Beef Stroganoff with Wild Mushrooms and Dill, Done Right

Beef stroganoff with wild mushrooms is the version worth making. The weeknight one built on a can of soup gave this dish a bad name, and the restaurant one buries good beef under cream until you cannot taste it. We keep the sour cream, we keep the noodles, and we hand the flavor to the mushrooms. A mix of chanterelle, maitake and oyster browned hard in butter gives the sauce a woodsy depth that cremini on its own never reaches, and a heavy hand of dill at the end cuts the dairy so the plate stays bright instead of heavy.

One thing before you start: get the beef cold. Twenty minutes in the freezer firms a top sirloin enough to slice thin and even, and even slices cook in the same 90 seconds. Warm beef drags under the knife and you end up with ragged strips that overcook at the edges while the middle sits raw. Grass-fed sirloin from a local farm runs leaner than supermarket beef, so watch it closely and pull it early.

Why this beef stroganoff with wild mushrooms works

• The mushrooms carry the dish. Browning a mixed pound of wild mushrooms in butter builds a fond that a cream sauce alone cannot fake.
• The beef is seared, not simmered. Sirloin strips go in and out of the pan in under two minutes, then rest off heat while the sauce comes together. They never get the chance to turn to leather.
• The sour cream is tempered. Whisking hot sauce into the sour cream before it goes back in the pan is the difference between silk and curds.
• Vinegar at the end. One tablespoon of sherry vinegar lifts everything and stops the sauce reading as flat and rich.
• Dill goes in off the heat. Cooked dill turns dull and grassy. Stirred in at the last second it stays green and sharp.

Ingredients

Serves 4. Metric in brackets where it helps.

For the beef

• 1.5 lb (680 g) top sirloin, trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick across the grain
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
• 2 tbsp neutral oil (grapeseed or avocado)

Substitutions: tri-tip or flat iron both work. Skip tenderloin here, it costs more and brings less flavor. Chuck needs hours of braising and is wrong for a 90 second sear.

For the mushrooms and sauce

• 12 oz (340 g) mixed wild mushrooms: chanterelle, maitake and oyster, torn or sliced thick
• 3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion (about 7 oz / 200 g), halved and sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) dry white wine or 2 tbsp brandy
• 1.5 cups (360 ml) beef stock, warm
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) full fat sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar (lemon juice works)
• 1/2 cup (about 12 g) fresh dill, chopped, plus more to finish

Substitutions: if wild mushrooms are out of season or out of budget, use 8 oz cremini plus 1/2 oz dried porcini soaked in the warm stock, then chop the porcini in and use the soaking liquid as part of the stock. Full fat creme fraiche stands in for sour cream and splits less readily. Low fat sour cream will break, so leave it on the shelf.

To serve

• 12 oz (340 g) wide egg noodles
• 2 tbsp butter for the noodles
• Flaky salt

Method

1. Firm and slice the beef. Put the sirloin on a board and into the freezer for 20 minutes. It should feel stiff at the edges and still give in the center. Slice across the grain into strips 1/4 inch thick and 2 inches long. Cutting across the grain shortens the muscle fibers, which is most of what makes a fast-cooked strip tender. Toss with the salt and pepper and leave on the counter while you prep everything else.
2. Brown the mushrooms. Heat a 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium high until a drop of water skitters. Add 2 tbsp of the butter and the mushrooms in one layer. Leave them alone for 4 minutes, then stir and cook another 4 to 6 minutes until the edges are deep brown and squeaking has stopped. Salt them now, not earlier. Salt pulls water out and water stops browning. Scrape them into a bowl.
3. Sear the beef in two batches. Wipe the skillet, add 1 tbsp oil and bring it to shimmering. Lay in half the beef in a single layer and do not touch it for 60 seconds. Flip with a metal fish spatula and give it 30 seconds more. Pull at 125 to 130F on an instant-read thermometer laid into the thickest strip. Repeat with the rest. Rest the beef in the mushroom bowl and keep every drop of juice.

4. Soften the onion. Drop the heat to medium, add the last tablespoon of butter and the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, scraping the browned fond up as the onion releases water. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds.
5. Build the roux and deglaze. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook it 1 minute so it loses the raw taste. Pour in the wine and scrape hard. Let it reduce until the pan is nearly dry, about 2 minutes. This is where most of the depth comes from, so do not rush it.
6. Make the sauce. Add the warm stock in three additions, whisking smooth between each. Stir in the Dijon and Worcestershire. Simmer 5 to 7 minutes until it coats the back of the spoon. Taste and correct the salt now, before the dairy goes in and mutes everything.
7. Boil the noodles. While the sauce reduces, cook the egg noodles in well salted water to just under the package time. Drain, toss with 2 tbsp butter, and keep them warm.
8. Temper the sour cream. Take the skillet off the heat and wait 1 minute. Whisk two ladles of hot sauce into the sour cream in a separate bowl, then pour that back into the pan and stir. Return to the lowest heat and hold the sauce under 180F. Above that, the dairy proteins tighten and split, and whisking will not undo it.
9. Finish and rest. Return the beef, the mushrooms and all their collected juices. Warm through for 2 minutes only. Off the heat, stir in the sherry vinegar and the dill. Let it sit 3 minutes before serving so the sauce thickens and the beef re-absorbs its juices.

Pro tips and common mistakes

• Two batches, always. All the beef at once drops the pan temperature and the strips steam grey. Grey strips taste boiled and no sauce hides it. Our pan-searing guide covers the heat management in more detail.
• Do not let the sauce boil after the sour cream. 180F is the ceiling. If you see a single bubble break the surface, pull the pan.
• Room temperature sour cream. Straight from the fridge it shocks and splits even when tempered. Set it out when you start slicing.
• Season the sauce before the dairy. Sour cream flattens salt perception, and correcting afterward usually means oversalting.
• Use wood and metal. A wooden spoon for the roux and a metal fish spatula for the beef. We keep plastic out of hot pans because of what it sheds into food, and a plastic spatula against 400F cast iron is the worst case.

Storage and leftovers

Store the stroganoff and the noodles in separate glass containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. The sauce thickens as it chills. Reheat it in a skillet over low with a splash of stock, stirring until it loosens, and stop as soon as it is hot. A microwave will take it past 180F and break it.

Freezing splits sour cream, so if you want a freezer meal, stop after step 6, cool the beef and mushroom base and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight, reheat gently, then temper in fresh sour cream and add the dill and vinegar. Leftover sauce is also very good over a baked potato or folded into an omelet.

What to serve with it

• Wide egg noodles. The classic, and the ridges hold sauce better than any other shape.
• Buttered spaetzle. Chewier than noodles and it stands up to a heavy sauce.
• A cucumber and dill salad. Thin cucumber, white vinegar, salt, sugar, 20 minutes. The acid resets your palate between bites.
• Quick-braised red cabbage. Sweet and sour, and the color against the pale sauce does a lot on the plate.

Nutrition

About 780 calories, 50g protein, 32g fat, and 67g carbs per serving with the noodles included. These are estimates and vary with the exact cut, trim, and any substitutions.

Frequently asked questions

What cut of beef is best for stroganoff?

Top sirloin is the sweet spot. It has enough fat and connective tissue to taste beefy, it slices cleanly, and it stays tender at a 90 second sear. Tri-tip and flat iron are close seconds. Tenderloin is tender but bland and costs three times as much. Chuck is the opposite problem, it needs a long braise and turns tough in a hot pan. Our beef cuts guide walks through where each of these sits on the animal.

Can I use only cremini mushrooms?

You can, and it will still be good, but it will not be this recipe. Cremini bring meatiness without much perfume. If wild mushrooms are hard to find, use 8 oz of cremini plus 1/2 oz of dried porcini rehydrated in the stock. The dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid put back most of the depth for about two dollars.

Why did my sour cream curdle?

Three usual causes: the pan was still above 180F, the sour cream went in cold and straight from the tub, or it was a low fat sour cream. Fat protects the proteins from tightening. Take the pan off the heat, wait a minute, temper with two ladles of hot sauce, and use full fat.

Can I make beef stroganoff ahead?

Make the sauce base through step 6 up to two days ahead and refrigerate it. Sear the beef and finish with the sour cream, vinegar and dill right before serving. Reheating beef that has already been in a finished cream sauce is what gives leftover stroganoff its reputation.

What internal temperature should the beef strips reach?

Pull the strips at 125 to 130F. They carry over a few degrees resting in the bowl and then get 2 more minutes in the sauce at the end, which lands them around medium. Anything you take past 140F in the pan will be chewy by the time it reaches the plate.

Where to buy the beef

This recipe leans on the beef tasting like something, which is a problem if the sirloin came off a tray under fluorescent light. Grass-fed and pasture-raised beef bought direct from a farm has more mineral character and a firmer grain, and you can ask the farmer which end of the sirloin you are getting. Use our Find a Farmer directory to track down beef near you, and buy a whole top sirloin butt if they will sell one. You will get four dinners out of it at a better price per pound.

If you want more from the same animal, our porcini and red wine beef pot roast and our coffee and cocoa braised beef chuck both take the slow road that stroganoff skips.