It’s finally fall! Time to pop on a sweater and start working on our winter bodies by eating too many carbs and binging the same two things on netflix.

I’ve always liked beef stroganoff, but I can’t remember a time as a kid I didn’t have it with leathery, completely overcooked lean beef.

So here’s a variant that you can’t mess up. Since we use meatballs instead, the beef stays juicy and tender, and it still has the same beefy, mushroomy flavour we all love.

Make this vegetarian by swapping out the beef stock, and using more mushrooms instead of meatballs! Heck, if you have a good veggie meat ball recipe, use that.

What you need:

Meatballs:

• 1 lb ground beef, preferably medium fat
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Stroganoff:

• 1 1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped to 1/2″ thickness
• 1/3 cup white onion, diced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 cups beef broth, low sodium
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 6 oz egg noodles, cooked

First we have to prepare our meatballs.

1. In a large bowl combine beef, egg, bread crumbs, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
2. With a spoon measure about 1 tbsp per meatball and roll.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, place 1 tbsp of oil and brown the sides of the meatballs. You don’t need to cook these through completely but enough that you only see a bit of pink, it will finish cooking in the broth later. Be patient and gentle with these if you’re using a stainless steel pan, they will release/unstick from the pan when they’re ready and brown!
4. Remove from pan and set aside for now.

The rest!

You can either pre-make your pasta well ahead of time and set it aside, or prepare it alongside this. Just follow the package directions and drain.

1. Keep the same pan over medium heat and add mushrooms. Saute until they have released their liquid and are browned, remove those as well and set aside.
2. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add tomato paste and stir for a minute or two, it will most likely stick to the pan but as long as your heat isn’t hot enough to burn that’s no problem, we will deglaze the pan.
3. Add butter and flour and stir until well combined.
4. Gently pour in beef stock. With a spatula or wooden spoon scrape any yummy bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan and mix until all flour/butter has been combined and it has thickened. Add salt and pepper, err on the side of caution and taste before salting if you are not using low sodium beef stock.
5. Return beef and mushrooms to the pan, gently stir to distribute and lower heat to a simmer. Place a lid on top with a small gap for steam to escape and let simmer for 6 minutes.
6. Remove pan from heat and let sit an additional 2 minutes. If it is too hot the sour cream will curdle.
7. Stir in sour cream, fresh herbs and cooked noodles. Be gentle as you don’t want to break up your meatballs.

Serve immediately and enjoy!