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!! 🤣
I followed thé Instructions for pressure cooker, but found this recipe a bit bland and way too thin – even with using 3tbsp of corn flour. I think I’d use the flour as normal next time
Step 3 says to use half of the butter, but then there is no further reference of when to use the other half?
It’s for the garlic butter mushrooms – read further down
Garlic butter mushrooms has a separate set of ingredients.
Very easy to make & full of flavour. I added porcini mushrooms too! A big hit with the fam. Thanks Nagi xx
Hi Nagi, Would it make any difference cutting beef in strips rather than cubes. I’ve always done strips for stroganoff. Cheers. Looks like fantastic recipe as always. 🙂
I caught my husband licking the bottom of the slow cooker. It was that good!!
I have never tried one of your recipes that I didn’t like, but this one is stellar. We all love your combination of ingredients, but this time I was very aware of how precise and helpful your instructions are. You take a lot of time with that – maybe the best I have ever seen. This recipe became a family favorite overnight. Thank you.
Great recipe. i did however add everything from start the second time i made it. “same taste just as good but easier as i did not have to do anything extra other than pasta when it was done 😀 ” i mean i threw sour cream and mushrooms in asap ” 🙂
I made this last night and it was soooo delicious! Instead of plain Dijon, I had a Dijon Dill and used that instead. What flavour! Makes lots, so I won’t have to cook for the next couple of days. Thank you Nagi!
I had a dinner party on the weekend and made this dish I doubled the quantity and prepped before everyone arrived then turned on to slow cook and relaxed it was the least fussed dish I have made for guests and didnt take me away from me enjoying their company to juggle cooking and timing it right. It was a hit. This is a regular in our house.
Sounds Delish!! I plan on making this slow cooker version very soon. Over the years I’ve tried both Chuck steak and Gravy Beef … The Gravy Beef Wins every time, it’s gelatinous deliciousness just melts into all my stews and Casseroles. Perfection!
Hi Nagi, I bought everything that I need to make this in my slow cooker tomorrow, but the piece of chuck steak I bought only weighs 1.3kgs. Just wondering if I should reduce the cooking time or if it’s too small a difference to warrant any change please? I love your slow cooker recipes as it means that if I’m having a bad day (I have chronic spinal pain), I can simply heat a serving of something that I’d previously made in the slow cooker and frozen. Sooo convenient thank you!
Oh, and BTW, I’m very happy for you in relation to the decisions you’ve recently made, in order to both further your career and continue to help others. You should take great pride in your achievements in such a relatively short period of time, just as I have no doubt your family and friends do.💕💖
Loved it!
Made this the other night, so easy and tastes sooooo good!!! thank you for another amazing and simple recipe!!! Next time i will probably load up more mushrooms or other veggies…. i wonder if peas would work?
This stroganoff is amazing. I’ve been using it for a few years now and it’s just divine. My family LOVES this one
I’ve made this in the slow cooker for some years, discovered it during the multiple Melbourne lockdowns (!), but I’ve made a few variations: I do 7 hours in slow cooker on high minimum, otherwise 4 on high, 2-ish on low. 45 mins prior to slow cook time ending, melt butter in pan and add mushrooms, add 60ml brandy and simmer for a few minutes (if you wish, the alcohol burns out, we like the depth of flavour). Scoop about a cup of the slow cooked juices out and stir in creme fraiche (instead of sour cream), then add mushroom and creme fraiche mixture to the slow cooker, stir gently then let it sit and stew for another 30/45 minutes, serve over pasta of your choice and broccolini – perfecto!
The changes you made do indeed sound perfecto! I can imagine how doing the mushrooms in butter makes it Better!! The Brandy would lift it even higher! 👏 👏
Hi,
I just put this in the slow cooker but I got a little too excited and misread the recipe. I added the sour cream in the slow cooker accidentally
Do you have any advice or anything? Will it be okay 😭
Thank you
Kristen
Really enjoyed this slow cooked beef stroganoff stew, and everyone else in family did too (winning!).
Did in pressure cooker (Philips all-in-one), forgot to add in Dijon before pressure cooking, so added to sour cream/ cornflour slurry at end with extra hot liquid from pot before adding mushrooms in at end. No problems with lumps, did not need whisk or fork, just quick mix with butter knife. I cut mushrooms bit finer. I used grass fed gravy beef. I also used mushroom stock for about third of stock (rest beef), because it needed to be used up.
Meat was beautifully tender. I let cooker rest 30 minutes before releasing tiny bit of leftover pressure.
Thanks Nagi, will be making again.
This has become my go to stroganoff recipe. It is divine! I have the ingredients and still had a huge amount.
Gorgeous, slow cooked and forgot the mustard however whisked it in like the stock – no lumps, super tasty. thank you Nagi x
Hi Nagi, thanks for this delicious recipe! It’s a staple in my household and always a winner! I was wondering, can you brown the beef and do the onion step in advance? Say you prepare that the night before and then the next day dump it all in the slow cooker as per the next step? Thanks!