Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff is the stew version of traditional Beef Stroganoff. An incredible slow cooked beef that’s fall-apart tender smothered in a creamy Stroganoff sauce with buttery garlic mushrooms, it’s made with economical stewing beef yet tastes like a million bucks!
Beef Stroganoff
You know that anything that involving the words “slow cooked” and “beef” is going to be a winner. And this one is a ripper!
It’s the slow cooked version of classic Beef Stroganoff. Besides the fact that it takes 8 hours in a slow cooker instead of 15 minutes on the stove, this stew version of Stroganoff differs from the traditional version in a few ways:
Fall apart tender chunks of beef rather than thin strips that are just cooked so they’re juicy inside;
Made with economical stewing beef rather than good to high quality well marbled steak (essential for a really great traditional Beef Stroganoff); and
Deeper flavour in the sauce – owing to the long cook time. You can’t shortcut this kind of flavour!
This slow cooked beef melts in your mouth and the depth of flavour in the sauce is magnificent!
What you need for Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Here’s what you need to make this incredible slow cooked beef dish! It’s the same ingredients as traditional Beef Stroganoff except using economical stewing beef and more sauce so the beef is submerged while slow cooking!
Use Chuck Beef or other economical stewing beef. Do not waste your money on pricier cuts like sirloin!
Best cut of beef for SLOW COOKER Beef Stroganoff
This recipe needs to be made with economical stewing cuts that need to be cooked for a long time to become tender, such as:
- chuck beef
- boneless beef ribs
- beef cheeks
- gravy beef
In contrast, traditional Beef Stroganoff, which is cooked quickly on the stove, is best made with pricier cuts suitable for cooking as steaks, such as boneless rib eye/scotch fillet and sirloin.
Just a few notes on some of the other ingredients:
Sour Cream – this is what makes Stroganoff Sauce creamy. It’s added at the end so there’s no risk of it splitting during the slow cooking time;
Dijon Mustard – for flavour and thickening, a traditional ingredient in Beef Stroganoff Sauce; and
Flour – thickens the sauce. See recipe notes for gluten free option!
How to make Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
This is pretty much made just like traditional Beef Stew – entirely hands off for most of the cook time!
Brown beef aggressively. The better the browning, the better the flavour in the sauce and on the beef!
Sauté the onion and garlic, mix in the flour;
Add everything into the slow cooker (or pot);
Slow cook 8 hours on low or 5 hours on high (see recipe for stove and IP/pressure cooker);
Sauté mushrooms in garlic and butter;
Whisk the sour cream with some of the liquid in the slow cooker – this will ensure you don’t end up with sour cream specks in the sauce (can’t mix vigorously otherwise the beef crumbles!);
Stir mushrooms and sour cream into sauce;
Serve over mash, pasta, egg noodles or even rice!
Here’s what it looks like straight out of the slow cooker.
And the beef…..fall apart….. juicy…..sucked up all the flavour of that Stroganoff Sauce…
I’ve made this as a stew but it could just as easily be transformed into a chunky soup with potatoes and vegetables. That way, it would also be a meal in one, rather than preparing noodles or mash to serve it over.
I’ve popped notes in the recipe for how to make it into a soup – you just add extra liquid to make the sauce slightly thinner which also increases volume so you can add more “stuff” into it. 😇
Otherwise, if you’re sticking with the Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff Stew as written, serve it over one of these:
pasta or wide egg noodles (traditional);
mashed potato (also common for Stroganoff);
rice; or
low carb alternatives: Creamy Cauliflower Mash or Cauliflower Rice
Enjoy! – Nagi x
PS Also, for chicken lovers – > CHICKEN Stroganoff. Because I sauce this good can smother many things.
Watch how to make it
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Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 1.75kg/ 3.5lb beef chuck or other stewing beef , cut in 4cm / 1.5” cube (Note 1)
- 1.5 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp oil
- 20 g/ 1 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 1 large onion , halved then sliced into 1 cm / 2/5″ slices
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 7 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose
- 4 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 litre / 1 quart beef stock/broth , reduced salt
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream , full fat best
Garlic Butter Mushrooms:
- 3 tbsp/ 45 g butter , unsalted
- 700 g / 1.2 lb mushrooms , sliced into 0.5cm thick slices
- 3 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
Serving:
- Pasta, wide egg noodles, mashed potato
- Chives for garnish
Instructions
- Season beef – Pat beef dry then sprinkle with all the salt and pepper.
- Brown beef – Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy based pot or skillet* over high heat. Add beef in a single layer (not squished) and brown aggressively all over – 4 minutes or so. Remove and repeat with rest of beef, adding more oil as needed.
- Sauté aromatics – Let the pot cool down a bit then return to stove. Melt half the butter, then cook garlic and onion for 3 minutes until softened.
- Add flour – Sprinkle the flour across the surface, then stir. Add the mustard, and stir – it will look gluey, that's ok, it will dissolve.
- Add stock – While stirring, pour in about half the beef stock then mix so the flour mixture dissolves into the liquid. It will thicken quite quickly into a gravy-like consistency .Switch to a whisk if needed, to make it lump free. Then add remaining stock, stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot, and bring to simmer. Cook using chosen method below.
SLOW COOKING – choose method:
- Slow cooker: Transfer all liquid into slow cooker. Add beef, then slow cook 8 hours on LOW or 5 hours on HIGH.
- Stove: Add beef into pot. Cover with lid and adjust heat to low/medium low so the it's simmering gently. Simmer 2 hrs (check at 1.5 hrs) until beef beef falls apart easily.
- Instant pot: SKIP FLOUR, follow Note 5 Gluten Free option. 40 minutes on high, same method as slow cooker.
- Other pressure cookers: 40 minutes on high, same method as slow cooker.
GARLIC BUTTER MUSHROOMS:
- Melt half the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add half the mushrooms and cook until almost golden (~3 minutes). Add half the garlic, salt and pepper, cook until golden. Remove, repeat with remaining butter, mushrooms and garlic.
FINISHING STEW:
- Mix sour cream with 1.5 cups of liquid from slow cooker (Note 2), then gently stir into stew – careful, the beef is delicate!
- Gently stir in mushrooms.
- Serve over noodles, pasta or mashed potato, sprinkled with chives!
Recipe Notes:
- Chuck
- Boneless beef ribs*
- Gravy beef or other beef labelled as “stewing beef”
- Beef cheeks**
** If 200g/7oz or less, cook whole so it looks like this beef cheeks recipe but with Stroganoff Sauce. Chopped cheeks twist and skew once slow cooked – looks better to serve whole (or at most, halved). Other beef cuts ok to use – great for slow cooking but not as juicy all the way through as there are more lean patches:
- Brisket
- Blade roast
Nutrition Information:
Stew Fever!
For fellow lovers of slow cooked goodness, rich sauces and fall apart meat…
Life of Dozer
Furniture shopping with Dozer – he certainly made himself at home!! 🤣
60g equals 4 tablespoons, not 7.
Hi Kathy, 60g of water – yes, flour however weighs less than water and 7 tablespoons equals 60g. N x
I made this last night, stovetop method, and my family absolutely loved it! Hands down the best stroganoff I’ve ever made. Thanks so much!
I added a can of mushroom soup to it and an extra tbsp of mustard. it was delicious!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Sallie! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can I use beef bullion cubes instead of liquid stock?
Delicious 😋 I cooked ours in the oven and the meat was so tender and flavoursome. Served with mashed potatoes I put through the ricer with a touch of olive oil and salt.
I can’t wait to try this for dinner tomorrow. My only question is what type of mushrooms did you use?
Hi Sabrina, just button mushrooms here 🙂 N x
Great thank you
Hi Nagi
Thank you for the great recipes .
are there any replacements for the following:
1- Red or white wine.
2- Beef or chicken stock by using Bouillons.
3- Also Dijon Mustard, like normal mustard, mustard power or seeds
Thank you
Hi Diaa, there’s no wine in this recipe & you can use been stock cubes diluted in water to make up the stock. Stroganoff is traditionally make with dijon mustard, you can use normal mustard though if you prefer. N x
Hi Nagi
I’ve been recently cooking/baking with recipes on here and can I just say – amazing. I seek you out first when looking for recipes.
With this one, can you use normal cream instead of sour? A few years ago I made a pasta beef strog with sour cream, probably messed it up to be honest, but it was VERY sour creamy. It was all you could taste, so I’m hesitant to risk it again.
Do you taste the sour much if you follow this one correctly?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Felicity, traditionally, stroganoff is made using sour cream. You can however sub regular cream if you don’t like that flavour. N x
Hi, great recipe! I was a little confused by the instructions. Is 7 Table Spoons of Flour and 4 Table Spoons of Djon Mustard correct? It seems like a lot. We are using a slow cooker.
Hi Daniel, yes that’s correct – remember you have a decent amount of meat and liquids in this recipe! N x
Added 1/2 dl of mild Rose to the dish
Got two 5 stars at the first bite 🙂
What’s the Rose you added Please? 🤔
YUM Inger!! N x
Currently making this for dinner. Looks great so far 🥰 thank you for all your beautiful recipes. They’re the best!
Enjoy Emily! N x
Love your recipes, I’m making this as we speak but the flour is a really lumpy consistency in the slower cooker, should that be the case? Will they dissolve through the cooking process?
My flour is also lumpy. Did yours dissolve during cooking?
Hi Nagi & Shelley,
In the end I remade the sauce as I realised I had a larger tbsp size than the recipe called for (my bad…)
There we still some small lumps but these dissolved during the cooking.
And overall it was delicious and my husband and 4 year old loved it!
Thanks for the update Lauren. I left my sauce as is and added a bit more broth and it was enjoyed by all. Definatly a keeper 👍
Hi Lauren, sorry for the late reply – how did it turn out? (I find adding the broth slowly stops it from going lumpy) N x
Just made this for the second time – unreal!! With bettered pasta it is to die for…… There are only 2 of us so leftovers are made into pies for my step son to take out on his truck when he goes interstate…..
YUM! That sounds great Sue! N x
*buttered
Hi Nagi, if I want to make this recipe a day in advance before serving would it be okay?
Yes 100% Irene, just reheat in the microwave! N x
I made this recipe using short ribs that have been in my freezer from a cow we had butchered. Ours had bones in them so between those and the amount of fat on the cuts of meat, a lot of prep work was involved. It was worth it, this turned out beautifully! Tender and flavorful. My husband is singing its praises even now. Thanks for your terrific recipes!
I spent YEARS making stroganoff from a packet and using topside beef, I had no idea how easy it was to do from scratch and didn’t understand the differences in meat cuts and cooking styles until I found your recipes.
This was delicious, the beef just fell apart. Even the kids had seconds!
You’re totally converted Sarah!! N x
Step 4 of Instructions ..Melt half the butter. Where is the other half used?
(Love your recipes and the easy instructions and print versions.)
Half is used with the onion and garlic. The other half is used with the buttered mushrooms. 😉 I was confused on that for awhile too.
I wondered this too haha
Cooked this today as part of my isolation-fill-up-the-freezer cooking binge I’m on at the moment. Totally delicious. And while that was on the go I made your slow-cooked beef roast with red wine gravy, crispy roast potatoes, as well as your pumpkin-spinach-feta-pinenut salad. This was to share with my daughters and their children in 3 separate homes seeing we can’t be together. (They picked it all up while keeping their distance. Hubbie and I are in that dreaded 70+ age group) thank you 🙏
That’s great to hear Pepe – the perfect meal to bake a big batch. Your family are very lucky to have you! N x
hi Nagi
I made this meal the other night I did the stove top version and the gluten free option I had no problems with burning the only ingredient I wasn’t to keen on was the sour cream the amount used was a bit to much can I use less of this xx
Hi Chris, sour cream is an authentic ingredient but you can definitely use less if you prefer. N x
Well that was worth waiting 8 hours for! The dijon and garlic mushrooms really make the flavour sublime. My dog Ninja is looking at me expectantly but I’m not sharing/can’t share 😁. More for me! Thanks again Nagi!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Olivia 🙂 N x