Easy Skillet Beef Stroganoff
Well, that’s a big flavor upgrade. Tender bites of steak are plentiful. Beef and earthy-umami brown sauce flavors complement each other instead of the sour cream and mushroom combo overwhelming taste buds.
While I enjoy the beefy flavor shining through, I would be as delighted with the brown mushroom gravy over noodles. (Confession: I have a strong fungi flavor bias.)
Lipton says it makes four servings. If you’re one of four people sharing this beef stroganoff, be prepared to fight for your fair share because you will be wishing for seconds.
Slicing sirloin into strips is the most time-consuming task. It didn’t help that I sliced pieces twice because I felt like my first cuts were too thick..
My biggest concern was overcooking thin steak slices and turning them into dog chew sticks. Before dusting steak pieces in flour, I cut away fatty strings and knots that wouldn’t have time to melt or soften during the quick cook.
But I hear you asking: Higgins Eats, you pursuer of the quick, easy and path of least resistance, do I really need to cook the steak in batches? Yes. For once I heeded kitchen wisdom “not to crowd the pan” and was rewarded. It was easier to turn pieces over and achieve even browning outside and consistent cook inside.
I set finished meat aside on a plate and didn’t concern myself with trying to keep them warm.
Making the sauce is easy, even by Lazy Dan standards. So much so, that I made it a second time with pork chops. This time I used a bottle of beer instead of water and it added another layer of flavor. I suspect 12 ounces of wine would do the same.
As for the beef stroganoff, the flour coating gathered sauce to the sirloin. Next time I would add a couple of dashes of salt and pepper to the flour before coating.
While not as easy as a hamburger meat version, it’s fairly easy in terms of required kitchen skills. Whether it rises to Safe For Weeknight meal status depends on your knife speed.
Depending on your grocery budget, cost may push this from weeknight dish to special occasion meal anyway.
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(Makes 4 servings)
1 pound sirloin steak, cut in strips
1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
10 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Mushroom Soup Mix
1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
11⁄2 cups water
2 tablespoons sour cream
Noodles, cooked according to package instructions (optional)
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Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
Toss steak with flour in medium bowl. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet and brown steak, in batches. Remove steak from skillet; keep warm.
Cook mushrooms in the same skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in soup mix, thyme and water; simmer 3 minutes. Add steak and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes or until desired doneness.
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve over warm or cold noodles and top with fresh chopped parsley.
(Recipe from Lipton) dphiggin@gannett.com. Follow @HigginsEats on Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook.