Creamy mushroom stroganoff
Deeply browned mushrooms in a creamy, tangy sauce over tender pasta, cozy enough for the coldest night of the year.
- 45 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $3.13 a serving
- 600 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 12 oz rigatoni
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 4 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 600 calories, 18 g protein, 83 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $3.13 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No sour cream? Plain greek yogurt works.
- No rigatoni? Penne works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No vegetable broth? Chicken broth works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the mushrooms about ¼ inch thick, the onion and the garlic. Set the sour cream on the counter.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: Cold sour cream can curdle when it hits a hot sauce, so let it lose its chill while you cook.Fill a large pot with water and bring it over high heat for the pasta.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in your largest over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms and cook without stirring for 3 minutes, then stir and cook until , 3 to 4 minutes more.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: Crowded mushrooms steam and go gray. Two batches is how you get them deep brown.Move them to a plate, add the rest of the oil and mushrooms, and cook the same way. Sprinkle all the mushrooms with ½ teaspoon salt and set them aside on the plate.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the water and set a timer for 1 minute less than the package says.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
High heatTimer: 11 min
Turn the skillet to medium, add the butter and onion, and until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook 30 seconds, .
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 1 minute, then slowly pour in the broth while stirring. Add the soy sauce and mustard and until , about 3 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: Pour the broth in a little at a time and keep stirring, and the flour won’t clump.When the pasta timer goes off, the pasta.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
to low, stir the mushrooms back in, then stir in the sour cream and pepper until creamy. Don’t let it .
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Low heat
Dolly’s tip: Boiling can split sour cream into little flecks. Gentle heat keeps it silky.Taste and add salt if it needs it, then the sauce with the pasta and top with parsley.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Low heat
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
