Beef Stroganoff With Stouffer’s Salisbury Steak
My guilty pleasure (not that guilty, I am not ashamed of this) from the grocery store is a $2 box of Stouffer’s salisbury steak dinner. The gloopy gravy, soggy bland noodles… pure heaven on a plate after only 4 minutes in the microwave. I don’t know why I love it so much. Maybe it reminds me of elementary school. Simpler times.
I don’t know what possessed me to buy the family sized entree of just the steaks this time It’s not exactly a standalone meal. I was about to give in and just microwave all 6 steaks and eat them plain. But when I flipped the box over for microwaving instructions, I was greeted with the stroganoff recipe. Ya girl loves noodles, and it makes this giant box of salisbury steak a meal, it just made sense.
I did make a few substitutions: fresh mushrooms for canned, veggie bouillon & Knorr’s chicken powder for canned stock, added parsley and parmesan, cream cheese for sour cream. But it is very much in the spirit of the recipe and it tasted exactly. EXACTLY. like I imagined it would.
There is no fiber in this recipe. This was not for fibermaxxing, just pure childhood nostalgia. But that’s the thing about adding fiber. You can still eat whatever you want, as long as you eat it with fiber. We ate our two platefuls of pasta with a giant bowl of salad.
Beef Stroganoff, from the back of the Stouffer’s Salisbury Steak box
Here was my “version,” most notably for the timing of everything. The main thing is to NOT cook the noodles until the sauce is ready!
Prep
1 lb button mushrooms, washed and sliced thin
6 cloves garlic, rough-chopped
1 large handful parsley (curly, for the vibes), chopped
1 cup parmesan, grated into large chunks
Boil a pot of salted water, for the egg noodles.
Microwave your stouffer’s entree: Cut slits to vent, and microwave for 6 minutes.
In a large pan, saute the mushrooms over high heat:
large knob of salted butter
1 lb prepped mushrooms
If you crowd the pan and the mushrooms get watery, it’s totally fine. Just pour some of the mushroom juice out & save it (you can pour it back in later).
After the mushrooms take on a bit of color (or not, if you can’t be bothered), add:
a glug of neutral oil
chopped garlic
Saute the garlic for a couple of minutes, and add:
mushroom juice, if you have any
~2 cups of beef stock (or in my case, veg bouillon + water + chicken bouillon powder)
Bring the liquid to a simmer.
By now, your water should be boiling. Drop your egg noodles and cook 1-2 min less than package instructions.
While your noodles are boiling, cut your steak into cubes, and add to the sauce. Scrape in every drop of that savory gravy!
When noodles are done, transfer directly into the saucusing a slotted spoon or strainer. Any extra liquid you bring along is fine.
Turn the sauce back on medium heat, and mix to toss everything together.
Finish with:
1/2 block (4 oz) cream cheese
1 cup grated parmesan from step 1
large handful chopped parsley from step 1
many grinds of black pepper
To help it melt more easily, bury the cream cheese in the warm noodle mixture for 1-2 minutes before stirring.
After plating, optionally drizzle with a swirl of single origin olive oil + a squeeze of lemon.
Notes
You don’t need to microwave the steaks fully, just enough to defrost it so you can cube it easily.
Don’t drop your egg noodles too early. You can turn down the sauce to low heat in the ~5 minutes the noodles are boiling, but if your noodles are done before the sauce is ready, it’s a lot of extra hassle.
