Meat with Vegan Problems: Beef Stroganoff

First of all, let me just say that I am not a stroganoff expert or even a stroganoff lover. I mean it’s good, it’s creamy, but it's not something I actively searched for. Plus, I had never even made it before I went looking for ways to use up my vegan sour cream. But it does raise a good question- how do you make your sauce creamy if you can’t use real dairy? I’ve tried some vegan “mac and cheese” and “alfredo” recipes that use nutritional yeast, pureed vegetables, and/or pureed tree nuts to make the sauce and while they are edible, they don’t really taste like the real thing. They just don’t taste super cheesy. If you gave me a plate of vegan mac and cheez and said “This is mac and cheese,” I would be disappointed. If you gave me a plate of vegan mac and cheez and said “Here’s some pasta with a sauce on it,” things would go a little better.

BUT vegan sour cream, on the other hand, is much easier to sub into sauces. The first time I made stroganoff I thought the sauce might break or turn lumpy or separate; turns out, it was no problem to replace the real stuff with the fake stuff. I’m not sure if a straight spoonful of vegan sour cream would taste like the real thing, but if you mix it into a sauce, plop it on a taco, put it on a bowl of chili (aka hide it with other food) it is a nice, refreshing, creamy bite.

Vegan AND soy free?! Yes, thank you, I think I will follow my heart.

The brand we get it the same as our favorite cream cheese. And why do we get that brand? Because it’s the only one at our grocery store. I have made it from scratch from tofu and while it tasted okay… my wife politely asked me to look for something store bought. Pureed silken tofu and vinegar is definitely an acquired taste.

So, what other changes did I make to the Stroganoff recipe I found online?

• I used regular pasta instead of egg noodles. (More specifically, the only brand of pasta that isn’t processed on the same line as eggs.)
• I took out the Worchester sauce because garlic is in everything and subbed in soy aminos. Allergic to soy? You could use coconut aminos.
• Instead of strips of beef, I used ground beef. My toddler prefers it. It's easy. Why not? (Actually this time, I used ground turkey because it was on sale.)
• I added peas. Because peas are delicious and my toddler will actually (sometimes) eat them.

Yummy! It's not stroganoff, but it's like... stroganoff adjacent?

Without further ado, here’s my

Toddler Friendly

Egg Free

Dairy Free

(still has wheat, but you could make it over rice I guess)

Stroganoff Inspired

BEEF STROGANOFF

Serves: 6-8

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Top 9 allergens: wheat

Ingredients

• 1 lb of pasta
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 lb ground beef 93%
• 2 tb vegan butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 can beef stock
• 1 tsp aminos
• 3 tb flour
• ½ cup vegan sour cream
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley

Instructions

1. Cook pasta, add peas at the last 5 minutes.
2. Brown ground beef and remove from pan.
3. Melt butter. Saute onions 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, saute 5-7 minutes. Deglaze pan with wine, cook 3 minutes.
4. Whisk stock, aminos, and flour together. Pour into pan, stir, simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream and beef. Add salt and pepper as needed. Serve over noodles with parsley.

 

What do you do with the rest of the tub of vegan sour cream when you've only used 1/2 cup of it?

• Make the delicious avocado enchiladas from Go Dairy Free
• Make chicken paprikash from Cook Fast, Cook Slow
• Put it on top of tacos
• Put it on top of Pumpkin Turkey Chili
• Probably throw it away because it's a giant vat and who eats that much sour cream?