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Beef Stroganoff

A skillet and oven dish of sliced steak with onions, mushrooms, wine, broth, sour cream, and mustard.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Beef Stroganoff

Ovenwarm setting

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Heat oven to warm setting.

  2. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.

  3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.

  4. Brown meat in batches, about 1 minute per side.

  5. Transfer to a platter and place in oven.

Make the sauce

  1. Melt butter in skillet.

  2. Add onion and cook 3 minutes, until softened.

  3. Add mushrooms.

  4. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mushroom liquid evaporates.

  5. Add wine; cook 5 minutes.

  6. Stir in beef broth and cook 10 minutes, until mushrooms are coated with a thick sauce.

  7. Stir in sour cream and mustard.

Finish and serve

  1. Add meat and accumulated juices.

  2. Reduce heat to low and cook 2-3 minutes, until meat is heated through.

  3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

664Calories
47 gProtein
41 gFat
21 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Mushroom + red winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together720 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef (skirt steak or tenderloin)
Provides the main meat, which browns for flavour and stays tender when cooked briefly.
Mushrooms
Release liquid that evaporates, concentrating flavour and giving the sauce body as they soften.
Sour cream
Adds creamy richness and a mild tang that gives the sauce its characteristic texture.
Beef broth
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding savoury depth and thickening with the mushrooms.
Dry red wine
Adds acidity and aromatic depth as it reduces into the sauce.
Spanish onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, building a savoury base for the sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the meat in batches. Crowding the skillet traps steam, so the meat grays instead of browning. Searing in batches over medium-high heat builds the browned flavour that the sauce depends on.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, canola oil, butter, mushroom, red wine, cream):

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Onionthe original
  3. Tomatofits about as well
  4. Shallotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, canola oil, butter, mushroom, red wine, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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