Beef Stroganoff: A One-Pot Recipe - Sense & Edibility (2024)

Beef Stroganoff caused quite the controversy in my family. Turns out that it’s one of my husband’s favorite dishes. The twins, however, recoiled whenever I served it in past. After numerous battles that ended with, “If you don’t eat it, so help me GOD!!!” I finally quit making it. As a result, Hector also had to go without. It wasn’t until the twins were about 11 that I reintroduced beef stroganoff to our meal rotations. At last, they lovedit! Once Hector finished ranting about, “having gone so many years without it because of the fickle ingrates,” we were able to enjoy it and have ever since.

Here, the original version has been modified to make it weeknight (and harried-cook) friendly. One pot meals are always a good idea, if you ask me.

What is Beef Stroganoff?

As the name may suggest, Beef Stroganoff is a Russian dish. During the 50s, it became all the rage here in the States. Tender cuts of tenderloin beef are seared, then folded into a rich, creamy sauce. I always strive to incorporate as much flavor as one dish can hold. This one-pot wonder is no exception with its onion and mushroom beef gravy. Simmering egg noodles in the creamy gravy saturates them with all the flavor they can hold. The dish is then finished with a generous helping of brightly flavored herbs.

The best thing about this dish is its ease of preparation; both in the assembly of the ingredients and the cooking. If you’re in the market for a easy weeknight meal, read on.

What you will need to make this Beef Stroganoff

For this recipe you’ll need 1 to 1 1/4 pounds of lean beef (I’ll go into detail in a minute), spices, beef broth, onion, garlic, sour cream, egg noodles, and fresh dill and parsley. Miscellaneous items like flour, oil, and butter will also be used.

Thinly slice the beef sirloin

The important thing to remember about this dish is that the beef you use should be lean and tender. Because we’re not planning to cook this beef stroganoff for a long time, the cut used shouldn’t come from the overworked parts of the cow. That means no shoulder, rib, or booty meat. The loin is where you want to stay: the short loin, sirloin, tenderloin, top or bottom sirloins are where it’s at. These cuts are the more tender of the animal.

Short loins (think porterhouse steaks) are too expensive to use for anything other than steaks, so I would avoid them for this dish. Tenderloin is the most desirable. It sits in a very under-used part of the cow’s back. I refer to it as the cow’s love handles or muffintop. That said, because it’s so tender and prized, it’s also more expensive. I find sirloin to be the middle of the road in terms of tenderness and price. So, grab a package and get to slicing.

Place the sirloin on your cutting board. Cut the larger piece in half (down its length) to create two pieces that are about 3 inches wide. This allows you to cut bite-size strips of meat. Use your chef’s knife to cut thin slices against the grain of the meat. You know you’re cutting against the grain when the meat strips look web-like. Of course, you could always buy your meat pre-cut from the store and save more time.

Once you’ve sliced the meat, throw it in a mixing bowl and toss it in the salt, pepper, garlic to season. This can be done the evening before you plan to cook it. It’s a great way to marinate the meat and reduce the prep time on eating day.

Begin by searing the beef in a dutch oven

In a 4qt dutch oven, over medium-high heat, heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil. Once the oil begins to create ribbons in the pot, add your seasoned beef. Sear the meat to seal in the spices and cook until medium temperature. After the beef has browned all over, remove the strips from the pot. Place the meat on a platter, then off to the side for now.

Melt the unsalted butter into the fond (or dark, yummy, browned bits) on the bottom of the pot. Add the onions and garlic to the hot pot and sauté the two just until the onions are glossy- about 3 minutes. Stir in the sliced portobellos and- stirring frequently- cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they’ve released most of their water and begin to brown.

Because we want something to thicken the brown gravy base for our sauce, we need to create a roux. Add the flour to the pot and stir it into the veggies. Cook the roux for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. This step cooks off the raw, starchy flavor of the flour. It will also toast the flour and cause it to turn brown.

Cook the sauce for the Beef Stroganoff

In a separate bowl, combine the beef stock and the dijon mustard- just whisk them together. Once the roux has cooked, pour in a quarter cup of the beef stock mixture. The key to achieving a smooth sauce is to add the liquid to the rouxgradually. This prevents lumps from forming. Once the first quantity of liquid has thickened in the roux, slowly stir in the rest of the beef stock.

Reduce the temperature and bring the mixture up to a simmer. It won’t be super-thick right now because we still want a lot of liquid to cook the pasta in.

Use the right pasta!

Speaking of pasta! Please use egg noodles for your beef stroganoff! Farfalle or tagliatelle areokay-ish substitutes if you’re allergic to eggs, but if you’re not- use egg noodles.

Egg noodles are just what they sounds like- noodles made from a thinly rolled egg and flour dough. They provide more protein than traditional pastas, as well as less carbs. Traditional egg noodles do have more cholesterol than conventional pasta, but if you’re worried about that, you can use no yolk egg noodles instead.

The width of the egg noodle you use is of lesser importance, but still has some bearing in our recipe. Wide at the thinnest, extra-wide if you’ve got some sass to ya’. Thin egg noodles are akin to using a teaspoon to eat ice cream, when you’ve got a big ass tablespoon in the same drawer. They just don’t carry as much of the creamy gravy to your lips as the extra-wide “noods” do. Don’t cheat yo’self.Treatyo’self.

Noodles aside, once your beef stock reaches a simmer, add all of the egg noodles to the pot. Stir them in and cover the pot. Leave the noodles to cook for 8-10 minutes, or until they have just a little bite left to them. The traditional beef strog’ is ladled over boil egg noodles (done in a separate pot). We ain’t got time for all that.

Once your noodles are tender, stir in the sour cream. Bring the sauce only to the point of steaming. Don’t allow the sauce to simmer after you’ve added the cream, or you risk it curdling.

Finish your One-Pot Beef Stroganoff

Now that your creamy, full-flavored sauce is prepped and noodles have soaked up some of it- add your seared beef to the pot.

Stir the meat in and let it heat in the warm sauce until it’s warmed through.

The pièce de résistance is a flourish of fresh dill and parsley leaves. These two in tandem create a bright finish on an otherwise earthy flavor profile. Stir the herbs in and your beef stroganoff is ready to enjoy!

So…enjoy the Beef Stroganoff!

The beauty of this One-Pot Beef Stroganoff is that you can plop the pot down on the table and tell your family to serve themselves. Usually, Hector is mean-mugging the twins because hestill hasn’t gotten over the time spent catering to their dislike of it. Insert eye-roll here. But, once he’s finally regained what little maturity he has, we usually have a decent time enjoying this.

It really is a meal on its own, but I sometimes serve it with a simple garden salad.

Leftovers may be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop until warmed through.

This is definitely a good recipe to include in the weeknight meal rotation. Be sure not to let your partner go without it for too long or they may grow to resent the kids.

Do you have dish that causes this amount of strife inyourhouse? Let me know in the comments below.

Be sure to pin this recipe for later and let me know what you think.

Pin this One-Pot Beef Stroganoff Recipe for Later

Try these other quick meals:

Sausage and Potato Stew with Kale

Cilantro-Lime Bulgur Bowls with Sweet Potatoes