Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Now that autumn has arrived, hearty meals that stick to your ribs are on my mind. Not that it has gotten colder here. We are still having temperatures in the 80’s right now. However, I can use my imagination and my Mom’s updates of NY weather.

I’m in the process of finding awesome slow cooker recipes that aren’t muddled, bland and watery. In my experience, that has been the sad case most of the time. I would love to use my slow cooker more often, especially on the days that I’m working. (And probably even more so when we finally become parents to two toddlers!) It would be awesome to come home from work, throw the ingredients into the pot, and have magic fairies working on my dinner while I sleep. I then wake up to an incredible, homey aroma that is wafting through the house, and when Sergi comes home all I have left to do is set the table.

I have an AMAZING Beef Stroganoff recipe already, and we really love the flavors of that dish. Scrumptious beef and mushrooms in a creamy, tasteful sauce is a favorite in our house and I make it very often for guests too. I loved the idea of making this recipe in the slow cooker. I had recently bought one of  America’s Test Kitchen’s cookbooks, Slow Cooker Revolution and adapted their recipe a bit. 

Trim the mushrooms and cut them in half if they are small or quarter them if they are large. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. I used my dutch oven since I was using my large skillet for something else:). Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are browned and all the liquid is cooked off. Place them in the slow cooker. In the same skillet, add 1 1/2 -2 Tablespoons of oil, heat until shimmering, add the onions, tomato paste, garlic, porcini mushrooms and thyme. (I didn’t use thyme. I usually do, but I didn’t have any on hand that day. Cook until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes.

You may be wondering why I’m taking the time to brown the mushrooms and cook the aromatics. You thought the point of using the slow cooker was to throw stuff in the pot the way it is and walk away? Almost. You can almost never get away with it without adding at least a little bit of those sweet, roasted flavors that come from browning the meat, mushrooms or aromatics. If you add the onions and garlic without cooking them first, the flavors will be muddled and bland. Since the food cooks so long in the slow cooker, it needs a bit of a boost in flavor. That’s why we’re using more onions and garlic and adding tomato paste, porcini mushrooms and soy sauce. It’s very concentrated and really tasty. They all contribute to a great sauce and we can skip browning the meat.

Add the flour and mix until it’s well incorporated. Slowly pour in the broth, making sure to get rid of all the lumps and scraping up all the yummy browned bits. They will add a lot of flavor to the broth.

Add the white wine, soy sauce and bay leaves. Pour it all into the slow cooker. Season the beef liberally with salt and pepper.

For soups and stews, chuck is a great option. In my regular version, I use sirloin, which tastes wonderful but needs to be cooked very quickly. Chuck comes from the shoulder and it’s a really tough piece of meat. When it’s cooked slowly, the strands of fat that are in the meat will break down and melt, making the meat really tender. It’s a relatively inexpensive cut of meat and has a great flavor, so that’s good news for us.

Nestle the beef in the liquid.

Cover and cook on low 9-11 hours or 5-7 hours on high.

The meat should be tender and when you poke it with a fork, it will easily pull apart.

Using a large spoon, remove any fat from the surface of the beef stew. Discard the bay leaves and the thyme stems. Add the sour cream and mustard. Season with salt and pepper, if it needs any. Add more broth if you want it to be thinner. You can also add a splash of cream for a richer, creamier tastes to to make the Beef Stroganoff a little more mellow, since there are many acidic elements in it.

Garnish with fresh minced parsley. (You can also add dill and scallions if you like.)

What kind of recipes do you prepare in the slow cooker? I’m curious to see what other ideas you guys have. I’m on a mission to have at least a few recipes in my repertoire before we bring the children home from Russia.

 

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
 
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Prep time
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Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 3 Tablespoons oil
  • 1½ lbs white mushrooms
  • 3 onions, minced
  • 2-3 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ oz dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated, rinsed and minced
  • thyme 1 teaspoon dry or 1 Tablespoon fresh
  • ⅓ cup flour
  • 1¾ cups chicken broth or beef broth
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1½ inch chunks
  • ⅓ cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • salt, pepper, to taste
  • fresh parsley, minced, for garnishing
Instructions
  1. Trim the mushrooms and cut them in half if they are small or quarter them if they are large.
  2. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are browned and all the liquid is cooked off. Place them in the slow cooker.
  4. In the same skillet, add 1½ -2 Tablespoons of oil, heat until shimmering, add the onions, tomato paste, garlic, porcini mushrooms and thyme.
  5. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes.
  6. Add the flour and mix until it's well incorporated.
  7. Slowly whisk in the broth, making sure to get rid of all the lumps and scraping up all the yummy browned bits.
  8. Add the white wine, soy sauce and bay leaves.
  9. Pour it all into the slow cooker.
  10. Season the beef liberally with salt and pepper. Nestle the beef in the liquid.
  11. Cover and cook on low 9-11 hours or 5-7 hours on high. The meat should be tender and when you poke it with a fork, it will easily pull apart.
  12. Using a large spoon, remove any fat from the surface of the beef stew. Discard the bay leaves and the thyme stems.
  13. Add the sour cream and mustard. Season with salt and pepper, if it needs any.
  14. Add more broth if you want it to be thinner. You can also add a splash of cream for a richer, creamier tastes to to make the Beef Stroganoff a little more mellow, since there are many acidic elements in it. Garnish with fresh minced parsley. (You can also add dill and scallions if you like.)

50 Comments

  • Elena

    My mom has always made our Sunday lunches in a crock pot. From cabbage rolls, tushana kartoshka, stuffed manicotti, etc after church service we would come home and it was ready for us.
    I use my Crockpot for any recipes that require baking. My husband and I prefer that our food is well done, no al dente pasta, no crunchy veggies (and so do my kids) so it works great for us!
    Can’t wait to try your crock pot recipes! Thanks for sharing with us.

    • olgak7

      Sundays are definitely great for slow cooking. I’ve made stuffed cabbage rolls in the slow cooker before. I also made some soups, chicken wings, meatballs and even made a french toast casserole for breakfast. I’ll have to keep trying more recipes. Thanks for the great ideas.

    • olgak7

      Hi Jenny,
      That’s a great question. You can find dry mushrooms in most grocery stores. They are located next to the regular mushrooms. They are also sold in Costco and maybe Sam’s Club. I buy dry mushrooms online. They are much cheaper that way and taste amazing. The quality is phenomenal. If you’re interested, check it out.
      You need to use tomato paste in this recipe. If you don’t have any on hand, you can certainly use tomato sauce, but it won’t have that rich, concentrated taste as the tomato paste. Tomato paste is great to use for stews or braises that take a long time to cook, since it gives a boost to the flavors.

  • Alla

    Made this last night … I left out the dried mushrooms abd the taste was still magnificent. Thank you for putting up a crock pot recipe…I will be looking for more in the future 😉

  • Vika Ortiz

    I absolutely love how tender the meat come out! My hubby couldn’t get enough of it! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe 🙂

    • olgak7

      Hi Mila,
      I haven’t had Russian mustard in a LONG time, so I don’t really remember what it tastes like. I’m sure you can use it if you like.

    • olgak7

      I’ve never used chicken for the slow cooker version of Beef Stroganoff, so I’m not sure. If I were you, I would use dark meat only, not chicken breast for this recipe. Let me know how it turns out:).

  • alina

    my hubby loves Russian style pasta! so I followed your receipe for the most part. it turned out awesome. he loved it. this sunday I will make it again for family get together dinner and buy the extra ingredients I didn’t have. cant wait!! thank u Olga-your awesome!

  • Oksana

    This recipe is amazing!! I have made it multiple times already. First time I cooked off large chunks of potato and then poured this crock pot beef over it and drizzled with shredded cheese….umm can you say bomb?! 🙂 thank you for sharing. I actually have it going in the crock pot right now over night and am trying to see if it will work with beef stew. I am using the same recipe you have, but added potato and carrots and ketchup because I didn’t have paste. Oh and brown sugar and some spices and chicken “better than bouillon.” So far the juice tastes amazing so we will see tomorrow morning 🙂 thanks again for the recipe! Love your blog.

  • Olga

    Hi olga I was wondering which broth did u use in your recipe/which goes best with this recipe? I really want to try this it looks very good and based on reviews it tastes delicious. Going to be my first time using my crock pot which has been in my storage for almost 2 years still sealed 🙂 can’t wait.

    • olgak7

      Hi Olga,
      You can use either beef or chicken broth, whichever you like. I’ve used both. In most cases I use chicken broth, because that’s something I always have on hand. However, if I happen to have beef broth, it works just as well. Good luck! Enjoy the Beef Stroganoff!

    • olgak7

      Nadya, you can simply omit the mushrooms. Since your husband doesn’t like them, you’re probably used to adjusting different recipes to how he likes them. This is no different. Of course, the taste will be different, but if he doesn’t like them, then what’s the point of cooking it:)?.

  • Igor

    Olga, I usually dont cook with wine because there are so many out there that I get lost and frustrated. could you please go over the different wines you use in your recipes, where you get them etc…? Maybe do a little wine post :))))) Thanks for this blog! you’re awesome!

    • olgak7

      That’s a great idea, Igor! It’s on my to-do list. I can certainly relate to feeling overwhelmed when looking at the huge variety of wine. Here are my go-to wines for cooking:
      White wine: Sauvignon Blanc
      Red wine: Cabernet Sauvignon
      I will go into more detail in that post.

  • Stephanie

    I made this today using my Wonderbag. It turned out wonderful! Look up the Wonderbag. I’ve found it an awesome tool in my kitchen. (they should pay me for singing it’s praises! Ha!)

  • Diana

    Hi Olga,
    I’ve noticed all your older recipes such as this one, don’t contain pictures. Is there any way to keep the pictures even for your older recipes?
    Thanks,
    Diana

  • Olga

    Dear Olga, I just tried this amazing dish!!!!! Did exactly as you wrote and it came out perfect!!!)))) just omitted fresh mushrums, but I did add dry porcini that my mom sent me from Ukraine))) I am so happy about this recepie because I also had a few not successful experiences…. Love your site!!! I have already tried many your recepies and they all were fabulous!!!! God bless you!!!!!!

    • olgak7

      Dry porcinis are some of my favorite mushrooms, Olga. I love how much depth of flavor they add to any dish. Thanks for taking the time to write and let me know that you enjoyed this dish.

  • Hans

    Hello!

    Thank you very much for sharing this recipe! Could you give me an idea of the capacity of the slow cooker you used? I’m trying to decide whether I will need to scale down the recipe for my cooker.

    Thank you for your time!

  • Russian Honey Cake (Medovik) & Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

    […] figured it was the perfect occasion to try this slow cooker beef stroganoff recipe from Olga’s Flavor Factory. I despise handling raw meat and try to keep it to a minimum. Thank goodness for slow cooker […]

  • Anna

    The pictures you took look awesome but mine did not look like that at all.. And no matter how much cream I use the very acidic taste won’t go away. I’m sure its a great recipe, I think I just messed up somewhere

  • marko

    I’m will give try for this. My grandma is coming to visit me tomorrow. She is from Vyborg (former city of Finland) but she’s parents are from Leningrad. Lets see how does she like it. 🙂

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