Name: Slow-Cooker Classic Beef Stroganoff
Total time: 6 h
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1½ pounds white mushrooms, trimmed and halved if small or quartered if large; 3 onions, chopped fine; Salt and pepper; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup tomato paste; 6 garlic cloves, minced; 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed and minced; 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried; 1/2 cup dry white wine; 1½ cups chicken broth; 1/3 cup soy sauce; 2 bay leaves; 4 pounds boneless beef chuck-eye roast, pulled apart at seams, trimmed, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 1/3 cup sour cream; 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

Why This Recipe Works

We started by getting out our skillet and browning the white mushrooms to concentrate their flavor, augmenting them with dried porcini mushrooms for an even deeper mushroom flavor that wouldn't be muted by hours in the slow cooker. Then, since we had our skillet out to brown the white mushrooms, we sautéed the aromatics and created a flour-thickened base for the stew to produce the proper consistency. With such a flavorful base, we didn't need to brown the meat but could add it directly to the slow cooker—a real timesaver.

Before You Begin

Serve over egg noodles.

Instructions

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add white mushrooms, onions, and ¼ teaspoon salt, cover, and cook until vegetables are softened and mushrooms have released their liquid, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until vegetables are dry and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in flour, tomato paste, garlic, porcini mushrooms, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in wine and ½ cup broth, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps; transfer to slow cooker.

Stir remaining 1 cup broth, soy sauce, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Season beef with salt and pepper and stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook until beef is tender, 8 to 9 hours on low or 5 to 6 hours on high.

Discard bay leaves. Using large spoon, skim fat from surface of sauce. Whisk ½ cup sauce, sour cream, mustard, and dill together in bowl (to temper), then stir mixture back into slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.