Poor Man’s Stroganoff
The flavors of this super simple poor man’s stroganoff are so delicious, you will think you are at a five-star restaurant.
There is absolutely nothing fancy about this meal but the flavors are so delicious, I swear, you’ll think you are at a five-star restaurant gobbling down hamburger stroganoff.
Jennie C, a reader, sent me this recipe a long time ago, and I’ve made it many times since, tweaking it here and there to make it a bit lighter and with a few other changes (I know, I know, you are all fainting in disbelief that I lightened up a recipe…I do what I can).
A rich, hearty sauce is packed with simple flavors like garlic, the slight hint of tomato, a dash of Worcestershire, the sweetness of paprika and finished off with sour cream.
Meaty, delicious and so simple, this meal is fantastic served over noodles or rice. Who knew simple ground beef (or turkey) stroganoff could taste so terrific? The secret is definitely in the sauce.
What to Serve With This
- Fresh fruit or green salad
- Buttery Peas with Thyme
- Simple Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
One Year Ago: Glazed Meatloaf
Two Years Ago: Pesto Pizza with Pine Nuts and Feta
Three Years Ago: Red Berry Risotto Oatmeal
Poor Man’s Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
- 6 ounces turkey bacon, diced
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 medium red or yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup sour cream, light or regular
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried
- Cooked egg noodles or rice, for serving
Instructions
- In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and saute diced bacon over medium heat until crispy. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside, leaving any grease/oil in the pan. Add sliced mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about one minute (if the pan is too dry, add a teaspoon of oil as needed). Add salt. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are softened and have given up most of their juices. Transfer them to the same plate as the bacon.
- In the same skillet, brown the ground beef or turkey with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease.
- Stir in the flour and tomato paste to the meat mixture and mix to combine well. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add the beef broth and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking to combine all the ingredients. Simmer vigorously for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Cook until flavors blend, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add sautéed mushrooms and bacon back to the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sour cream, mixing well to avoid lumps. Stir in the parsley. Serve over egg noodles or hot, cooked rice.
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Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe Jennie C., a reader, sent me
Hi Mel I would like to make this tonight but don’t have any bacon. We have just been placed in a stay at home order here in Ontario Canada so I can’t run out to the store for one item. Do you think it will affect the taste a lot if I leave it out?.
Sorry for the delay – yes, I think you could leave it out just fine. 🙂
This is probably a really silly question to ask about stroganoff, but could you omit the mushrooms? Mushrooms are the one flavor I can’t stand, but the rest of this recipe looks great.
Yes, I think you could.
Thanks McKenna for your tip of making this a one-pot dish! As my husband was eating this he said, this doesn’t taste like beef stroganoff…it tastes better! Thanks Mel for another hit.
This is one of our family favorites and to make it easier, I turned it into a 1 pot meal! Instead of 1 cup of broth I added 4 cups of broth and put the noodles into the pot with the sauce and let it summer for 10 minutes! It was amazing! My family loved it so much!
Awesome!
I have made this a half a dozen times and loved it every time!!! We’ve exchanged the ground meat for venison a couple times to save $ (it’s free!) and it was still just as good! I will say I never use a full cup of sour cream, a half cup does us just fine 🙂
I just made this and used Fage 0% greek yogurt instead of sour cream. It was delicious! My kids and I gobbled it up and had enough leftovers for a 2nd meal.
Why does every recipe have 15 to 30 ingredients? I’d like to see more simplifies recipes..
I made this last night for friends. They loved it. It is an excellent recipe and worth every bit of work.
This meal made dinner on a budget yum! My partner and our 3yr old son devoured it and fought over left overs the next day. It’s been added to my recipe folder and will be a regular on our table!