the Burgundy region of France while La Daube Provençale is from Provence. La Daube Provençale has orange zest and olives for a distinctive South of France flavor. La Daube Provençale is very similar to la Daube Niçoise as well.
Drying the meat (patting it down with a paper towel) is an essential step to get a good sear on the beef. If you don't pat down the meat, it won't sear. If it doesn't sear you get more of a texture of boiled meat...not good.
While the process is spread over couple days, the actually active prep time is less than an hour. It is important to let the beef marinate for 24 hours in the fridge before cooking. I also recommend serving Daube Provençale the day after you have cooked it. The flavors are so much richer!
Daube Provençale and Daube Niçoise is traditionally served with pasta, thanks to the proximity of neighboring Italy. That being said, many love to serve the hearty dish with potatoes as well. The South of France leans more towards pasta as an accompaniment, Northern France favors potatoes.
Other Le Chef's Wife recipes you will enjoy:
I hope you have enjoyed our family recipe for La Daube Provençale. If you make this recipe I would appreciate a star rating on the recipe and a comment below - I love hearing from this community!
Au plaisir,
Le Chef's Wife
ABOUT LE CHEF'S WIFE
Bonjour! I am Anina Belle. I translate the fancy cooking of my Michelin-star trained French Chef Husband, Le Chef, into easy to make dishes that busy people with no culinary training (like me!) can make at home. We have two young kids (5 and 2) and I have a full time job in hospitality in addition to this blog. I strongly believe that even busy people deserve to eat well at home.
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La Daube Provençale made simple
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 2.5 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes + resting time
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: French
- Method: Stew
- Cuisine: French
Description
A Daube Provençale is the South of France version of the classic "Boeuf Bourguignon". Many of the ingredients and methods of cooking are the same, however it is the addition of orange zeste and Niçois olives that make this dish unforgettable. This is our family recipe, full of French cooking tips. Allons-y!
Ingredients
2 pounds of Top Round London Broil
2.5 pounds of Chuck Roast
1 cup of pancetta or lardons (use chopped up bacon if you can't find either)
4 shallots, peeled and cut into strips, lengthwise
4 large carrots, diced
2 branches of celery , diced
6 branches of thyme
2 branches of rosemary
1 star anise
4 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
½ cup flour, all purpose
1.5 cups pearl onions peeled (to peel, place onions in a pot of boiling water, strain and let cool - they will be easy to peel!)
4 cups of mushrooms, cleaned and cut in 4
2 cloves
1 cup of Niçois olives (Taggiasca also are amazing or Kalamata if you can't find the either)
2 tsps sugar
2 cups beef stock
1 bottle of red wine
2 oranges for zesting
1 cup chopped parsley
Instructions
La mise en place:
Chop your beef into cubes, about 2 inches thick.
Chop the carrots, celery and garlic for the marinade.
In a dutch oven, place the beef, carrots, celery, garlic, 4 thyme branches (left whole), 1 rosemary sprig, star ainse, cloves, 2 bay leaves and the skin of one orange (use a vegetable peeler). You don't need to make a bouquet garni (or herb bouquet) as we will be straining the marinade afterwards.
Top with a half bottle of robust red wine. We are looking for a wine with lots of tannins like a cabernet franc, syrah, mourvèdre or grenache ( a typical grape variety of Provence)
Using a big spoon, fold the ingredients over each other so it is nicely mixed.
Cover your dutch oven with plastic wrap (so it is air tight) and set in the fridge for 24 hours.
Cooking La Daube Provençale:
Set a pasta strainer inside a big bowl. Transfer the contents of your dutch oven into the strainer - making sure to keep all the juice in the bowl! You will use this later.
Remove the chunks of marinated beef from the strainer and pat dry with paper towels. You must dry the meat! If you skip this step it will not sear.
Lay the dried pieces of meat flat on a cutting board and lightly dust with flour. I like to use a sieve for this - you don't want too much flour.
There is no cutting corners with a Daube, but I promise you it will be worth it!
Make sure to keep the carrots and celery from the marinade as well. Do however, discard the star anise, cloves and herb branches.
Wipe down your dutch oven and put it back on the burner at medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil.
In small batches, sear the meat so that there is a light crust on each piece. Allow the meat to brown and remove the pieces once the meat begins to render liquid in the dish. You don't want the meat to boil!
Use tongs , not a spoon, to place the meat in the dutch oven because you want to make sure you are not adding extra liquid.
**Careful not to add more pieces of meat than can fit in one layer in your dutch oven - you want each piece to brown. This may take several batches to sear all of the meat.
Repeat until all the meat has been seared, making sure to continuously scrape the bottom of your dish with a rubber spatula - this is where all the flavor is! Set the meat aside.
**Le Chef's tip - use a marinade brush to wipe the sides of the dutch oven every so often to keep the sides clean
In the bottom of your dutch oven on medium heat, add the pancetta. Allow to brown and then add the peeled mini onions and quartered mushrooms. Sprinkle 2 tsps of sugar on top and sautée until slightly caramelized on medium heat, stirring frequently.
Add the seared meat & marinated vegetables back into the dutch oven as well as the remaining rosemary, laurier (bay leaf) , star anise and thyme.
Add the remaining half bottle of wine and the marinade liquid that you kept in the bowl. If there is room in your pot, add the beef stock. Careful not to fill the dutch oven too full.
Stir a few times, folding the ingredients over each other so that it is all well mixed
Place the lid on your dutch oven and set on the middle rack of your oven at 350 degrees for 2.5 hours.
Stir every half hour or so.
When the time is up - add in the olives and stir. We don't add the olives earlier in the cooking process as the olives we are using a soft and stored in olive oil - they are perfect for adding at the end.
The fragrance from this dish is absolutely delectable!
Notes
When the Daube is fully cooked, cook your favorite pasta as per the package recommendations. I recommend spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine for this dish (I like to twirl my pasta in the sauce) but I have also had La Daube Provençale served with pillows of fresh gnocchi, which was delightful!
After you have strained your pasta - put it back in the cooking pot and immediately pour a few spoonfuls of hot Daube sauce over the noodles. Stir so the sauce fully coats each noodle - this will ensure every bite is full of flavor!
Serve a portion of noodles in each dish (I love to serve La Daube in shallow pasta bowls like these), then top with a generous helping of La Daube using a large spoon to scoop up all of the sauce as well.
Top with orange zest and chopped fresh parsley & serve immediately.
Kevin says
This looks like an absolutely wonderful dish to make, but I do have a couple of questions. If I’m reading it correctly, the recipe says first to discard the star anise after marinating, but then it says later on in the instructions to add it back in while cooking. And when am I adding the shallots? Unless I overlooked it, I don’t see the shallots going into the stew in the instructions at all. Merci! 🙂
Erik says
You say “add the remaining rosemary….. “ does the rosemary go into the marinade? Or is it added while cooking?
lechefswife says
Hello Erik, Thank you for letting me know - I have corrected the way recipe so that it is more clear. Thank you very much for letting me know! Bonne soirée,
Anina Belle
arf says
Ingredients list shows "2 cloves" but I don't see them used in cooking.
lechefswife says
Bonjour, Thank you so much for catching that! The cloves are used in the marinade. I have updated the recipe. thank you!
Deborah Karaban says
It was my first time making La Daube Provencale. I was wanting to prepare a lean grass fed top round roast in a tender way. Your recipe filled the bill perfectly. My husband couldn’t stop complimenting as he was eating it. He works for a French gourmet company so he is accustomed to tasting some very good food. Your instructions made it easy and it was well worth the time. This is a keeper for sure! Thank you!
lechefswife says
Thank you Deborah for your kind comment! I am so thrilled that you enjoy La Daube Provençale as much as we do! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and a star rating. I greatly appreciate it!! Wishing you a wonderful day!
Warmest regards, Anina Belle
Renee | Mountain Culinaire says
I made this--as the bright, fresh flavors sounded appealing--and they were delightful! The step-by-step instructions provided everything I needed to know, and the result was delicious. I'm happy to have another French stew to know how to make, in addition to Boeuf Bourgignon. Thank you to Le Chef's Wife!
lechefswife says
Thank you so much Renee! I am thrilled that you enjoy the recipe 🙂 It makes me so happy to hear! Thank you very much for taking the time to leave a comment.
Suzanne says
I am guilty of having cut corners while making Daube in the past…no more!
lechefswife says
I can't wait to make it for you! x