A plate of Russian beef stroganoff garnished with chives

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If you don’t like this beef recipe, your taste buds aren’t working right. Beef Stroganoff was named after Count Stroganoff from the court of Alexander III. It’s been around for a long time. I’ve tried several variations of this and we refer to it as simply “beef.”

It’s excellent paired with mashed potatoes or over a bed of white rice. Maria (my sister’s mother-in-law) is famous for this dish. She frequently brings it to parties and church potlucks.

This is my all-time favorite beef recipe. I was so excited when Maria shared this with me. I was equally excited to discover it’s not as difficult as I imagined (sometimes beef intimidates me). I’m pleased to share this classic Russian recipe with you. See my notes in the comments section regarding making a larger batch.

Ingredients for Russian Beef Stroganoff:

2 lbs steak – I used: “beef round bottom round thin sliced” or any kind of sirloin should work. Nothing too marbleized. I purchased the thin-sliced steak at Costco at $3.69/lb.
1 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp paprika
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1  1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (i.e. 2 packets from Panda Express)
1  1/2 cups water
1 large garlic clove, finely grated or pressed
1  1/2 cups whipping Cream
2 Tbsp butter
1  1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

How to Make the Best Beef Recipe:

Preheat the Oven to 350°F.
1. Trim beef of excess fat and slice it into 1/2-inch strips.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-5

2. Fill a medium pot 2/3 with water and bring to a boil. Add beef and return to a boil. Boil until impurities rise to the top. Skim off impurities with a spoon.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-6

3. Remove from heat and rinse the beef in a colander. Next, place the beef in a dutch oven (for baking) or a regular pot with a tight fitting lid.

Russian Beef Stroganoff

4. Stir in Mrs. Dash, Pepper, Salt, Paprika, Olive Oil and Soy Sauce. Add 1 cup water. Cover and Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes (at 350°F). Check meat after 1 hour  – if the meat has absorbed most of the water, add another 1/2 cup water. (For stove-top cooking, put on tight fitting lid and cook over medium heat until meat is soft, occasionally stirring and checking the water level). There should be enough water to keep the meat moist – remember it’s not a soup.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-7

5. After the meat has been baking for 1 and 1/2 hours, remove from the oven and add the grated/pressed garlic, stir in 1 1/2 cups whipping cream.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-9

6.Next,  melt butter, then blend flour into butter using a fork. Add butter mixture to the pot and stir to combine.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-8

7. Bake an additional 25 minutes. Beef should be very tender and sauce should have a gravy texture. You can add more cream if it gets too thick.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-2

YUMM! YUMM! YUMM!! Notes: if you are going to use something besides a dutch oven (cast iron pot), you may need to adjust how much water you put in. Start with 3/4 cup and periodically check to see if you need more water. Beef – $4/lb,… Organic cream – $3.50,…..Turning around and seeing your son in the crockpot – PRICELESS.

Russian Beef Stroganoff-10

Maria's Russian Beef Stroganoff

4.96 from 22 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 4

Instructions

Preheat the Oven to 350°F.

  • Trim beef of excess fat and slice it into 1/2-inch strips.
  • Fill a medium pot 2/3 with water and bring to a boil. Add beef and return to a boil. Boil until impurities rise to the top. Skim off impurities with a spoon. Remove from heat and rinse the beef in a colander.
  • Place the beef in a dutch oven (for baking) or a regular pot with a tight fitting lid.
  • Stir in Mrs. Dash, Pepper, Salt, Paprika, Olive Oil and Soy Sauce. Add 1 cup water. Cover and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes (at 350°F). Check meat after 1 hour - if the meat has absorbed most of the water, add another 1/2 cup water. (For stove-top cooking, put on tight fitting lid and cook over medium heat until meat is soft, occasionally stirring and checking the water level). There should be enough water to keep the meat moist - remember it's not a soup.
  • After the meat has been baking for 1 and 1/2 hours, remove from the oven and add the grated/pressed garlic.
  • Stir in 1 1/2 cups whipping cream.
  • Melt butter, then blend flour into butter using a fork than add butter mixture to the pot and stir to combine.
  • Bake an additional 25 minutes. Beef should be very tender and sauce should have a gravy texture. You can add more cream if it gets too thick.

YUMM! YUMM! YUMM!!

    Notes

    If you are going to use something besides a dutch oven (cast iron pot), you may need to adjust how much water you put in. Start with 3/4 cup and periodically check to see if you need more water.
    Course: Dinner, Main Course
    Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
    Keyword: Russian Beef Stroganoff
    Skill Level: Medium
    Cost to Make: $$
    Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook
    4.96 from 22 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




    Comments

    • Katie
      September 11, 2013

      I am so obssesed with your sight!!! You are seriously my life saver…so this weekend I am feeding a party of about 50 russian folks and they love their meet…what if i marinate the beef in wine like a day before I make it do you think that will give it some some more flavor also do you think I can use a crock pot for this recipe?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        September 11, 2013

        I’ve never tried a crock pot for this recipe and I think it might scorch if you do it. You should make 3 to 4x the amount of this recipe to feed that many people unless you are making multiple meat dishes. You might also try this baked chicken dish for a large party: https://natashaskitchen.com/2011/04/17/chicken-and-mushroom-casserole/

        Reply

    • Jessica
      May 10, 2013

      Hello,
      Wow this looks so good. After reading through all the comments this seems like a hit for many ppl:)
      So I want to make this recipe tomorrow, but was wondering instead of using beef would chicken work, or would you prefer I rather stick with beef for this recipe?

      Thank you in advance!!

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        May 10, 2013

        I would stay with beef for this recipe. If you want chicken, try chicken and mushroom casserole :).

        Reply

    • TERRI
      April 30, 2013

      I homeschool my boys and last week we studied about Russia. I wanted to find a recipe that my kids would actually eat. I found this one and made it the other night for dinner. It got approval from the whole family, which is rare. It will be a repeat!! Thank you!

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        April 30, 2013

        Awesome, I love to hear a good report and hope that you will find some more favorites :).

        Reply

    • inna
      April 6, 2013

      finally made it,it’s amazing thank you Natasha

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        April 6, 2013

        You are welcome Inna :).

        Reply

    • inna
      April 2, 2013

      thank you…….

      Reply

    • inna
      April 1, 2013

      natasha ya segodnya obxodila vse magazinu i nenajshla soy sauce, takoj kak na foto , tol’ko v steklyanux bankax est’ wudkoe,podskawute ono v takix paketikax v magazine prodaet’sya ??????spasibo

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        April 1, 2013

        Inna you can use any brand of soy sauce. The packaging doesn’t matter. It just hit me that I used packages from Panda express (it was leftover from a restaurant); you can use any kind of soy sauce, not just in the little packets. Sorry!

        Reply

    • inna
      April 1, 2013

      Thank you so much…….

      Reply

    • inna
      April 1, 2013

      Hi Natasha!let me know where did you get soy sauce please ????

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        April 1, 2013

        Any grocery store should carry it. Try Fred Meyer or albertsons or winco, Walmart, etc

        Reply

    • Snezhana
      March 4, 2013

      Hello Natasha!
      My sisters and I are having a cooking competition (kinda like the Food Network show) and we settled on Beef. Each of us have to make a delicious beef dish and present it perfectly. Would this beef stragonof be good for that, or can you recommend something else?
      Thanks a lot!

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        March 4, 2013

        Yes this would be a very good choice!

        Reply

        • Snezhana
          March 4, 2013

          Yay! Then I guess I will be making this! Thanks so much! Your wonderful recipes never let me down!

          Reply

    • Nelya
      February 27, 2013

      This looks delicious! How long do you boil the beef until the impurities rise? Also, if cooking stove top do you cook for the same amount of time?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        February 27, 2013

        It should be pretty quick after it boils; maybe 10-15 minutes. And, yes, cook for about the same amount of time, just check on the meat since the heat is coming from the bottom only rather than all sides as in an oven, it is more likely to scorch to the bottom on the stove.

        Reply

    • Valentina
      January 25, 2013

      I love this receipe I made it a few times already and everyone loved it! Thank you so much for sharing. I love your website I cook a lot of things from here!! 🙂

      Reply

    • Anzhelika
      December 23, 2012

      I love this recipe. I made it several times already. But I have a question. I want to try using a slow cooker to make it for tomorrow’s christmas dinner at church. How do you feel about using a slow cooker for this?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        December 23, 2012

        I’ve never tried to make it with a slow cooker so I’m not sure what timing it should have and what heat setting to make sure the sides don’t get scored. Without knowing for sure, I probably wouldn’t risk it for Christmas.

        Reply

    • Tuija
      November 16, 2012

      My grandmother was Russian, and seeing that you used Mrs Dash seasoning and soy sauce for Stroganov sounds strange to me.
      I use paprika, salt, freshly ground black pepper, tomato paste, mustard, russian gherkins and sour cream along with good stock. That’s all. Don’t think Count Stroganov had Mrs Dash or soy sauce to invent the recipe…

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        November 17, 2012

        Your version sounds nice. Your comment made me laugh. I try to use ingredients that are easy to access and familiar 😉

        Reply

    • alison
      November 5, 2012

      Do you have any other good tasting beef recipes?

      Reply

    • Nadia
      October 23, 2012

      Hi,

      Is a Dutch oven same as a cast iron cookware? I tried to look online and I’m not having any luck.

      Thanks

      Reply

    • dashunchik
      September 22, 2012

      it was super delicious…. too bad i made a small dish it was sooo good..thanks

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        September 22, 2012

        I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 It never hurts to quadruple the recipe. 😉

        Reply

    • Nadine
      September 13, 2012

      Will beef chuck pot roast work for this recipe?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        September 13, 2012

        Yes that should work fine 🙂

        Reply

        • Nadia
          September 18, 2012

          It turned out really good. I also had some mushrooms and didn’t know what to do with them. So I added some mushrooms at the end and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

          Reply

          • Natasha
            natashaskitchen
            September 18, 2012

            Mmmm mushrooms are always a nice add-in. I’m so glad you loved the recipe 🙂

            Reply

    • Ira
      July 16, 2012

      Thanks so much for posting this! It looks great! Cant wait to try it!! And thank you for all your posts!! I’ve tried many of your recipes and love all of them!! THANK YOU!! :))

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        July 16, 2012

        Thank you so much Ira, your comment made me smile 😀

        Reply

    • Tonya
      July 12, 2012

      Omg! Best I’ve ever tried. I also made your buckwheat with mushrooms as a side.

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        July 12, 2012

        Thank you for the compliment. I’m glad that you liked it 😀

        Reply

    • LILY
      June 26, 2012

      Hi Natasha! Could I just bake the meat in the oven for that long, and just cover with foil?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        June 26, 2012

        I think it would be too dry without the sauce. It might work with a different sauce but it does need something to keep it juicy.

        Reply

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