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
Ingredients
- 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
Video
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. :)
I made this with all beef and added half a bag of frozen spinach — adds a little visual appeal and a great way to get your veggies in. The spinach just blends in with the sauce so you can’t really taste it but you’re still getting the vitamins! Also added some hot pepper flakes for heat. Awesome recipe!
I made this with vegetarian broth and soy “beef” to make this a vegetarian dish…left everything else the same. Phenomenal! We’re having in again tonight!
Fabulous! I’ve yet to try one of your recipes I haven’t loved. Thanks!!
This Beef Stroganoff is placing Hamburger Helper’s Beef Stroganoff to shame! Unfortunately, I cooked the egg noodles separately, instead of cooking them inside the beef broth. It was absolutely delicious!!! Next time, I’m going to follow the recipe, but add extra mushrooms!!!! Thank you for this awesome recipe, Beth!!! :-)
Once again, DELICIOUS! The whole family loved it. The kids even asked for thirds! Maybe it’s too yummy!?
The fifth star wouldn’t work with my initial post. :(
Do you think it would taste fine to substitute plain greek yogurt for the sour cream?
I’m personally not a fan of using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream because I find the acidity to be much more harsh, but a lot of people don’t mind it.
I’ve made this with sour cream and with greek yogurt. I prefer the yogurt..it gives it a kick.
We are big meat eaters. I used 1 lb. 90/10 ground beef, cream cheese (no sour cream on hand), canned mushroom slices, Dreamfields pasta, one chopped onion along with the stated recipe. I also add a T. soy sauce and about a tsp. of Ms. Dash Table Blend. Great, easy recipe for me! Thank you for sharing!
The soy sauce is a great idea! Every time I make this I always forget that I need to add a bit of salt. The soy sauce would be a perfect addition and give it just a bit of the salt taste I’m looking for.
Hey I substitute like that all the time! Looks good and easy!
This is fantastic – even our 6 year old who only wants to eat rice & beans loved it! So easy too. My husband totally has a food crush on you! Hahaha
Some of the price information I find is a little outdated. It costs 4-5 dollars for a pound of hamburger where I live and so a half pound would probably be 2-3 dollars, Meat isn’t as cheap as it used to be but it is a great easy recepie to follow
I waited till it went on sale, which can be awhile! But I got it for $1.99lb. so we got like 6lbs.! It’s back up to $2.99/$3.99 a lb. now! I’m in San Diego!
The prices are always going to vary by location, store and sale/no sale.
I think this is one of my favorite recipes off of this site so far. When I made this, I didn’t have any sour cream on me so I just used about 1/2 cup of milk instead. I also made this using cavatappi noodles instead of egg noodles, and it took a long time and more water to cook. I added onions and celery and it turned out absolutely delicious despite my weird substitutions. I’ll definitely make it again.
Just cooked this for dinner this for dinner and would like to add some recomendations regarding substituting.
Better Than Bouillon is not available where I live, so I used Knorr beef stock cubes, and it came out a little bland. Add plenty of salt and pepper, and I will most likely add some parsley to the left overs.
Instead of egg noodles I used bow tie pasta, and although it turned out just fine I would just like to advise people to resist the temptation of adding more water! I must have added 3 cups in total, as it looked like the pasta was gonna soak it all up, and it came out with a little too much sauce. However, the left over portions will be split between the fridge and the freezer (and pasta just soaks up sauce if not eaten immediately), so it might actually work to my advantage!
I was just wondering if you could double the recipe with the same results? Thank you.
I think that should work fine, although I haven’t tested it.
I added a small onion in with the garlic, and added Worcestershire sauce to help the meaty, umami taste. Plus a bit more sour cream and lots of black pepper! Very good, very easy.
I used chopped yellow summer squash in place of the mushrooms. Still cheap, filling, and delicious.
One of my staples now. I add carrots and onions at the first stage for flavour and fibre, substitute whole wheat rotini for the egg noodles, and Worchestershire sauce for taste.
Do you change the amount of liquid or pasta at all when using whole wheat pasta? (Or anyone else who’s tried it with whole wheat or Dreamfields low carb pasta?)
I use 2 cups of whole wheat rotini and the same amount of liquid. I like it al dente anyway.