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This 35-minute ground beef stroganoff recipe is cozy, budget friendly, and simple to make! It’s sure to become a go-to when your family is craving a comforting meal.
You may also like my Creamy Chicken Stroganoff Recipe or Mushroom Stroganoff.
Why you’ll love it
Whether you call it hamburger stroganoff or ground beef stroganoff, there’s no denying that this beef in a creamy sauce is simple, old-fashioned comfort food done right! This popular variation on a classic makes an easy, quick, and inexpensive weeknight meal.
The key to making this easy stroganoff extra flavorful? It’s getting a good sear on the mushrooms and onions. That browned goodness just makes this dish so tasty. The signature sour cream and mushroom sauce that stroganoff is known for is ultra delicious.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil and butter – for sautéing
- Mushrooms – we’re using cremini mushrooms, which are sometimes labeled as baby bellas
- Onion and garlic – tasty aromatics. I like using sweet (Vidalia) onion.
- Beef – I like to use lean ground beef so I can generally skip the step of draining any fat
- Flour – to thicken up the sauce
- Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard – this duo are a fantastic flavor enhancer
- Beef broth – the savory base of the sauce
- Sour cream – use full-fat sour cream because it’s much tastier, the sauce will be silky, and it’s less likely to curdle
Pro Tip
Feel free to add more garlic, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce if you want to punch the flavor up even more!
How to make ground beef stroganoff
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Heat up the oil and butter in a skillet, then sauté the onions and mushrooms until all the water has cooked off and everything has a nice sear. Transfer to a plate. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with your spoon, followed by the garlic. Cook until browned.
Stir in the flour, cooking for a minute or so. Add in the Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and beef broth. Cook until the mustard and flour have dissolved in, scraping up any tasty browned bits from the bottom.
Return the mushroom and onion mixture to the pan, and stir it in. Take it off the heat, and stir in the sour cream. Season with salt & pepper. Serve as desired (see suggestions below) and enjoy.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Store the other half of your onion in a handy onion saver.
- This is the Le Creuset skillet I use for this recipe.
- Chopping the onions and mushrooms is a breeze with a sharp chef’s knife.
Substitutions and variations
- I don’t recommend substituting the sour cream for anything else. It’s a signature component of any stroganoff recipe.
- I typically use cremini mushrooms, but feel free to substitute with white mushrooms.
- Don’t have beef broth? A bouillon cube (or Better Than Bouillon) plus water works.
- If you want the sauce to be very saucy, add in another 1/2 cup of beef broth.
What to serve with ground beef stroganoff
- Buttered egg noodles are traditional, but Mashed Potatoes, a Baked Potato, rice, or Easy Roasted Green Beans work too! I see a lot of one pot stroganoff recipes out there, but I wanted to provide the option of not having to serve this with egg noodles if you don’t want to.
- A slice of fresh crusty bread is a great pairing along with a side salad. Try spring mix with my homemade Olive Garden Salad Dressing or this Homemade Ranch Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover ground beef stroganoff for 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Reheat over a low heat in a saucepan. You may need to add a little more broth when reheating as well.
- I don’t recommend freezing it, but if you want to freeze the whole batch, leave the sour cream out until reheating. The texture can change when frozen.
More easy ground beef recipes
If you made this creamy ground beef stroganoff, please leave a star rating and review below! As always, tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram if you made one of my recipes.
Ground Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or more, to taste
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil and butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the mushrooms and onions. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 7-10 minutes or until the water has been released from the mushrooms and it cooks off and they get a nice sear. Remove the mushrooms/onions from the pan and set aside.
- Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook it until browned (about 8 minutes), breaking it up with your spoon as you go along. Once the beef starts cooking a bit, stir in the garlic. If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out once the meat is done browning.
- Sprinkle the flour over the beef and stir it in. Let it cook for about a minute (stir it a few times).
- Add in the Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and broth, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring until the flour & mustard have dissolved and it's heated through (also be sure to scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan).
- Add the mushrooms and onions back to the pan (stir them in).
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the sour cream. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Serve immediately over buttered egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice.
Notes
- If the sauce ever gets too thick (like when you’re reheating it), add a splash more beef broth or even a dollop more sour cream.
- This is the cast iron Le Creuset pan I use. Any skillet is fine, but I do love the sear you can easily get with cast iron.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Very tasty. My husband and son really enjoyed it. We will have this again. Now logged as one of my faves.
Wonderful! Thanks, Tina!
Directions were easy to follow and recipe turned out wonderfully. Your meals are such a delicious hit, every single time. Thank you for sharing them.
That’s so nice to hear, Darcie!! 😀 Thanks for your review – it’s much appreciated!
Not good direction
What specifically did you not understand? You left me two comments complaining about this. I’m guessing you didn’t actually read the recipe card. The blog post is an overview of the recipe that helps you prepare to make it successfully, includes step-by-step photos, storage tips, etc., and then the recipe card with full instructions and ingredients is above the comments section.
Your instructions are terrible. Not easy to follow.
Sorry to hear you had an issue, Holly, but many others have managed to follow it just fine. Are you sure you didn’t skim over some important sections since I do provide all the info you need? Did you skip over the recipe card in your rush to leave me an angry comment?
We actually used ground venison with this recipe and it was wonderful! Thank you for sharing!!
You are very welcome, April!
We loved it! I made it exactly as the recipe calls for- over noodles this time
Thank you, Jan! 😀
Is there something we can substitute for sour cream…
Hi Jane! It’s what makes the signature tangy sauce so that’s a bit tricky. Perhaps cream cheese?
Great, quick recipe! Very tasty. Thanks!
You’re very welcome, Cindy!