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. :)
We love this dish and it looks a lot like my beef stroganoff:
http://bigredpot.com/recipes-food/speedy-beef-stroganoff/
Heck yes comfort food o clock. We just had MORE snow and I am so making this. Thanks for this!
NAILED IT! Also made it with ground turkey and vegetable Better Than Bullion, as my fam doesn’t do beef. Thanks!
This looks delightful. Would the leftovers freeze ok? Not too sure about the sour cream sauce withstanding the freezer.
I didn’t have any left to test freezing, so I’m not sure if the sour cream will break down or not. The pasta tends to absorb a lot of the sauce during storage, so there might not be enough sauce to really separate.
Thanks for responding! I made it (added onion in step 1) and it was as delightful as I expected it to be. I did freeze one portion because it didn’t look very sauce-y so I think it will hold up ok.
Thanks for all the great recipes and hints. Your site is my first stop whenever I need a recipe and you never disappoint. I love the new cookbook, too!
So, I normally wouldn’t comment twice, but I actually made this tonight. It was DELICIOUS. It’s all the taste and comfort of stroganoff without the added hassle of working with more complicated ingredients. And it made up FAST. I served it with steamed broccoli, buttered peas, and a tossed salad with tomato/cucumber, and I was in the kitchen less than an hour (including preparation).
We actually used to eat a fair amount of stroganoff growing up. I like it when it’s made with tenderloin or other sliced cuts of steak, but it’s really easy for the meat to get tough. On that note, I actually really loved using ground beef! Way more beef flavor in every bite, plus I was able to use 93/7 lean to keep it a bit lighter. And cooking the noodles in the beef broth? Just fantastic. It really concentrates the flavor (which I feel gets a little muddied when you serve it atop plain egg noodles cooked in water).
Next time, though, I’m definitely adding a bit of onion with the garlic. Other recipes reference adding dry or dijon mustard, fresh herbs, and/or wine — and I think there’s plenty of room for experimentation and enhancement. But, even as written above, it’s easily made its way into the dinner rotation. -:D
This was dinner tonight, though we went all beef / no mushrooms. Kiddo gave it a thumbs up, which is half the battle. Now here’s hoping hubby likes it when he gets home!
Made it for dinner last night… very easy and good! Thank you! Looking forward to the leftovers for lunch :)
Thanks for another great easy recipe! Even my toddler ate this. I used bowtie noodles and it turned out fine. They took about 15 minutes in a deep saute pan. Thanks again!
I am making this tonight, and I bought ground turkey instead of beef. I’m adding some frozen peas too, just for fun. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Do you think I could substitute plain yogurt for the sour cream?
Some people use the two interchangeably, but personally I don’t like to. I feel like they have very different flavors – the yogurt is much more acidic and not nearly as creamy as sour cream.
Made this dish last night, was easy, fast and very tasty! I added a bit of onion as well, was liked by all! thanks for the great idea and recipe
The kids liked this, even the picky one. :) I added an onion to the mix. Everything turned out great. Thanks again.
Your one pot meals are genius! I did this veggie style by doubling the mushrooms and using the mushroom better than bullion. I threw in some sun-dried tomatoes and parsley. This was sooo good and so quick! Thank you!
Made this for dinner tonight – used more beef and less mushrooms (personal taste). It was delicious! Thanks for the quick and easy recipe, Beth!
I wonder if I could use greek yogurt instead of the sour cream…it’s all I have in my fridge right now!
i have no doubt that you could use plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream.