Grandma’s Beef Stroganoff
There are a handful of people in my life that inspired my love of food and cooking, my grandma Dolores definitely being one of them. When she moved on from this life, I inherited many of her kitchen tools that I still use daily. So I am honoring her by including one of my favorite recipes of hers on my blog. Here is her recipe for beef stroganoff, adapted to be made in either the instant pot or slow cooker. A perfect winter meal!
Throwing all of the ingredients in the crockpot in the morning and slow cooking them all day is the simple but lengthy version that I grew up making. I also wanted to adapt this recipe to be compatible in the instant pot as I know many of you have these as an addition to your kitchen by now. And let’s be real, sometimes we aren’t always prepared to get dinner going in the morning. Either way it turns out great! The beef gets super tender, and the flavorful gravy is so delicious served over egg noodles.
Kitchen Tip!
Slow cookers or pressure cookers are ideal for cooking tougher cuts of meat that can tend to be chewy or tough. This style of cooking combined with liquids such as the gravy ingredients in this stroganoff, result in very tender and enjoyable meat!
Let’s talk about thickeners. For gravies, certain sauces, and of course beef stroganoff you want your sauce to be a little thicker in consistency. To easily thicken any sauce, you can simply use all purpose flour or corn starch. Simply mix either with a bit of cool water to form a slurry. Pour into whatever sauce you are thickening while whisking or stirring constantly until combined. Sauce will thicken as it cools. If you add dry flour to hot liquids, it often will just form little dumpling like flour balls and will not successfully thicken your sauce.
Nutrition Tip!
Did you know that beef is one of the richest dietary sources of zinc? Zinc is an essential mineral that we get entirely from dietary sources such as food or supplements when necessary. Zinc plays an important role in supporting our immune system, protein and DNA synthesis, growth and development, wound healing, and enzyme activity aiding in things like digestion, metabolism, and nerve function. (1) Most healthy adults living in the United States get an adequate amount of zinc in their diet from foods, such as this beef stroganoff. So support your immune system and taste buds by giving it a try!
Grandma's Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
- 2 lb beef stew meat (alternately you can use cube steak, round steak, or any tough cut of meat cut into 1 inch chunks)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp kitchen bouquet
- 1 1/3 cup beef broth
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 8 oz egg noodles
- AP flour (6 Tbsp for Instant Pot version, 3 Tbsp for Slow Cooker version)
- 1 cup sour cream
- Parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Turn instant pot on sauté function for 5 minutes. Melt butter in the instant pot. Once it is mostly melted, add onions and sauté for a few minutes, or until the 5 minute time on the function is done.
- Add sliced mushrooms, beef, Worcestershire sauce, kitchen bouquet, beef broth and salt to the instant pot. Stir all of the ingredients until well combined making sure no pieces are stuck to the bottom.
- Lock lid on instant pot and switch to high pressure cook function. Set the timer for 30 minutes and hit start.
- While the beef stroganoff is cooking, boil the egg noodle in salted water according to package directions. Strain and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix 6 Tbsp flour with 4-5 Tbsp cool water to form a paste.
- Once pressure cooking is done, rapid release your instant pot. With the instant pot off, but stroganoff still bubbling, add flour water mixture and sour cream. Stir well to combine, sauce should thicken up some as it cools.
- Enjoy garnished with parsley if you wish!
- Add all ingredients to your slow cooker, including the 3 Tbsp flour and sour cream. Stir well to combine. Cook on low for 8 hours, stirring a few times during the day if possible.
- Before serving, cook egg noodles according to package directions. Stir stroganoff well and serve.
- Enjoy garnished with parsley if you wish!
Notes:
If you cannot find Kitchen Bouquet at your local grocery store, you may substitute for Gravy Master, Soy Sauce, or Worcestershire sauce.
References
Office of Dietary Supplements - Zinc. (n.d.). Retrieved December 23, 2020, from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
