Name: Beef Stroganoff Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds beef steak ((metric: 1 kg)); 1 pound mushrooms ((sliced) (metric: 500g)); 2 cups sour cream ((metric: 500 ml)); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 large onion ((finely diced)); 2 cloves garlic ((crushed)); salt and pepper ((to taste)); sprig parsley ((to garnish - optional))

My beef stroganoff recipe is easier to make than most people realise. Delicious beef strips covered in creamy sauce make this recipe an instant hit.

The finished beef stroganoff recipe is served on a plate with pasta. A fork rests on the plate.

Looking for something else? Our meaty homemade Italian meatballs are a hit, or these sweet Canadian pancakes fills the hungry people.

Table of Contents

Why You Will Love This Stroganoff Recipe

Packed with protein and full of flavor, my easy beef stroganoff recipe is the perfect winter hunger-buster for the whole family! Will you portion stroganoff onto individual plates in the kitchen? Or serve the casserole dish on the dining room table and allow your friends and family to help themselves? Either way, I’m sure you’ll get requests for a second helping!

As you know, I always like to give you some suggestions about how you can customise my recipes so that they become truly your own. Beef stroganoff is no different! Check out the ‘options’ heading (below) for some ideas about personalising this hearty meal. Alternatives like reducing calorific impact and sneaking in a few extra vegetables are easy to achieve.

Be sure to also try my delicious air fryer lamb chops my kids love them!

Best Cuts of Beef for Stroganoff

Because stroganoff beef is seared in seconds rather than stewed for hours, you want a cut that is already tender before it hits the skillet. These are my top picks:

Ribeye (scotch fillet): well marbled, full of flavor, and very forgiving if you cook it a touch too long. My first choice every time.
Beef tenderloin (eye fillet): the most tender cut of all. It costs more, so I save it for special occasions.
Top sirloin (porterhouse): leaner and easier on the budget, but still tender enough for a quick sear.

Steer clear of slow-cooking cuts like chuck, blade, or round (gravy beef). They are wonderful in a casserole, where hours of gentle cooking soften them, but stroganoff cooks far too quickly for that. Choose one of the tender cuts above and nobody at your table will meet a tough, chewy strip of beef!

Whichever cut you buy, my freezer trick still applies: pop the beef flat in the freezer for an hour and it becomes much easier to slice into thin, even strips.

What Goes Into My Stroganoff Sauce

The creamy sauce is what makes stroganoff so special, and mine needs just three key players plus the flavor already in your skillet.

Sour cream is the heart of the sauce. It brings the creaminess and that gentle tang stroganoff is famous for. It always goes in last, after the dish comes out of the oven, so it stays silky instead of splitting.
Tomato paste adds depth and a lovely rosy color. You won’t taste tomato as such, just a richer, rounder sauce.
Worcestershire sauce is the savory secret. A couple of tablespoons give the sauce that hard-to-place “what IS that?” flavor guests always ask about.

Everything else comes free: the juices from the seared beef, onions, garlic and mushrooms mingle in the oven and become the body of the sauce. No flour, no stock, no fuss!

Watching calories? Check the ‘Options’ heading for my Greek yoghurt swap.

Ingredients

See complete ingredients in the recipe card below.

2 pounds beef steak (metric: 1 kg). Choose beef steak per section above Best Cuts of Beef for Stroganoff.
1 pound mushrooms (sliced) (metric: 500g)
2 cups sour cream (metric: 500 ml)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large onion (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
salt and pepper (to taste)
sprig parsley (to garnish – optional)

Alternatively, leave the recipe exactly as it is because I’ve been making it exactly as described below for years. And – for your peace of mind – we’ve mastered it repeatedly in our Recipe Library test kitchen.

Looking for some suggestions about how to reduce the calorific impact of this delicious beef stroganoff recipe? Look no further…!

Options

Stroganoff is scrumptious, but if you’re trying to reduce your calorie count, traditional beef stroganoff can be troublesome. However, I’ve got some suggestions for lowering the calories, and increasing the nutritional value.

Substitute Greek yoghurt for sour cream. Greek yoghurt is flavorsome and provides all the creaminess that the beef stroganoff recipe calls for. However, yoghurt only delivers one-third of the calories of sour cream – wow!
Reduce the quantity of beef strips and replace with extra mushrooms.
Consider adding strips of bell peppers (capsicum), zucchini (courgette) slices, and/ or diced eggplant (aubergine) to the skillet while you’re cooking the onions.
Alternatively, steam any vegetables you’re using – rather than frying them in olive oil.
Serve over cauliflower mash or cauliflower rice instead of pasta, rice, or mashed potato.

Storing, Freezing and Reheating Beef Stroganoff

Stroganoff makes wonderful leftovers, and this recipe reheats beautifully if you treat the sauce kindly.

In the fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Keep the stroganoff separate from any rice or pasta if you can, so nothing turns soggy.

In the freezer: Here’s my best tip. Sour cream doesn’t love the freezer, so if you know you’re cooking for the freezer, set aside the portion you want to keep BEFORE stirring the sour cream through. The beef and mushroom mixture freezes perfectly for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, warm it gently, then stir fresh sour cream through just before serving, exactly as you would on cooking day.

If you’re freezing leftovers that already have the sour cream in, they’re still perfectly safe to eat; the sauce may just look a little grainy once reheated.

Reheating: Low and slow is the rule. Warm it gently in a skillet or saucepan over low heat with a splash of water, and take it off the heat before it bubbles. Boiling is what makes the sour cream split. Short bursts at half power work best in the microwave, with a stir between each.

Additional Suggestions

It can be really tempting to use cheaper cuts of meat in beef stroganoff. Maybe we think the end result is like a casserole, so we can get away with it? But the truth is, casseroles are cooked slowly over a long period of time, which tenderizes the meat. However, stroganoff beef is cooked very quickly, so there isn’t time for the meat to tenderize. Which is why we really have to use good cuts of meat right from the start. (It can be difficult to slice great cuts of meat into strips when we really want to barbecue it!) But I promise you that the end result will be worth it. Nobody wants tough, chewy beef to ruin a tasty, creamy stroganoff sauce.

Cutting beef thinly enough for this recipe can be challenging. If you have time, after pounding the beef, put it flat in the freezer for an hour or so. When you remove it, it will be much easier to slice thinly. However, ensure that it returns to room temperature before you sear it.

You’ve probably noticed that I often suggest serving meaty mains with a side salad. Reducing the amount of red meat we eat is optimal – for our health and for the environment. A small side salad of lettuce, tomato, carrot and cucumber adds some much needed crunch and loads of nutrients!

Until next time!
Love & saucy stroganoff, Bx