Beef Stroganoff – Super Quick and Easy!

This super quick and easy Beef Stroganoff skillet meal makes weeknight dinner prep foolproof. It’s flexible in that you can choose any type of beef: leftover roast, stew meat pieces, frozen meatballs, your own homemade meatballs, or even ground beef. The result is a beefy, creamy, thick gravy with that signature stroganoff tang of Worcestershire and sour cream. Served over noodles or potatoes with a beautiful green vegetable side dish, it’s comforting, filling, and satisfying.

I used to start with simmering frozen meatballs in just a splash of water to keep them from sticking. As they warm and the water evaporates, the natural fats from the meat coat the pan and allow for browning the meatballs. Now I gravitate toward using leftover roast when making this dish…maybe because my nest isn’t as full, so leftover roast is actually a thing in my household!

The Sauce for Beef Stroganoff

You can prepare ahead of time two kinds of Casserole Sauce Mix: Beef and Chicken. These are a valuable resource that you will turn to time and time again in your pantry. No more cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup cans taking up space on the shelf, because this one container of spices and thickener that you put together nets 6-9 cans of cream soup. The Beef Sauce Mix is a slightly smaller batch because the Chicken Sauce Mix recipe uses more dry milk for a creamier sauce base. These are completely customizable according to your taste, but my recipes have been tested and approved for many years. I often make a double batch of the sauce mixes – you’ll figure out how much you are using it and decide whether to go all in or a little at a time.

Beef Stroganoff

Use leftover roast as a great start for this rich and creamy main dish

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Prep Time 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1-2 c beef strips, stew meat, leftover roast, or meatballs
• 2 c water
• 2/3 c casserole sauce mix*
• 2 c pasta egg noodles, penne, or spiral pasta
• 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 c sour cream

Instructions

 

• Brown beef in a skillet with a swirl of olive oil, or warm up meat if already cooked
• In a microwave-safe large bowl (such as an 8-cup Pyrex pourable measure), combine water and casserole sauce mix. This mix (see recipe) has beef bouillon, seasonings, cornstarch for thickening, and dry milk for a creamy base. It replaces use of canned cream of mushroom soup.
• Whisk the water and sauce mix and microwave at three-minute intervals until it begins to thicken. Whisk between each cook time. Continue cooking in microwave for one-minute segments, watching so it doesn't bubble over.
• Add thickened sauce to beef in skillet. Bring to a bubble and add pasta, keeping heat high enough to cook the pasta. Cook for 8-11 minutes, checking texture of pasta toward the end. Add up to a cup of hot water during cooking if the mixture gets too thick.
• Add Worcestershire sauce and sour cream or plain yogurt just before serving.
• Serves six with veggies and homemade bread.

Keyword beef stroganoff, leftover roast, skillet meals

Originally published in April 2010, revised and updated in January 2021