Here’s a delicious twist on classic beef stroganoff: meatball beef stroganoff. Swapping tender meatballs for steak makes this dish more budget-friendly and family-friendly. Sweet onions and savory mushrooms simmered in a rich, creamy sauce with a hint of Dijon mustard and fresh herbs. Whether you’re craving hearty comfort food or serving guests, this meatball stroganoff is sure to delight.
I had beef stroganoff on my mind but didn’t want to make a trip to the store for steak, so I improvised with ground beef from the freezer and made meatballs instead. The result? Absolutely terrific!
These tender ground beef meatballs in a rich, creamy stroganoff sauce are a comfort food twist on a classic dish. While traditional beef stroganoff recipes use sour cream, I use crème fraîche for extra richness plus it won’t break or curdle in the sauce. This is a made-from-scratch recipe. No canned soups. It's not a quick dinner, but it is worth the work.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- More budget-friendly than using steak.
- Make meatballs ahead of time or use purchased frozen fully-cooked meatballs as a short cut.
- Make it gluten-free or not.
- Serve over egg noodles, gluten-free pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, or alone.
Recipe Ingredients
Homemade Meatballs
Make meatballs ahead of time and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze and thaw when ready to enjoy.
- Lean ground beef: I've made meatballs with 93/7, 90/10, and 85/15 lean to fat ratios and prefer the 93/7. The meatballs are still tender and flavorful, especially with the rich creamy sauce.
- Breadcrumbs: Gluten-free bread crumbs or wheat bread crumbs help hold the meatballs together. For gluten-free breadcrumbs I use Aleias.
- Milk: Low fat or whole milk.
- Egg: Large egg, helps bind the meatballs.
- Onion: Yellow or brown onion adds flavor.
- Parmesan cheese: Finely grated.
- Garlic: Fresh cloves are best for that pungent garlic flavor.
- Herbs: Use fresh Italian parsley and fresh thyme.
Stroganoff Sauce
- Butter: Use unsalted butter so you control the salt.
- Onion: Yellow or brown onion.
- Broth: Beef broth or beef stock. See chef's tip below.
- Tomato paste: Adds richness and depth of flavor. Rather than a can, try a tube.
- Mushrooms: Brown cremini mushrooms or white mushrooms. Buy them whole and slice them yourself, they are fresher.
- Creme fraiche: French sour cream is richer than regular sour cream and won't curdle or break the sauce.
- Worcestershire sauce: Not traditional, but adds a nice depth of flavor.
- Mustard: Creamy Dijon mustard adds flavor and emulsification.
- Flour: Use either a gluten-free flour blend or all purpose flour.
- Fresh herbs: Fresh tarragon adds great flavor, or use fresh thyme, or fresh dill. Fresh parsley adds color at serving if desired (I use extra tarragon).
- Nutmeg: Just a little to add a sweet, nutty, and warm undertone of flavor.
- Wine or spirits: A little brandy, cognac, dry white wine, or red wine contributes to the layers of flavor, (optional).
Please see the recipe card for measurements, salt, and black pepper or white pepper.
Chef's tip on beef broth: Read labels carefully when buying beef broth. There is a lot of icky stuff masquerading as broth with unhealthy ingredients made from powders, extracts, filler broths, with funky tastes. Two good store brands I've used are Kettle & Fire Beef Bone Broth, Butcher's Bone Broth (beef), and Bonfide Provisions (the frozen one). They have clean, high quality ingredients and flavor so check them out for your beef broth needs.
Substitutions and Variations
- Swap dried herbs for fresh herbs such as tarragon and thyme. Use half to a third as much.
- If you can't get creme fraiche, use full fat sour cream (not low-fat sour cream), and add at the very end so the sauce does not curdle or separate.
- For baked turkey meatballs, use this recipe.
- No fresh garlic? Garlic powder will do in a pinch, ¼ teaspoon per clove.
For another dlicious dish with mushrooms, try mushroom duxelles, a classic French spread.
Chef's tip for cooking with alcohol: I cook with the small, airline-sized bottles of chardonnay for white wine. For something spirits, most liquor stores carry the mini bottles as well if it's not something you keep on hand. Why cook with wine or spirits? It amplifies and enhances flavors creating deeper, more complex flavors in the dish. A little is all you need.
If you love savory, creamy sauces, try my recipe for sour cream pork chops (it uses creme fraiche too).
Recipe Instructions
For meatballs
Tool tip: To portion the meatballs, I use a handy little inexpensive gadget called a squeeze disher or scoop. It makes it easy and fast. I use the bite-sized #40 size disher (¾ ounce). You can use a larger size remembering the numbers of meatballs will be smaller in number and you'll need to adjust your baking time.
Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
For Stroganoff sauce
In case you've never made a classic sauce like this, I'm sharing a lot of photos to guide you through. It takes about 25 minutes in total. With a little patience and plenty of stirring you'll have a fantastic stroganoff sauce.
Serving Suggestions
Beef Stroganoff meatballs is best served over wide flat pasta noodles (GF or not), egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes. For a lower carb dinner, simply serve meatballs and sauce in a bowl.
Meatball stroganoff is a complete meal between the meatballs, sauce and pasta. The only thing you need is a tossed green salad on the side for balance. Use this salad recipe to make a nice homemade French vinaigrette.
Storing
Leftover meatball stroganoff (or made ahead meatball stroganoff) holds in the refrigerator for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container.
I usually make my meatball beef stroganoff a few hours ahead of time (or a day ahead) then pop it into a 350°F oven covered with aluminum foil to heat back up (to 165°F).
Freezing
The meatballs freeze well on their own but the sauce does not because of the dairy (it gets grainy). To freeze sauce ahead of time, omit the creme fraiche. To serve, heat the thawed sauce in a pan until hot, then whisk in the creme fraiche and warm through.
Recipe FAQS
Tradition says use sour cream, but for a rich, creamy stroganoff sauce that won't curdle or break, use French sour cream, called Creme Fraiche. It's works much better.
For the best results, make the meatballs and sauce ahead of time then heat it in a slow cooker to serve. It's a great make dish that made ahead re-heats well.
Absolutely! Meatballs are a terrific make-ahead dish. Make meatballs and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or cool completely and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator to use, then combine and heat with your choice of sauce.
Cook the meatballs separately (first), then add them to the sauce when the sauce is done to heat through. This can be done on the stovetop or in the oven in a casserole dish, covered.
More Dinners with Great Sauces
If you love a good sauce, try these recipes as well!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you make meatball beef stroganoff, please add your comment. I appreciate your feedback and enjoy hearing from you. If you loved it, please give it a 5-star rating! They really help other readers.
📖 Recipe
Meatball Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
Beef meatballs
- 6 tablespoons breadcrumbs gluten-free or wheat
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped or zested
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme leaves
- ¾ cup onion, very finely chopped ½ a medium onion
- 1 pound lean ground beef 93/7 or 90/10 lean to fat
Stroganoff sauce
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided use
- 1 cup finely chopped onion ½ a large onion
- 1 pound white or cremini mushrooms cleaned, stemmed, and sliced
- 2 tablespoons brandy, cognac, or dry white wine optional
- 3 tablespoons flour gluten-free blend or all purpose wheat
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon creamy Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon or thyme
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg optional
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper ground black pepper or white pepper
- 7-8 ounces creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley for garnish, optional or more tarragon
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Instructions
Make the Meatballs
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Line a half sheet baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the breadcrumbs, milk, egg, and garlic in a medium bowl and mix well. Allow to stand for about 5 minutes for breadcrumbs to hydrate.
- To the bowl add salt, pepper, then cheese, herbs, and onion and mix well. Add the ground beef and gently mix with your hands. Disposable kitchen gloves are helpful. Mix completely until ingredients are well distributed but don't overwork the meat.
- Portion meatballs onto the baking pan. With either a #40 disher (cookie scoop) or a tablespoon. They should be the size of a small golf ball and bite-sized. You should make approximately 30 meatballs.
- Bake meatballs for about 16 minutes until they reach 165°F internally measured with a digital thermometer. Remove pan from the oven. If serving immediately keep warm while you make the sauce. Alternatively cool and refrigerate for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months, labeled and dated. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator to use.
Make the sauce
- Cook onions and mushrooms. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a 12" saute pan, add the chopped onions and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until the moisture is released and almost gone. Add brandy if using, and cook until almost gone. Pour the onions and mushrooms into a bowl and set aside until needed.
- Make the roux. Add the 2 remaining tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt over medium low heat, add the flour and whisk to combine. Cook for 2-3 minutes to remove the raw flour taste. Slowly add broth to the pan, whisking as it's added to make it smooth and incorporated to create the sauce. Cook and whisk until the sauce is thickened, 8-10 minutes. Whisk in the tomato paste, mustard, nutmeg, tarragon, worcestershire, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in the onions and mushrooms to the sauce. Now add the creme fraiche and stir.
To serve
- To serve, add the meatballs to the pan and heat through until meatballs are hot. Serve over noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes. At this point you can cool the stroganoff and place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 days before re-heating and serving.
Notes
Substitutions
- Substitute ½-3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic powder for the fresh garlic.
- Swap dried herbs for fresh at half the amount.
- For gluten-free flour blend I use King Arthur.
- If using brandy and you don't keep it on hand, buy an airline size bottle at a liquor store.
- If using white wine, get the mini, airline sized bottles at the grocery store.
Freezing meatballs
After meatballs are completely cooled, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 2-4 hours before transferring them to a container or bag. This ensures they’re individually frozen and don’t stick together. If using frozen cooked meatballs, thaw them first before adding to the sauce.Freezing sauce
This is not a dish that freezes finished well because freezing disrupts the emulsion of the dairy and it may become grainy. If you want to freeze it, leave out the crème fraîche and stir it in after reheating the thawed sauce. Add the thawed meatballs and heat through until hot.Meatballs nutrition (per 6 meatballs)
For the nutrition calculation I've separated out the meatballs because they are good with other sauces. It's a great basic beef meatball recipe. Serving: 6 meatballs provides 262 kcals, 12 g protein, 24g far, 13g saturated fat, 1g fiber.Nutrition
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Porsche guy says
Wow! This was fantastic! The sauce is so rich and creamy. Loved it over fresh fettuccine noodles. Have not cooked much with tarragon and really enjoyed it. I did as you suggested and made the meatballs ahead. Had friends over to try it and they loved it too.