Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff ~ No ‘Cream of X’ Soup

Tender chunks of beef and hearty mushrooms are complemented by a parsley-flecked sour cream sauce in this easy, comforting slow cooker meal.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef stew meat 
• 12 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons red wine (optional)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley (or 1/2 cup fresh parsley)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 8 ounces sour cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Egg noodles

Directions

1. Place beef, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in crock pot. In a medium bowl, mix together beef broth, red wine (if using), Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, thyme, and flour. Whisk mixture until flour is dissolved. Pour into crock pot, add bay leaf, and stir all ingredients until coated. Place lid on crock pot and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low (or 4 to 5 hours on high).
2. About 20 minutes before serving time, add cream cheese to crock pot and replace lid. After 10 minutes, stir warmed/softened cream cheese into sauce, pushing with the back of a spoon to break it up and incorporate it into sauce. Stir sour cream into sauce. (Add fresh parsley at this point as well, if using.) Replace lid and cook on low for a few more minutes until heated through.
3. In the meantime, boil egg noodles according to package directions. Remove bay leaf from stroganoff, taste, and add salt and pepper as desired. Serve over hot egg noodles and garnish with additional minced parsley, if desired.

Tips, Tricks, & Variations

Don't open a whole bottle of red wine just for the sake of this recipe. But if you already have a bottle open, or if you're going to be opening a bottle to drink with dinner, you can add an optional splash to this stroganoff for another layer of flavor.

Instead of 2 tablespoons dried parsley, you may use 1/2 cup of fresh minced parsley, but add fresh herbs to the recipe at the same time as the sour cream as opposed to at the beginning of the recipe.

The cream cheese makes the stroganoff sauce extra creamy, but you may leave it out if you prefer to make this dish lighter.

Recipe Credit: Five Heart Home