Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Beef stroganoff cooked in a slow cooker, for convenient and flavorful meal.
Beef stroganoff cooked in a slow cooker, for convenient and flavorful meal.
- Carbohydrate 3.84887559342707 g
- Cholesterol 31.18447541 mg
- Fat 9.72687670945691 g
- Fiber 0.340000009824162 g
- Protein 1.90112672001598 g
- Saturated Fat 5.4775899964591 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (181g)
- Sodium 134.044469236678 mg
- Sugar 3.50887558360291 g
- Trans Fat 1.39217517482573 g
- Calories 108 calories
Step-by-step
- In a slow cooker, combine the meat, soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce and water.
- Cook on Low setting for 8 hours, or on High setting for about 5 hours.
- Stir in cream cheese just before serving.
Adding dairy products at the beginning of a long simmer ruins sauces by causing proteins to curdle and separate. Russian nobility in the nineteenth century originally enjoyed stroganoff as a sautéed beef dish finished with a spoonful of smetana, a high-fat sour cream, stirred in off the heat just before serving. Modern slow-cooker adaptations require restructuring this sequence to protect the texture of the sauce while allowing tough cuts of meat to tenderize over hours of heat.
Cubed beef stew meat, typically cut from the chuck or round, contains abundant connective tissue that requires low, sustained heat to dissolve into gelatin. Cooking this meat on the low setting for eight hours breaks down the collagen effectively without drying out the muscle fibers. Water and condensed golden mushroom soup provide sufficient liquid volume to prevent scorching while the onions soften and release their moisture. Retaining the cream cheese until the final moments prevents the emulsion from breaking down under prolonged thermal stress.
Stirring the cream cheese into the hot mixture just before serving ensures a smooth, glossy consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Whisking the cheese thoroughly into the surrounding liquid eliminates lumps. Dairy alternatives require careful selection when modifying this recipe for dietary needs, as plant-based cream cheeses often split when heated directly; substituting an equal volume of cashew-based cream alternative maintains the necessary fat content to resist separation. Storing leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days preserves food safety, though gentle reheating on the stovetop over medium-low heat prevents the dairy from seizing.
