Midwestern Beef Stroganoff

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This is one of my childhood favorites. It's hearty and rich and oh so tasty. I know my mom loved it when we were kids because we were always excited when it was on the menu that night, but also because she could throw it in the oven and forget about it. This is a meal that if you have an auto-start oven, you can put it all together in the morning or over your lunch break, then program the oven to turn on mid-afternoon so when it's dinner time, all you have to do is boil some noodles or cook rice.

I call this "Midwestern" beef stroganoff because certainly there is nothing authentic about it when you read the ingredient list. But it's so good and so easy.

My mom always made this with canned mushrooms and it's totally fine to do that. It makes the meal that much simpler. But I found that I preferred the flavor and texture of fresh ones. If you hate mushrooms or realized you forget them, don't worry. Make it anyway. I've definitely done this on more than one occasion. The cream of mushroom soup will not taste mushroomy at all once cooked. As a kid I HATED mushrooms and I still absolutely loved this meal. And as an adult, I have forgotten the mushrooms to add in on several occasions and it was still really good.

We always served this up over egg noodles and I still prefer that. You can also serve over rice, dumplings or even mashed potatoes or cauli rice. Whatever you want, it will be delicious. This is a staple in my house for busy weeknights and especially a cozy meal in the chilly months. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Midwestern Beef Stroganoff
(Makes ~ 4 servings)
Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 3 hours

Click the file below to download and print the recipe

Midwestern Beef Stroganoff

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I recommend reading the recipe all the way through, including the recipe notes at the bottom, before you start cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs. stew meat

• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

• 1 packet Lipton onion soup mix

• 3-6 oz. baby portobello mushrooms*

• 1/3 C. cooking sherry or Harvey’s Bristol Cream*

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°

2. Cut mushrooms into 1/4" thick slices

3. In a high-sided casserole dish* (or any dish with a lid that can go in the oven), mix together the condensed soup, onion soup mix, sherry, and mushroom until totally combined.

4. Add beef and stir to completely coat beef in the sauce mixture.

5. Place lid on dish and bake for 3 hours. Check and stir after 1 and 2 hours if possible.

6. Remove dish from oven after 3 hours. Meat should be fork tender.

7. Serve over egg noodles, dumplings, rice, etc. with lots of extra gravy!

*Recipe notes + Variations*

Crockpot Instructions:

• Throw all of the ingredients except the meat into your crockpot and mix to thoroughly combine. Add in the meat and stir to coat all of the meat in the sauce.

• Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours. I have put the meat in completely frozen and it still comes out perfect. If you put the meat in frozen, try to check on it after a few hours once it has thawed a bit to mix the meat with all of the other ingredients.

If you are looking to double this recipe (6-8 servings), I would recommend not adding another packet of the onion soup mix. It likely will make it too salty. Double everything else but still only add one packet of the onion soup mix.

• Use whatever mushrooms you like. I like the texture and flavor of baby portobello, but anything will work. You can also use canned mushrooms. This is how my mom always made it – just make sure to drain off the liquid first.

• Harvey’s Bristol Cream is a drinking sherry you would find at the liquor store. The taste is admittedly a lot better quality than cooking sherry. My mom always made it with HBC, but I got lazy one time and just bought cooking sherry. Either will work and be delicious.

• If you don’t have a high-sided dish with a lid, you can just cover it with foil. But be sure to make the foil as tight as possible and check your liquid levels – it likely will evaporate faster than if you had a normal lid. You can just add in some water or beef stock if you need more liquid.

• If the sauce is getting too thick while cooking and the meat is sticking to the dish, add some water or beef broth and stir to loosen it up. You WILL get sauce sticking to the dish as it cooks. That is ok.