Beef stroganoff is a comforting family dinner made with tender beef and a creamy sauce, usually served over warm egg noodles or rice. Our family version adds mushrooms and tomato sauce before finishing the sauce with sour cream.
Start with our easy stovetop Beef Stroganoff, use the slow cooker when you want dinner cooking ahead of time, or try the reader-submitted Hungarian Steak Soup for something a little different.
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This easy beef stroganoff is a family favorite made with chunks of steak, mushrooms, beef broth, tomato sauce and sour cream. Start the egg noodles while the stroganoff cooks so everything is ready to serve at the same time.
The original family recipe uses up to 8 ounces of sour cream, so you can adjust the amount to suit your family. Use less for a more tomato-and-beef-forward sauce or add more for a creamier stroganoff.
Kids Cooking Tip: Kids can measure the flour and broth, drain the mushrooms and help stir in the sour cream after the skillet heat has been reduced. An adult should cut and brown the beef and supervise the hot stove.
The Basic Beef Stroganoff can be prepared on the stovetop for an easy dinner or adapted for the slow cooker when you want to start the meal earlier in the day.
Brown the flour-coated steak in a skillet, then add the tomato sauce, mushrooms and beef broth. Simmer until the sauce thickens and the beef is cooked through and tender. Reduce the heat before stirring in the sour cream.
Stir the beef and flour together in the crockpot. Add the tomato sauce, mushrooms and beef broth and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in the sour cream just before serving.
For either method, add the sour cream near the end of cooking rather than letting it cook for a long time. Stir it into the warm sauce until creamy, then serve the stroganoff over egg noodles or rice.
This simple crockpot beef stroganoff uses stew meat, golden cream of mushroom soup and sliced mushrooms for an easy make-ahead family dinner. Serve the tender beef and mushroom sauce over warm egg noodles.
Gather the crockpot ingredients the night before, then add everything to the slow cooker in the morning. Cook the egg noodles shortly before dinner so they're warm when the stroganoff is ready.
Kids Cooking Tip: Kids can drain the mushrooms, measure the water and seasonings and help add ingredients before the crockpot is turned on. An adult should handle the raw beef and hot slow cooker.
Recipes like beef stroganoff give kids practice measuring ingredients, following directions in order and helping prepare a family meal. Our Kids Cooking Recipe Cards give young cooks more recipes they can practice making with adult supervision.
This Hungarian Steak Soup is a flavorful variation on beef stroganoff shared by reader Kate Kerska of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tender steak, peppers, paprika and toasted caraway seeds simmer in beef broth and are served over wide egg noodles.
"Me and my dad made it. My dad helped me make the steak, but other than that I mostly did everything. It is so good that you won't want to stop eating it." — Kate Kerska
Toast the caraway seeds in a small skillet over medium-low heat, tossing often, until aromatic, about 5 minutes. Kate also notes that if you can't find all of the specialty spices, you can still make the soup without them.
Kids Cooking Tip: Kids can measure the spices and broth, help toast the caraway seeds with close supervision and portion cooked noodles into bowls. An adult should cut and brown the beef and handle the pressure cooker or hot soup pot.
Beef stroganoff is usually served over egg noodles or rice, so simple vegetables and salads work well alongside it. Choose one or two easy sides to round out the family meal.
Watch how beef stroganoff comes together with tender beef and a creamy sauce, then use the Basic Beef Stroganoff Recipe above to make our family's version.
Keep practicing family meal skills with more easy beef recipes. Ground beef works well for hamburgers, meatballs and meatloaf, while enchiladas and other beef dinners offer even more ways to use beef in family meals.
Our basic recipe uses steak cut into small chunks, while the crockpot version uses beef stew meat. The Hungarian Steak Soup uses boneless round steak, giving you several options depending on the recipe you choose.
Yes. The Basic Beef Stroganoff can be adapted for the crockpot, or you can make the separate Crockpot Mushroom Beef Stroganoff recipe on this page. Both cook on low for about 6-8 hours.
Add the sour cream near the end of cooking. Reduce the heat and stir it into the warm sauce until creamy rather than cooking the sour cream for several hours.
Egg noodles are a classic choice, but the Basic Beef Stroganoff on this page can also be served over warm rice.
In our Basic Beef Stroganoff, the steak is coated with flour before browning. The flour helps thicken the beef broth and other sauce ingredients as they simmer together.
Kids can measure flour and broth, drain mushrooms, prepare ingredients and help stir in sour cream with adult supervision. An adult should cut and brown the beef and handle the hot skillet or slow cooker.
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