Tender chunks of beef and hearty mushrooms are complemented by a parsley-flecked sour cream sauce in this easy, comforting, Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff meal.
This crock pot favorite is an all-around hit when I make it for my family. My kids happily eat it (even the mushroom-hating preschooler), my husband raves about it, and I’m a happy camper because this tasty dinner doesn’t require me to slave over the stove all day.
You may have seen a slow cooker version of beef stroganoff before that relies on canned cream of mushroom soup as the base for its creamy sauce…but not this one. While you can definitely count on some shortcuts to hasten the preparation of this meal — such as buying beef stew meat already cut up and fresh mushrooms already sliced — canned soup is not necessary. Stirring sour cream into the thickened broth towards the end of the cooking time is all you need to do to create that signature stroganoff sauce.
As with most crock pot recipes I cook, I use a refrigerated jar of minced garlic in lieu of chopping up the fresh stuff. I find that after cooking for so many hours in the slow cooker, the jarred garlic turns out just as good as fresh minced garlic, so I like to save myself the chopping time. And if you have fresh parsley on hand, go for it! But dried parsley works just fine in this recipe as well.
As for the onions that you might notice are missing from this recipe? Well, if you know me or have been following this blog for any period of time, you have probably noted that I abhor onions. Like, loathe them. Like, they make me gag. And I never ever buy them, much less include them in anything I cook. I tend to add extra garlic instead when a recipe calls for onions (is it weird that I simultaneously love garlic and hate onions?). Anyway, I apologize for my inconvenient food aversion, but all of that is to say…I realize that beef stroganoff typically includes onions. So if you are an onion fan, by all means, feel free to chop up an onion and add it to the slow cooker with the mushrooms. I promise to look the other way. 😉
Onions or not, this slow cooker supper is hearty and comforting. Just before serving, boil a pot of egg noodles and throw together a salad and you’ll have a delicious dinner to warm you up on a chilly day. This one is mighty popular around here, and I hope that you all enjoy it as well!
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff Recipe
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff ~ No ‘Cream of X’ Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat
- 12 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons red wine, optional
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley, or 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 8 ounces sour cream
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Egg noodles
Instructions
- Place beef, mushrooms, and garlic in crock pot. In a medium bowl, mix together beef broth, red wine (if using), Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, thyme, and flour. Whisk mixture until flour is dissolved. Pour into crock pot, add bay leaf, and stir all ingredients until coated. Place lid on crock pot and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low (or 4 to 5 hours on high).
- About 20 minutes before serving time, add cream cheese to crock pot and replace lid. After 10 minutes, stir warmed/softened cream cheese into sauce, pushing with the back of a spoon to break it up and incorporate it into sauce. Stir sour cream into sauce. (Add fresh parsley at this point as well, if using.) Replace lid and cook on low for a few more minutes until heated through.
- In the meantime, boil egg noodles according to package directions. Remove bay leaf from stroganoff, taste, and add salt and pepper as desired. Serve over hot egg noodles and garnish with additional minced parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Don't open a whole bottle of red wine just for the sake of this recipe. But if you already have a bottle open, or if you're going to be opening a bottle to drink with dinner, you can add an optional splash to this stroganoff for another layer of flavor.
- Instead of 2 tablespoons dried parsley, you may use 1/2 cup of fresh minced parsley, but add fresh herbs to the recipe at the same time as the sour cream as opposed to at the beginning of the recipe.
- The cream cheese makes the stroganoff sauce extra creamy, but you may leave it out if you prefer to make this dish lighter.
More Comfort Food Recipes
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Cheeseburger Macaroni {Homemade Hamburger Helper}
- Perfect Chicken & Dumplings
- Easy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
Amber says
Thanks for the great recipe! Just finished having a bowl over egg noodles. It’s been so hard for me recently to find good crock pot meals. This turned out the perfect consistency…not watery at all yay! I omitted the cream cheese but added a little extra wine :-). I was afraid the mushrooms would be too mushy but they were totally fine being thrown in at the beginning.
I sort of halved the recipe (1.25 lbs stew beef, 10 oz mushrooms) and cooked it for longer than 5 hours on high because the beef seemed too tough. Unfortunately it came out a bit too dry…maybe it was actually ready at 3-4 hours? Or it’s possible the cut of meat was too lean. I’ll have to watch it more closely next time I make it.
I made a couple of subs: I didn’t have Worcestershire sauce, so I used soy sauce, some vinegar, and tomato sauce. I also didn’t have mustard but amazingly had wasabi (how do I have ketchup but not mustard? I have no clue!).
Turned out great! Next time I’ll add more mushrooms because it’s actually my favorite part. I like how they soak up the juices.
Thanks again and I’ll be looking at more of your recipes.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this, Amber, and that the recipe worked out with your substitutions. Some crock pots run hotter than others, but if you reduced the amount of beef, it’s definitely possible that it would have been cooked in less than 4 hours on high. The cut of meat can also make a difference, of course. Hopefully it won’t dry out if you try it again, and in looking around the site, I hope you found some more recipes to try. 🙂 Thanks for the comment and have a great rest of the week!
Beth Staner says
I pinned this a while back because I love beef stroganoff and the fact that there is no canned cream soup in this recipe caught my eye. Finally made it tonight (a little risky because I am the only person in our house that eats mushrooms). I absolutely love it – the sauce is amazing; the rest of the family says I can make it again if I keep my mushrooms separate 🙂
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Ha, Beth…yay for a recipe that the family gave you permission to repeat! I have a few mushroom “dislikers” as well, so I completely understand. 😉 I’m glad that this was such a hit and I appreciate you taking the time to let me know. Hope you have a great weekend!
Mary Neher says
just made this delicious beef stroganoff recipe! I wanted to thank you for a great recipe without cream of anything in it!!!! My husband is lactose intolerant so I’m always trying to find good “creamy” recipes that I can tweek a bit for him. I just substituted “sour supreme” for the sour cream and omitted the cream cheese. It turned out fantastic!!!! Thanks for the great comfort food!!! I will definitely make this again!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
You’re very welcome, Mary! I’m delighted that this stroganoff was such a hit for you and your husband and I really appreciate you sharing your adaptations to make it lactose-free. I’m sure that will help someone else down the line with the same question! Hope y’all enjoy this recipe for years to come… 🙂
Ginny says
Made this for dinner tonight cut recipe in half just the two off us empty nesters. It was delicious!! Thank you
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Ginny! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week!
Katie says
Oh wow. This is sooooo yummy. Cooked to perfection for 9 hours, with the cream cheese, sour cream and FRESH parsley (as well as a sneaky sliced onion in at the start ;-), this is the best strog I’ve made. Thanks!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I love hearing that this was a hit, Katie! 🙂 And I forgive you for adding the onion — since I started working on my cookbook, I’ve learned to cook with them, too…ha! 😉
Megan says
It’s in the crock pot right now. Smells delicious! nervous that I may have ruined it by adding the fresh parsley at the beginning. May want to add the note about not adding the fresh parsley – if using it – to the ingredients list.
Looking forward to noshing on this tonight.
Thanks!
-Megan
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Megan! Adding the parsley at the beginning wouldn’t have ruined this recipe…the flavor of the parsley just may have gotten a little lost over the long cooking time. But you can always add more at the end if you like. 🙂 Hope your stroganoff was a hit!
Laura says
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it tasted great! I think I overcooked it though, because by serving time, there weren’t any chunks of meat left. It all dissolved into the gravy. Besides the consistency (which I will monitor a little closer next time), this recipe was a hit!! It will be added to our rotation. Thanks for sharing!!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
So glad y’all enjoyed it, Laura! And yes, I bet you can shorten the cooking time for beef chunks that stay intact…I’ve learned that some slow cookers run a lot hotter than others! 🙂
Jennifer Graddy says
Thanks so much for posting this recipe, I’m going to try it next week. My husband HATES onions (I love them) so it is fantastic to find recipes that don’t include them. I am also trying to eat ‘cleaner’ and a lot of the stroganoff recipes called from cream of mushroom soup. I’m not much of a cook, but I knew there must be an alternative. I can’t wait to try out this recipe.
Ernie says
Hubby loves this but i can not eat the mushrooms what to sub?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Ernie! You can just leave the mushrooms out if you like, or some people like to add sliced onions to this recipe. 🙂 Enjoy!