Guess what time it is! Comfort-food-o’clock. And there’s no better comfort food than a rich creamy pasta dish, like this One Pot Beef Stroganoff. It cooks in just one pot, just like hamburger helper stroganoff, but it’s homemade and I promise it’s still super easy. You’re going to want to tuck this beef stroganoff recipe into your back pocket for those nights when you’re super tired and need an extra comforting meal. :)
What is Beef Stroganoff?
Beef stroganoff is a Russian dish that features pieces of sautéed beef in a rich and creamy sauce, often served over pasta. For this budget version of beef stroganoff, we’ve replaced the chunks of beef with budget-friendly ground beef, added mushrooms to stretch it a little further, and cooked everything in one pot for a quick and easy meal. It’s not a traditional beef stroganoff for sure, but it definitely is delicious!
Ingredients for One Pot Beef Stroganoff
Here’s what you’ll need to make this deliciously creamy One Pot Beef Stroganoff:
- Garlic: Garlic adds a nice deep flavor to the creamy sauce.
- Butter: We sauté the garlic in butter for extra flavor and richness.
- Ground Beef: Instead of using chunks of beef stew meat, we used ground beef for a more budget-friendly alternative.
- Mushrooms: We used a combination of mushrooms and beef to bulk up this one pot pasta while keeping the price low.
- Beef Broth: We cook the pasta one-pot style in the broth with all of the other ingredients so everything has maximum flavor. I suggest using a very flavorful broth or else your stroganoff will end up being bland. We use Better Than Bouillon to make our beef broth.
- Worcestershire Sauce & Dijon Mustard: Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard are added to the broth to add more dimension to the flavor.
- Egg Noodles: Wide egg noodles have the perfect light texture for this creamy sauce to keep the entire dish balanced.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream is stirred into the sauce to give it the classic creamy and tangy flavor of a stroganoff. If you’re looking for an alternative to sour cream, you can use Greek yogurt or heavy cream, which will be less tangy.
Beef Alternatives
I used half ground beef and half mushrooms to stretch my pennies a bit further, but you could do all mushrooms or all beef if you prefer. If you’re doing a vegetarian version with all mushrooms, use mushroom or vegetable broth to replace the beef broth.
Tips for Making One Pot Pasta
Every piece of cookware and every range top is different, so one pot recipes are a bit like riding a bike. You have to feel it out and find the sweet spot for the equipment you’re using. Here are some tips for making your one pot pasta a success:
- Use heavy, thick cookware to help the ingredients heat evenly.
- The broth does not need to fully cover the noodles for them to cook, so resist the urge to add extra water or broth.
- Make sure the liquid is simmering the whole time the pasta is cooking. If the heat is too low, the pasta will just get gummy.
- Stir the pot occasionally to prevent sticking, but not too often or your risk breaking down the pasta.
- Use your judgment. If your pasta looks close to being cooked through, but there is too much liquid left in the skillet, let it finish simmering with the lid off. If the liquid is gone but your pasta is still not tender, add a splash more water or broth and continue to simmer.
Use Good Broth
The broth brings a lot of flavor to this beef and mushroom stroganoff, so make sure you’re using a nice and flavorful broth that has adequate salt. I like to use Better than Bouillon to make broth for recipes because it’s super flavorful, I can mix up any amount I need, and the jar stays good in the refrigerator for months, so there are no leftovers to go to waste. If you still find your stroganoff to be on the bland side in the end, an extra pinch of salt can really help the flavors pop.
Want more One Pot Recipes? Check out our One Pot Recipe Archives!
One Pot Beef Stroganoff
Servings 4 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.50)
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.49)
- 1/8 tsp Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)
- 2 cups beef broth ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard ($0.02)
- 8 oz. wide egg noodles ($0.60)
- 1/3 cup sour cream ($0.15)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional) ($0.10)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic. Add the garlic and butter to a large pot or skillet and sauté over medium heat for about one minute, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
- Add the ground beef and continue to sauté until it is fully browned.
- While the beef is browning, slice the mushrooms. Add the sliced mushrooms and some freshly cracked pepper to the pot with the beef. Continue to sauté until the mushrooms are soft (about five minutes).
- Add the uncooked egg noodles to the pot along with the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard. Stir to combine. The liquid will not fully cover the noodles, but that's okay.
- Place a lid on the pot and allow the liquid to come up to a boil over medium-high heat. As soon as it reaches a boil, give the pot a stir, replace the lid, and reduce the heat to low. Allow the pot to simmer on low heat for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally and replacing the lid every couple of minutes. After 7-10 minutes the pasta should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed.
- Once the noodles are tender, add the sour cream and fold it into the noodles until everything is rich and creamy. Give the noodles a taste and add extra salt or pepper, if needed. Roughly chop a handful of parsley leaves and sprinkle over top. Serve hot.
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Nutrition
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How to Make One Pot Beef Stroganoff – Step by Step Photos
Begin by sautéing 2 cloves of minced garlic in 2 Tbsp of butter until soft (1-2 minutes). You can use a large pot or large skillet, as long as it is big enough to hold all of the pasta AND has a lid (the lid will be used later).
Next, add 1/2 lb. ground beef and continue to sauté until it is fully browned.
While the beef is browning, slice 8oz. mushrooms. White button mushrooms are fine, but if you can get these baby bella mushrooms they are even more awesome (shout out to ALDI for carrying these at an affordable price).
Once the beef is browned, add the mushrooms and some freshly cracked pepper. Continue to sauté until they are soft (about five minutes).
Add ½ lb. wide egg noodles to the skillet along with 2 cups beef broth, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, and ½ tsp Dijon mustard. Stir to combine. The broth will not fully cover the noodles, but that’s okay. The steam in the skillet will help cook them and they’ll be stirred to make sure even cooking.
Place a lid on the skillet and bring the broth up to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, give it a quick stir to loosen the noodles from the bottom, return the lid quickly, and turn the heat down to low. Let the skillet simmer, stirring occasionally and always replacing the lid, for 7-10 minutes or until the noodles are tender and there is only a small amount of thick sauce left in the skillet.
Finally, add ⅓ cup sour cream and fold it into the noodles until everything is creamy and delicious!
Top off the beef stroganoff with a little chopped parsley for color (because stroganoff is kind of boring to look at) and it’s time to dive into that skillet full of creamy goodness! You might want to give it a taste at this point to see if you want a little extra salt or pepper (again, depending on the salt content of your broth), but other than that it’s time to eat! And only one dish to clean. :)
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a couple times now but today I substituted linguine for the egg noodles – it came out great with an extra cup of broth and a few more minutes to cook the pasta.
I can’t believe how easy this recipe was and how amazing it tasted in return. I made this recipe dairy and egg free by using plain tart coconut yogurt instead of sour cream, and using fusilli noodles instead of egg noodles. This is my favorite stroganoff recipe ever.
Help! I want this recipe but my 3 small kids won’t touch the mushrooms. Any vegetable substitutions that would be tasty?
Well, this one is pretty mushroom centric. Are you just looking for a creamy pasta? Maybe try our spinach alfredo? Or chicken alfredo?
Awesome! My wife even liked it, and she’s picky.
Good flavor, but it wasn’t filling enough for my husband and I. I would’ve used a full pound of beef and all 12 oz of egg noodles. The sauce didn’t thicken up at all, I’m wondering if it’s supposed to?
Easy weeknight meal. I double the mushrooms and use 12 oz gluten free pasta. Add extra Dijon, sour cream, and red pepper flakes, splash of wine. Perfect every time.
The flavor on this was great! I did make some adjustments – cooked the noodles separately because that is my preference, only did about 1.5 C of broth and simmered it with no lid so it would reduce faster, added some cornstarch at the end to thicken it up.
Delicious! Next time I would personally do half the ground beef and more mushrooms, the mushrooms were so flavorful!
Would it be okay to substitute chicken broth for beef broth? Also can I use wheat noodles instead of egg? Thank you, excited to try this!
If you use chicken broth instead of beef broth it’s going to change the flavor of the dish significantly (and the color). It’s not something I would suggest, but you never know if you’ll like it unless you try! :) You can use other short shaped pastas, but keep in mind that regular pasta may need a bit more liquid and longer simmer time than the delicate egg noodles.
This recipe has become a staple in our house! Cheap, quick, and delicious. We do tend to season the dish quite a bit more, but we are lucky to have a decent spice cabinet. Overall great meal!
Can I please get a link to the OLD recipe. It’s our family’s favorite, but we just don’t enjoy the updated version. I should have printed it at some point, but didn’t. Thank you!
It’s been sent to your email! xoxo -Monti
Can I have it too please?
A little watery even after leaving the lid off for awhile, but a little bit of flour thickened it up.
Tastes great though!This is definitely going in rotation. Who needs Hamburger Helper when you have THIS instead?!
Iv made this recipe many times and its my go-to whenever im in the mood for “hamburger helper” on a cool rainy day. The only change i make is cooking the noodles separately. I let the beef mixture simmer for a bit with lid on to let it thicken while i boil the noodles. Then i turn the heat off and stir in noods and sour cream at the end. Yes. it defeats the purpose of a one pot meal but prevents overcooking pasta.
I’ve been making this recipe (both the old version and the now-updated one) for years, and it’s one of my favorites! The flavor is stellar (especially when using Better than Boullion), and the balance of mushrooms to beef is perfect. I tried making an all-beef version a few weeks ago, but wasn’t a huge fan.
The only changes I make to this recipe is sprinkling in a bit of flour if the liquid hasn’t cooked off, just to soak it up a bit. Definitely helps, and doesn’t affect the change of the final product! The other change is sprinkling in some salt at the end for a flavor boost. Perfect comfort food!
The flavor was OK but the noodles were VERY pasty. Definitely needs some salt. The noodles looked nothing like in the photo. They were grey and unappetizing. I might try making it again but I would cook the noodles in the pot first, set aside and continue the recipe tweeking the last part.
Super easy and incredibly delicious. I added just a bit more sour cream to balance mine!
This was delicious and very easy. I love things I can make in one pan. Next time I think I’d use a full pound of ground beef. I added diced onion with the garlic because I had half an onion in the fridge I needed to use. This was yummy winter comfort food. I served with a side of roasted broccoli and it was a perfect, easy dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day.