I have to say, this beef stroganoff is one of my all-time favorite recipes. It’s easy and delicious – and it’s on the table in just 30 minutes. A wonderful classic that’s gaining popularity again – try it and see for yourself!
There is no easy way to say it: If you’ve never made stroganoff from scratch, you’ve been missing out. It’s so, so easy!
I make this dinner a lot for my family – mainly because it’s done so quickly, but also because it’s incredibly good.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is an overview of the ingredients in the stroganoff (great to use as a visual grocery list at the store!). Scroll down to the recipe for quantities.
- beef: I urge you to use beef round – a stroganoff done the classic way cooks very quickly and is different from stroganoff made with ground beef/in the crockpot. You need a tender cut here. Chicken breast cut into strips can be used as a substitute.
- mushrooms: if you don’t like mushrooms, you can just leave them out!
- beef broth: chicken broth is OK to use if you don’t have beef; I recommend adding a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce for both color and flavor.
- sour cream: I recommend full fat sour cream, I’ve found it’s the easiest kind to add to a hot sauce without curdling.
Step by step photos
1 Brown the beef
The first step is the most important, and admittedly the most time consuming one: Brown the beef in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan, do it slowly. You’ll regret it otherwise. The beef strips only take about 30-60 seconds per side, so it won’t take ages.
2 Make the sauce
The second part of the recipe is done in no time – sauté onions and mushrooms, make a quick pan gravy, then toss the meat back in and finish the dish with sour cream.
Tips and tricks
- If you have your butcher cut the meat, ask him to cut it into around 2 inch strips. If you’re slicing the beef yourself, remember to cut it on the bias.
- Don’t overcook the meat! Please don’t believe the recipes telling you to cook a classic stroganoff with beef round for a crazy amount of time. This cut of beef is delicate and only needs a very short cooking time.
- I always stir a little hot gravy into the sour cream before I add it to the pan, this helps to keep it from curdling.
- If your sauce hasn’t thickened enough to your liking, you can add a cornstarch slurry: Place 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch into a jar and mix it with 1-2 tablespoons of cool water. Stir this into the stroganoff (you need to stir it in quickly and very well to evenly distribute!) and gently simmer until it has thickened.
Stroganoff FAQs
Please use a tender cut here – a cut like beef chuck will not cook in the short amount of time my recipe calls for. If you used a tender cut and it’s still tough, the most likely answer is you overcooked it. It really only needs 30-60 seconds of browning per side.
Did you hear about the dish being named after the old Russian Count Stroganov in the 19th century, too? Well, I certainly did, until I found out this actually isn’t the most probable answer. The name still seems to go back to his family (I haven’t found anything conclusive), but the real popularity of the dish in the US only began after World War II, when foreign flavors and dinner parties started to pop up in the suburbs. Read more here.
Sorry about that food history nerd blip – I find it so fascinating!
Our favorite side dishes
My family really enjoys their beef stroganoff with something to mop up all of the sauce – think egg noodles or mashed potatoes (I have a great recipe for mashed potatoes made in the instant pot right here!). If you’re using chicken instead of beef, rice is especially great!
Personally, I love a side of my sautéed green beans, and a crisp and creamy cucumber salad.
Even if you’ve grown up with ground beef in your stroganoff – I do hope you’re going to give this more classic version a try. Named after Count Stroganov or not, it most certainly is royally delicious!
More comfort food classics
You can also browse all of my beef recipes here, and all of my quick dinner recipes here.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Easy Beef Stroganoff
Recipe details
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds beef round cut into strips
- 4 tablespoons flour or more as needed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion finely diced
- ½ pound mushrooms sliced
- 1 (10 oz) can beef broth
- ½ cup water or more as needed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (8 oz) pot sour cream
Instructions
- Prep beef:Toss beef strips in flour (add 1-2 extra tablespoons of flour for a thicker sauce).
- Brown beef:Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the beef, 30-60 seconds per side (this cut of beef comes out tough if overcooked). Do not overcrowd the pan – work in batches if needed! Remove the browned beef to a plate, tent with aluminum foil and set aside.
- Sauté vegetables:Add onion and mushrooms to the hot skillet and sauté until softened, adding more butter as needed.
- Deglaze pan:Pour beef broth into the pan, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Simmer until it has thickened into a gravy. Add more broth as needed to yield preferred thickness of sauce, and season with salt to taste.
- Finish sauce:Stir meat back into the sauce and warm through. Stir a litte of the sauce into the sour cream (to warm it up so it doesn’t split!), then quickly stir it into the sauce in the pan. Serve immediately with your favorite sides.
Notes
Ingredient notes:
- beef: I urge you to use beef round – a stroganoff done the classic way cooks very quickly and is different from stroganoff made with ground beef/in the crockpot. You need a tender cut here. Chicken breast cut into strips can be used as a substitute.
- mushrooms: if you don’t like mushrooms, you can just leave them out!
- beef broth: chicken broth is OK to use if you don’t have beef; I recommend adding a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce for both color and flavor.
- sour cream: I recommend full fat sour cream, I’ve found it’s the easiest kind to add to a hot sauce without curdling.
Cooking tips
- do brown the beef in batches (I know it’s annoying, but it’s worth it!) – if you overcrowd the pan, it will turn out soggy
- don’t overcook the meat! please don’t believe the recipes telling you to cook stroganoff for a crazy amount of time. This cut of beef is delicate and only needs a short cooking time.
- If you don’t like mushrooms, you can just leave them out!
Not Freezer Friendly!
I frequently get eMails about freezing this dish, but I do not recommend it. The quality of the meat will not be the same as cooked fresh, and the sauce with the sour cream and mushrooms is not the best for reheating.Nutrition
More recipe information
I first published this recipe on September 16, 2019. I updated it on May 18, 2020 to make it more helpful to you.
Shea says
We used moose meat 🙂
Browned it with garlic, onions and salt. Added full fat plain yogurt instead of sour cream. My kids ate it all up!!!! So yum!
Nora says
Ooooh, moose! So interesting, Shea – I’m sure that made it extra special. Glad my recipe served you well.
Celina McNulty says
I made this last night. It was so easy and wonderful.
Julie M says
This is how I make mine, too. I like to serve it over white rice that has a small amount of frozen peas mixed in.
David Baeder says
I made this for dinner last night, with a few modifications. For the meat, I used a 14 oz. package of Great Value Sandwich Steaks (which are very thinly cut sirloin). I also made my own beef broth using Better than Bullion. The Sandwich Steaks are a huge time saver, but they’re so thinly sliced, they’re a bit too fragile. I also thought the sauce needed more salt, but I like my food saltier than most. I also added just a pinch of tarragon. I didn’t add the Worcestershire sauce, but probably will next time. We also used reduced fat sour cream. That being said, it still came out great. Most recipes for Stroganoff call for mustard, which I detest, so I was glad to see that this recipe did not call for mustard. Next time, I’ll try to follow the recipe a little closer! I gave this recipe five stars, but even with my substitutions, it was still at least 4 stars. I think I might also try this recipe with chicken and chicken broth.
Nora says
Thanks for sharing your experience with the recipe, David! I appreciate the suggestions and helpful comments. Glad it worked out well for you – and I’m sure it’s delicious with chicken.
Judith graham says
I always put a small can of tomato juice in the sauce! Sounds crazy but it adds a delicious taste to the sauce!
Nora says
That’s such an interesting tip, Judith. I will give it a try next time I make Stroganoff!
E.B. says
I followed the recipe and browned the beef, small batches at the time and it came out great! The beef wasn’t tough, the only thing I did was to add besides the spur cream a 1/4 of heavy cream and my family loved it.
Nora says
Glad the recipe worked out well for you!
Patricia Jones says
New cook here – I have made twice already – this is really good and easy!
Jenny says
I made this tonight and it was lovely! I always thought that round steak needed more cooking, but I followed your advice and it was perfect! Thank you.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Jenny!
Jackie says
Instead of the 1/2 cup of water, use beer. My Dad used to make it that way and the flavor is awesome!
Nora says
That’s a very interesting twist, never heard before, Jackie. I will do some research on this, very intriguing! Thanks for sharing.
Kathy says
I added about a half tsp. of Worcestershire sauce and a tab. Of tomatoe paste. Great recipe and really good. Pretty simple to make. Thanks so much!❤️
anne morrison says
Made it ..it was good
Nora says
I’m so glad, Anne!
Rose says
My all time favourite I go to every time !!!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Rose!
Jmac says
Company approved.
Nora says
I’m so glad!
Sharon says
Very happy with this meal/recipe. I am learning to cook and this was easy enough for me to get right.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Sharon!
Christine Rose Cunningham says
My family of 8 loved this and my 10 year old said she wants it for her birthday dinner 🙂 A ringing endorsement. For little ones I prefer really small cubes of beef or ground beef – just so it is easy to chew
Soitza Devlin says
I made it without cream and this recipe is a keeper!
Thanks.
Nova Hauser says
This recipe was good! My entire family ages 5-36 enjoyed it! We used boneless ribeye steak, gluten-free flour and gluten-free pasta and it turned out great!
Kentrell says
Had the chance to make this dish tonight. Very happy family..
Conscience says
I loved this recipe. I cooked it twice and it was a hit with the family.
Nora Rusev says
Conscience, I’m so happy to hear this!
Michael says
It was pretty easy. Used 3 tbls of flour. I also added some cooking wine along with the beef broth when I deglazed.
Robin says
In your directions it stated chicken broth, but in ingredients it stated beef. I did use the Chicken, though I thought you meant Beef, and it was great!
Nora Rusev says
Robin, so sorry about that! I fixed the recipe ASAP. Glad it still turned out well for you!
Deborah says
Exactly crazy delicious. Family loved it!
gill says
This was such a great recipe – so easy and delicious!
Nora Rusev says
I’m very glad to hear, Gill!
Tiffanie says
This is the best stroganoff I’ve ever made! Thank you!