Name: Ground Beef Stroganoff with Egg Noodles
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: Salt, for the noodle water; 6 oz dry egg noodles; 1 to 2 tbsp oil, for tossing the cooked noodles; 1 tbsp oil, for the skillet; 1 lb ground beef, such as 85/15; 1 small onion, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, chopped; 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced; 1 tsp salt; 1 to 2 tsp ground black pepper; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 tbsp all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 cup beef broth; 1 cup heavy cream; 3 tbsp sour cream; 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided

How much can one skillet handle on a weeknight? For this ground beef stroganoff, everything from browning the beef to stirring in the sour cream happens in the same pan.

The egg noodles cook in their own pot alongside it. I put that water on first, before the beef even touches the oil.

What I watch most is the mushrooms. They let go of a lot of water, and the sauce only starts tasting deep once that water cooks off and they brown.

The sour cream goes in last, with the pan pulled off the burner. A boil after that point can make it split.

Prep: 10 minutes · Cook: about 30 minutes · Total: about 40 minutes · Serves: 4

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How do you thicken ground beef stroganoff sauce?

Cook 2 tablespoons of flour in the beef fat for a minute or two before any liquid goes in. Then add 1 cup of beef broth and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire, simmer until it starts to thicken, and reduce 1 cup of heavy cream until the sauce coats a spoon, with the sour cream going in off the heat.

Why This Recipe Works

Flour stirred into the fat for 1 to 2 minutes, the window Brian Lagerstrom gives, loses its raw taste before the broth arrives, and that cooked flour is what thickens the sauce.
Mushrooms have to release their water and brown before any liquid goes in. Lagerstrom gets there in 2 to 3 minutes in a hot pot, while Jeff Mauro’s Food Network version takes 7 to 8 minutes for a deep brown.
The sour cream waits until the very end. Mauro takes his pot off the heat before stirring it in. Sour cream that boils can split, so the heat stays off from here.

I drag a spoon through the sauce once the cream has simmered a while. When the line holds for a second before the sauce closes over it, I pull the pan.

Why You’ll Love This Ground Beef Stroganoff

About 40 minutes from start to finish, with the noodles cooking while the sauce builds.
One skillet holds the whole sauce, and one pot handles the noodles.
A pound of ground beef stands in for the sliced steak a classic stroganoff calls for.
The flavor comes from things most kitchens already keep around: Worcestershire, beef broth, flour and dried oregano.

What You’ll Need

Salt, for the noodle water
6 oz dry egg noodles
1 to 2 tbsp oil, for tossing the cooked noodles
1 tbsp oil, for the skillet
1 lb ground beef, such as 85/15
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp salt
1 to 2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef broth
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp sour cream
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided

Ingredient Notes

This recipe calls for medium ground beef, and 85/15 is the blend the other two cooks reach for. That fat stays in the pan, because it’s what the flour cooks in.

With very lean beef, add a little more oil so the flour has something to work with.

Button mushrooms, about 8 ounces, are the second half of the filling. Slice them to the same thickness so they brown together instead of some going limp while others are still pale.

Heavy cream carries most of the sauce here, a full cup for a pound of beef. The 3 tablespoons of sour cream are for tang at the finish.

None of these recipes tests a swap like Greek yogurt, so I stay with sour cream and keep it measured and waiting by the stove.

Let’s Make It

Start the noodle water. Fill a large pot with water, salt it well, and set it over high heat before you touch anything else. It needs the head start. Move on to the beef once the water reaches a rolling boil.
Cook the noodles. Boil the egg noodles until just past al dente, then drain them and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil, until every strand looks lightly glossy and they don’t clump.
Brown the beef. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and break it up as it cooks, until no pink remains and the edges of the crumbles have browned. It should reach 160°F, the USDA safe minimum.
Add onion and garlic. Stir in the onion and garlic, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go. Cook until the onion turns soft and see-through and the garlic smells sweet rather than sharp.
Brown the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and keep stirring. They’ll release a puddle of water first, and the pan will look wet. Stay with it until that liquid cooks off and the mushrooms look browned and softened.
Season and add flour. Stir in the salt, 1 teaspoon of the pepper and the oregano. Sprinkle the flour over the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, until no dry white streaks remain and the beef looks lightly coated.
Pour in the broth. Add the Worcestershire and beef broth, scraping up every browned bit stuck to the pan. Let it simmer until the liquid starts to thicken and turns glossy, about 5 minutes.
Add the cream. Stir in the heavy cream and keep it at a gentle simmer, stirring often so nothing catches. It can take up to about 10 minutes. Stop when the ground beef stroganoff sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Finish off the heat. Take the skillet off the burner and stir in the sour cream and half the parsley, until the sauce turns smooth and slightly paler with no white streaks. Taste, and add more pepper if it wants it.
Toss and serve. Add the noodles to the skillet, or spoon the sauce over them, and toss until every strand is coated. Scatter the rest of the parsley on top and serve while the sauce is still glossy.

Tips From My Kitchen

None of the recipes I compared tells you to drain the fat, and I don’t. The flour needs that fat to cook in.
Don’t let the sauce boil once the sour cream is in. If it needs rewarming, keep the burner low and stir.
For deeper browning, Mauro mixes 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda into each pound of beef and lets it rest 15 minutes before cooking.
I’m loose with the pepper. The range is 1 to 2 teaspoons, and I start at 1 and usually land somewhere in between.
If the noodles cool down while you finish the sauce, don’t worry, that’s fine. Tossing them through the hot sauce warms them right back up.

Make-Ahead and Leftovers

None of the recipes I compared covers storing, reheating or freezing this dish. I can’t give you a tested number, so here’s simply what I do.

Leftovers go into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking, the USDA limit for cooked meat at room temperature. I keep the noodles and the sauce in separate containers so the noodles don’t drink up all the sauce overnight.

To reheat, I warm the sauce gently over low heat and stir often, since a sour cream sauce can split if it bubbles hard. Then I toss the noodles back through it until they’re hot all the way through, and they’re ready to eat.

What to Serve With Ground Beef Stroganoff

Steamed or roasted green beans, for something crisp and green next to a rich, creamy plate.
A simple green salad with a vinegar dressing, which cuts through the cream.
Crusty bread for wiping up the sauce left on the plate.
A cucumber salad, cold and sharp against the warm noodles.

Equipment Worth Having

A large, heavy skillet with room to brown a pound of beef without steaming it.
A large pot for the noodles, so they have room to move as they boil.
A colander for draining and rinsing the noodles.
A flat-edged wooden spoon or spatula, for breaking up the beef and scraping up the browned bits.
An instant-read thermometer, to check the beef reaches 160°F.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you drain the fat for ground beef stroganoff? None of the recipes I compared tells you to drain it. The fat is what the flour cooks in, so I leave it in the pan.

Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? None of the recipes I looked at tests that swap, so I can’t tell you how it behaves in this sauce. I stick with sour cream.

How many people does this feed? The recipe I based it on doesn’t list servings. I plan it as 4 plates, which works out to about a quarter pound of beef and 1 1/2 ounces of dry noodles each.

Can the noodles cook right in the sauce? One version I looked at simmers dry noodles in a lot of extra stock, which changes every liquid amount. This one keeps them in their own pot.

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