This is my quick and easy recipe for Stroganoff that anyone can make with pretty much anything you currently have in your pantry and fridge. The more fresh ingredients you’re able to add into the mix the better the outcome will be, but it’s still amazing with just the basics. When the term “Food Hacking” is mentioned it usually means editing a recipe to make it easier or to improve on it without a great deal of effort. The recipe is originally my Mom’s, and I doubt she would appreciate the term I’m using to describe it, but it is what it is. A traditional beef stroganoff would require you to make the gravy from scratch using butter and flour to make a type of rue, and most likely add beef consommé or stock and some red wine along with a mess of other ingredients.
This recipe eliminates all of that tiresome effort by using things you likely already have on hand. A simple can of condensed Cream of Mushroom soup provides a tasty base for the sauce, and saves you a lot of time. Below I’m listing the ideal ingredients for the recipe, followed by the bare necessities that will still make you something good, along with some substitutions that can be used for ingredients you may be missing. Farther down are the cooking instructions, and some tips that may stop you from ruining the whole meal before it ever left the pan.
IDEAL INGREDIENTS
-1pd of beef sliced against the grain in 1X1 inch strips and tenderized (beat it like crazy with the bad side of a meat mallet) season it with salt and pepper. I like top round, or bottom round, but anything that’s not too lean or too fatty will do just fine (If there’s a ton of fat trim most of it off)
-Half of 1 yellow or white onion thickly chopped or sliced
-1 clove of garlic chopped
-1 cup of any type of mushrooms that have been rinsed and dried (fresh better but canned would prob work)
-4 TBSP of butter divided
splash of olive oil
-1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
-1 TBSP Paprika
-1 cup of beef broth or stock
-1/2 cup of sour cream (maybe more if the gravy is too runny)
-1 TSP white vinegar (to add tangy-ness)
-8oz slightly UNDERCOOKED egg noodles
-sliced green onions to taste
-chopped fresh Parsley to taste
-Salt and Pepper to taste
WHAT YOU NEED TO HACK AND SUCCEED
-1 can of condensed Cream of Mushroom soup is the one and only irreplaceable item
-1pd of any type of meat will literally work. Use Ground Beef or even thinly sliced chicken breast, even f*cking bison meat, whatever you have. You can even use leftover meat that’s already been prepared if that’s all you have. Cut up a leftover piece of steak or hamburger patty? No one will give a shit what type of meat is in the sauce. While some sort of meat is best (beef preferred) even a vegetarian mushroom stroganoff would prob be good? If its raw meat season it with S&P, but if it’s already precooked just cut it and set it aside til the VERY last step or you’ll feel like you’re chewing on an eraser.
-you’ve gotta have either butter or olive oil if you have a fresh onion, mushrooms, garlic, or raw meat…cuz you need some sort of oil to sauté this type of stuff. If your meat is precooked and you have no raw vegetables I guess screw the butter and oil and skip to heating the soup in the pan
-Paprika is the core spice of the dish so you don’t want to skip it
-beef broth just keeps the sauce from becoming too thick but it’s not crucial
-Sour Cream finishes the gravy and gives it a rich taste, but if you don’t have sour cream you could use Cream Cheese or Neufchatel cheese spread just add less, and if you find it too thick add some water a bit at a time. Plain yogurt of any kind would most likely also work, and even heavy cream or whole milk would be fine, but a much less amount of yogurt or milk would be needed.
-dried Parsley could replace fresh if that’s what you have
-salt and pepper have to be in there but come on who doesn’t have salt and pepper?
-The one last thing you have to have to make this dish work is some sort of a noodle, pasta, or a grain. Without a starch to ladle the sauce over it’s kind of shitty and pointless to even bother making. I’m thinking the 8ozs of basic egg noodles are the “go to” choice for this dish, but any sort of pasta would work. Elbow macaroni, Penne, Pappardelle noodles and probably even Spaghetti. Just a bed of plain old cooked rice even sounds good with a Stroganoff! Bottom line is it doesn’t matter. This stuff tastes good on anything that soaks up a sauce.
INSTRUCTIONS
- use whatever type fat you have, be it butter and/or oil, or both combined to brown whatever fresh
veggies you have with the stove on med/low heat…for example onions cook first for 5 min followed by mushrooms for 4 min, and lastly garlic for 2
-add the sliced raw beef in with the veggies from the last step just to brown the outside it should take about 1-2 minutes-remove everything from the pan, set it aside, and wipe the pan out with a paper towel
-add the soup and the Paprika to the pan and stir while reducing heat to low and covering to simmer and add in the green onions and the vinegar if you planned to
-meanwhile be cooking whatever noodle you’re using up to the point its approx. 2 min underdone according to the package directions, and drain (rinse in cold water if you’re not ready to use within a min or 2)
-add the meat and veg mixture you sautéed earlier back into the sauce and stir until reheated on low heat (if you over-do this step and let everything cook for too long the meat will become overcooked)
-add a little beef broth in if the sauce becomes thick and pasty
-remove the pan from the heat quickly like I just said
-mix in the sour cream and allow it all to thicken and cool slightly to allow for tasting, adding S&P to taste in small sprinkles if needed, then add the pasta
-garnish with any Parsley, additional Salt & Pepper, or Paprika if desired
WAYS TO RUIN SOMETHING SO EASY
-add the noodles/pasta in right as everything is done and off of the heat source. If you add them too early they will sit in the hot sauce and continue to cook and turn to mushy shit
-if you’re using a precooked/leftover meat add it into the sauce the LAST step of the recipe. Meat that’s already cooked will become overcooked so easily it cannot be allowed to sit in a sauce on direct heat or it will become beyond tough
-don’t allow the sauce to sit uncovered on the stove and reduce to the point it becomes as thick as New England Clam Chowder (add a little water if you have to)…once you add the noodles and it cools and sits in the fridge overnight it will be like wallpaper paste. When you reheat it it’s gonna be so dry no one will be able to choke it down let alone appreciate the flavor.
This simple recipe isn’t rocket science or difficult in anyway. Just be resourceful and add a little of whatever you have on hand a LITTLE at a time to prevent overdoing any one thing. ABOVE ALL taste everything and make sure you season stuff so your sauce doesn’t end up bland. I guarantee it will be a big hit with everyone. No one will have a clue they’re eating the product of a “Food Hack” ;)