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!! 🤣
Love this recipe… just one question? When sautéing the onion and garlic the recipe states use half the butter… but there’s nowhere where the other half of butter is used? I just use all. Am I not reading something right??
Sauté with the mushrooms…
I love your recipes – am making this today, but just realised there is no paprika. I thought that was a staple in stroganoff – I’m only asking because I thought I must have missed it.
There are a lot of steps here, I am a bit confused! If I’m using an instant pot .. I’m browning beef and throwing all liquids in? Then 40 mins on high and add flour when done ?
Making the beef stroganoff in the slow cooker and when i checked and stirred it makes my eyes water. Are the quantities of flour and dijon correct. The recipe says 7 tbsp of each , should it be 7 tsp. I also have flour lumps as someone else stated. Think I have wasted a lot on money !!!
The best Beef Stroganoff Stew ever!
I made this for a special birthday meal and it was super delicious! I used a little less sour cream, but the rest the same. Really good. Ate the leftovers 3 days later–every bit as good as day one.
This is a lovely recipe. I hate cooking but unfortunately I’m good at it and my family expect a lot from me lol.
This is nice and easy and tastes good. I can see it’s from pre price rise though. Chuck steak and even stinky gravy beef are Uber expensive now. I have a family of 5 all adults and I use almost 2 kg of meat and loads of veg..some for leftovers for work…Chuck is no longer the cheap cut. Mushrooms are expensive and broccoli can come in at almost $10 a kg. I eat a lot of cheap bread and vegemite. Life is hard.
Very disappointed with this recipe, followed it to the letter and used slow cooker. Everybody agreed it was too bland and too creamy ( and I only used 1xcup of sour cream rather than 1 1/2 cups as in recipe.
Hi I wondered if my 3.5litre slow cooker would be big enough for this recipe?
Thanks in advance
Hello. I tried this recipe using my instantpot. Am I supposed to use the pressure cook setting or slow cook setting? I used the slow cook and the meat was still tough. So i wonder if i used the wrong setting. Thank you.
This is delicious! My husband wants me to make it for Christmas!!!
Oh my goodness. I’ve never been a fan of beef stroganoff. They always seemed to lack flavor but this was so delicious. I made it in my slow cooker but next time I will make it unto top of the stove.
Made as per recipe
WOW WOW ,DELICIOUS
THANK YOU NAGI
Loved this…I used sour cream with chives in it for extra punch….
This was really good. I had a busy day, so used my slow cooker that I haven’t used for years. I was a little hesitant to add 4 T of mustard so I used 2. It turned out very tasty. We had it over mashed potatoes bc I love gravy over warm mash. It’s a true comfort food. Will make it again. Thank you.
This is so good! I made it exactly as written. Thank you so much, you are amazing. My family LOVED IT and wants it regularly. Hugs to Dozer. Of course, I am getting your new cookbook!
I love this recipe. I also had some limps from the flour and if I make it again I will mix the flour and beef broth first and then add it slowly to the pan of onions. I also just threw the beef into the crockpot as I browned it and poured the liquid on top and stirred. ( It saved washing a dish! ). Otherwise, and those were not changes to any ingredients, it was easy and completely delicious!
Looks like an amazing recipe. I always make these type recipes a day ahead as you suggest. How do you suggest reheating? Can I keep it in the slow cooker and use that again to reheat? If so, what is your suggested time?
Look forward to making this!! TIA!
I’d like to try this with pork butt. Would I need to adjust for the flavor profile? Would caraway seeds work (I’m addicted)? I’d still serve it with wide noodles and roasted carrots
Another Nagi and Dozer win! I made your beef stew a few weeks ago on the first truly cool weekend here, and I knew I needed to try another one of your recipes! This stroganoff is delicious, and warms you right up. I used chuck and the stovetop method, and it took closer to three hours for the meat to get fall apart soft. Served with mash for maximum coziness! Thanks, Nagi!