Healthy Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff is packed with veggies, comes together in one pot for minimal clean up and is freezer-friendly!
Is beef stroganoff healthy?
Beef stroganoff by itself isn't the healthiest meal, but it can made healthier quite easily by adding in extra veggies, using a leaner cut of beef and cutting back on the sour cream as I've done in this recipe.
Ultimately, the extra veggies add a ton of flavour and also make this dish a whole meal where you don't need to serve a salad or other veggies on the side to round it out.
Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff recipe
This recipe is more reminiscent of Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff than it is traditional stroganoff – this means you can use ground beef instead of a beef chuck so it's ready much faster.
You really need to stew beef chuck for long time to get the meat tender so my recipe uses extra-lean ground beef to speed things up – you can even technically use ground turkey to make this recipe even healthier!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – Any neutral oil like avocado oil, sunflower oil or vegetable oil will work.
- Yellow onion – White onions or shallots are a good alternative to yellow onion in this recipe.
- Garlic – You can use fresh or jarred minced garlic.
- Mushrooms – Mushrooms are a key ingredient in stroganoff but the kind of mushrooms you use is up to you (cremini, portobello, baby portabella or mixed mushrooms)
- Red wine – Pick any dry red wine of your choice – a dry white wine also works, or you can leave the wine out altogether.
- Carrots, celery & red pepper – feel free to use any vegetables you'd like.
- Ground beef – For a more meaty effect you can use steak pieces or rib eye. You can also use ground turkey in place of the beef, or leave the meat out altogether for a veggie stroganoff.
- Flour – Cornstarch can be used to coat the beef and thicken the mixture as well. You don't need flour or cornstarch, but it does make the sauce thicker.
- Beef broth – Beef broth will compliment the flavours of the beef used but you can use chicken or vegetable broth.
- Egg noodles – Feel free to substitute the egg noodles for other pastas.
- Sour cream – Greek yogurt is a great alternative for sour cream in this dish.
- Fresh spinach – I recommend spinach but any other leafy green will also work.
Storing and reheating
To store your beef stroganoff, let the dish cool down then place individual servings in airtight glass containers. Storing them in individual servings makes warming up leftovers so much easier! Once it's stored in the fridge, it will last for up to four or five days. That means you have a delicious meal ready for the week!
When you're ready to eat your beef stroganoff, sprinkle some water overtop to help avoid dry noodles, then warm it up in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until heated through. Eat right out of the meal prep container or serve on a plate and enjoy!
Freezing this recipe
Beef stroganoff is actually an ideal dish to freeze and allows for this delicious meal to last even longer! To freeze, make sure the dish has cooled down entirely to room temperature. Scoop the beef stroganoff into airtight containers and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat, sprinkle some water overtop and then reheat from frozen in the microwave for 5-6 minutes, stirring partway through. You can also reheat in a 375 F oven for 40-45 minutes.
Make healthy eating easy! Join our Dinner Prep Pro app.
- ZERO ADS on over 450 recipes
- Customizable weekly meal plans
- Grocery and meal prep checklists
- Bonus resource library and community
More one pot comfort food meals
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (more traditional stroganoff recipe)
- The Original Hamburger Helper (cheeseburger version)
- Lasagna Soup
- Crockpot Swedish Meatballs
Meal prep tools
- Grab some Glass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this up for lunch
- I get all my grass-fed ground beef from Butcher Box
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months
- These Foil Containers are also great for freezing individual servings of meals
Healthy Beef Stroganoff {One Pot + Extra Veggies}
Ingredients
- 340 g egg noodles
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion or 2 shallots, diced Go with shallots for a richer flavour if you have some on hand
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb chopped mushrooms
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 small red pepper, diced
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 cups chopped baby spinach
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add package of egg noodles and boil for 4-5 minutes, then drain and set aside. Noodles should be al dente.
- Heat olive oil over med-high heat in a large pot. Add onions (or shallots) and garlic, sautéing for 1 min until fragrant. Add mushrooms, carrots and celery, cooking for 3-4 min until mushrooms start to release liquid and veggies are tender.
- NOTE: You can stir in red peppers at this point along with the other veggies if you like a softer texture, but I like mine to be very tender-crisp and I find they get overcooked for my taste unless added in at the very end. Keep in mind they will continue to cook as they sit in the hot mixture, and when you reheat leftovers.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned (about 5 minutes), then add red wine, salt & pepper and flour, tossing to combine.
- Add beef stock and cooked noodles, bringing to a boil and cooking for 1-2 minutes until mixture starts to thicken. Stir in sour cream, red pepper and spinach, then remove from heat. Serve and enjoy! Leftovers will last in the fridge up to 5 days – I recommend sprinkling some water overtop before reheating.
- FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS: Freeze leftovers in individual portion sizes in glass bowls or foil containers. Make sure to sprinkle some water overtop before reheating. If using foil, reheat in 375F oven for 40-45 min. If using glass bowls, reheat in microwave on high for 5-6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Comments & Reviews
Caitlin says
Hi, is red pepper a red bell pepper?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Caitlin! Yes it is!
Tammy says
Can you make ahead and freeze
Taylor Stinson says
I freeze most of my pasta recipes so I’m sure this recipe is no exception 🙂
Laura says
My picky teenage daughter picked out this meal and I made it. She loved it. Matter of fact, everyone did. I will be making it again. Only question, when do you add the red pepper?
Taylor Stinson says
Yay I’m so happy to hear the family loved it Laura!!! Sorry for the lack of instructions about the red pepper…I usually stir it in at the end with the sour cream and spinach since it’s cut up small and tenderizes fast (updated the recipe to reflect this) but you can add it in when you’re cooking the other veggies too.
Dayna says
Have you tried this one in the Instant Pot?
Taylor Stinson says
Dayna you read my mind!!! I’m going to be developing an Instant Pot update for this recipe soon. Thinking it will be up next month 🙂
Bella Hardy says
This beef stroganoff looks absolutely fantastic. Beautiful photos, too. I look forward to trying this. Thanks for sharing, Taylor!
Linnea says
I’m trying to meal prep… If I was to make this ahead, do I completely make everything and then reheat?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Linnea! Yes, that’s what I usually do 🙂
Jill Roberts @ WellnessGeeky says
I finally got to make this healthy beef stroganoff this past weekend and it was such a hit!! Can i post it on my blog? Thanks for sharing!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jill! I’m so happy to hear that!!! If you remake it with your own photos feel free to post away with credit 🙂 If you’d like to repost it you can to use a photo of mine and post the ingredient list only then link to the instructions on my blog. Thanks so much and so glad you liked it!
Karly says
I am so beyond excited right now. FINALLY a way I can eat “hamburger helper” without feeling totally guilty afterwards. Saving right now!
Kristen Lafitte says
Making this because it looks awesome….but had to guess on the garlic and egg noodle amounts as they are not listed in your ingredients list!
Taylor Stinson says
Oh no! So sorry Kristen – I will be revising the recipe to include those amounts. Thanks so much for pointing that out for me and hope you love it! 🙂
Ami@NaiveCookCooks says
This looks so yummy!!
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you!! 🙂