Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff

Name: Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 20 min
Ingredients: 2 1/2 lb boneless chuck roast, cut across the grain into 1-inch strips; 1 large yellow onion, sliced; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 cups beef broth; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp Dijon mustard; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp kosher salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1 lb cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced; 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature; 2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, optional; 12 oz wide egg noodles; 2 tbsp chopped parsley

By Iren Pavlenko · Last updated: 9 Nov 2026

Chuck strips slow cooked with onions, broth and mushrooms, finished with room-temperature sour cream off the heat. Serve over wide egg noodles.

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Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff

Recipe by Iren Pavlenko

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Main CourseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hours

Chuck strips slow cooked with onions, broth and mushrooms, finished with room-temperature sour cream off the heat. Serve over wide egg noodles.

Ingredients

2 1/2 lb boneless chuck roast, cut across the grain into 1-inch strips
1 large yellow onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups beef broth
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 lb cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, optional
12 oz wide egg noodles
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Directions

Pat the chuck strips dry and season them with salt and pepper. Dry meat browns better and gives up less water.
Brown the strips in a hot skillet in two batches, 2 minutes per side. Browning is optional but gives a deeper sauce.
Put the onion and garlic in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker and lay the beef on top.
Whisk the broth, Worcestershire, tomato paste, mustard and paprika, and pour it over the beef.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours. Keep the mushrooms out for now.
Add the mushrooms with 2 to 3 hours left on LOW, or 1 to 2 hours left on HIGH.
Slide a probe into the thickest strip. It should read 195 to 205°F, so cook longer if it does not.
If the sauce is thin, stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook on HIGH 15 to 30 minutes, with the sour cream still in its bowl.
Switch the cooker off and wait until the bubbling stops, about 10 minutes. Temper the sour cream with a spoonful of hot sauce.
Stir in the sour cream, then serve over noodles cooked separately, topped with parsley.

Notes

Take the sour cream out of the fridge 30 minutes early; cold cream splits more easily. Do not boil the sauce after the cream goes in. For leftovers, reheat on the stove over low heat to 165°F, not in the slow cooker. For freezing, make the base without dairy and stir in fresh sour cream after reheating.

Why chuck is the classic stroganoff cut

Chuck has enough marbling to stay moist through a long cook. Cut across the grain, the strips break down into soft, saucy bites without turning to shreds.

Browning is optional, but it builds a deeper sauce and is worth ten minutes when you have them.

Swaps, dairy and sides

Short on sour cream? Greek yogurt works if you temper it first. Button mushrooms can stand in for cremini. Do not use fat-free sour cream. It turns grainy and thin.

Wide egg noodles are traditional. Mashed potatoes and buttered rice also soak up the sauce. A simple green salad rounds out the plate.

Freezing and the mushroom mistake

Freeze the beef and sauce before the dairy goes in so the texture holds. Thaw overnight in the fridge and finish with fresh sour cream.

Putting the mushrooms in at the start is a common error. They go gray and shrink to almost nothing. Added late, they stay meaty.

A note on the sauce

If the sauce looks too thin before the cream goes in, trust the slurry rather than more cooking time. Another hour only toughens the beef. Taste for salt after the sour cream is in, because dairy softens the seasoning and the sauce can seem flat.

Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff at a glance

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 8 hours
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients: 15, led by boneless chuck roast, yellow onion, garlic cloves, beef broth

Tips for Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff

Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff FAQ

How long does Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff take?

Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff takes 8 hours of cooking after 20 minutes of prep.

How many people does Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff serve?

This recipe makes 6 servings.

What do I need to make Classic Chuck Beef Stroganoff?

15 ingredients, led by boneless chuck roast, yellow onion, garlic cloves, beef broth. Amounts are in the recipe card above.

Iren Pavlenko

Hi, I'm Iren Pavlenko. I read the top-ranked slow cooker recipes for a dish side by side and write down what they disagree on and what they all leave out — the cut, the pot size, and both the LOW and HIGH times. I write these guides so your weeknight dinner doesn't turn into a dry roast because a recipe never said which of those four things mattered.