Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

I’ve been feeling a strong urge to share more Russian and Ukrainian recipes on the blog lately. Cravings for slavic foods come strong with the arrival of summer or holidays when I miss my family the most. This recipe came at a perfect time since I will be flying to Kiev in 3 short weeks. Yay!

Sorry, my dear food blog readers, I will be absent for most of August, but promise to bring lots of food pictures, recipes and stories from my homeland to share with you guys!

I’m just hoping a month in Ukraine won’t do too much damage on my waistline…or will it?

Oh, babushka, I miss you! And your piroshki, pirogies and chebureki. Good bye gluten-free diet, see you later…

Beef Stroganoff to us slavic people, is a staple and family favorite dish. It’s so easy to make using very few ingredients. This is guaranteed family favorite, that everyone is looking forward to sitting down to and enjoying a perfect comfort food.

This beef stroganoff is delicious and fuss-free, made with the convenience of slow cooker. Full of flavor, succulent, melt in your mouth chunks of beef, with cream and mustard sauce, that you can enjoy with noodles, mashed potatoes or rice. Made with a twist of topping everything with gooey swiss cheese and herbs.

Strike the fork through this yummy slow cooker beef stroganoff and just watch that cheese stretch and stretch and stretch… It’s better than meditating!

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef, cut into chunks (I used sirloin roast)

1 big onion, roughly chopped

3 garlic, cloves, chopped

2 thyme sprigs

1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

1 cup beef stock

2 bay leaves

slat and pepper to taste

The success to flavorful slow cooking meats is browning them before slow cooking. My slow cooker comes with a saute mode, so I seared beef on all sides first. If your slow cooker doesn’t have that option, use a heavy bottom pan to brown the meat instead and then transfer the meat into the slow cooker.

Heat oil in a slow cooker pan, season beef with salt and pepper and get it browned on all sides. Then remove the meat and set it aside.

Melt butter in the same pot, add onions, garlic and thyme sprigs. Cook for 10 minutes or until the onion is caramelized. Then remove and set aside.

Return the meat to the pot, pour beef stock over, add paprika, bay leaves and cayenne pepper. Mix everything scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release all the flavorful brown bits. Cover the pot and cook for 6 hours.

10 minutes before timer is up hit the pause button, open the pot and stir in the cream with dijon mustard. Add caramelized onions and mix well. Taste for seasoning, cover the slow cooker and let it cook for the remaining 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare some pasta, rice or mashed potatoes. I paired it with my favorite quinoa pasta which is not only delicious, but also gluten-free. Mix or top it with meat and add some shredded cheese on top. If using oven proof pan, put under the broiler for couple minutes, just to get that cheese nice and melted. Or leave it in the pot, cover and heat until the cheese has melted. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and a shake of paprika.