There are some meals that just scream, ‘comfort food’ rather than ‘health food.’ I’d dare to say Beef stroganoff is on that list. Ha. Truthfully I haven’t even wanted to try until Ross made a request, and we were shocked at how easy it was to keep the macros in check! Here’s my lightened up beef stroganoff for anyone who loves this classic meal, but doesn’t want the heavy calories! 

Lightened Up Beef Stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

A Lighter Version of A Classic Dish

When you think of beef stroganoff, you probably think of the heavy sour cream- based sauce of your childhood. While I love a good, creamy sauce, I didn’t want to sacrifice all of my macros for one meal. To help cut the fat in this recipe and make this family favorite more macro friendly, I’m substituting nonfat Greek yogurt for the traditional sour cream in the sauce. You won’t notice much of a difference in flavor, but your macros will thank you! 

The best light beef stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

Prep Your Ingredients

To get started when prepping your ingredients for my lightened up beef stroganoff, you will need to get out your favorite knife and cutting board, and chop a few things. First, you need to thinly slice and chop the flank steak. I know some recipes call for ground beef, but we love it with flank steak!

Lighter Beef Stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

Once your beef is sliced thinly and chopped into 1 inch pieces, set it aside and grab your onion. You’ll need 1 large onion for this recipe, and you will need to dice it into small pieces. Set it aside as well, and grab 1 pound of white button mushrooms. I like short cuts, so buy them pre-sliced. But you can do it yourself if you’re ambitious like that!

The last prep you need to do is mince 3 cloves of garlic. UNLESS, you’re taking another shortcut like me and using frozen cubes which are the GREATEST INVENTION ever. I use them in EVERYTHING. No weird flavor like jarred, but no hassle like fresh. I promise you the best of both worlds.

Lightened Up Beef Stroganoff

Now that everything is chopped and ready to be cooked, grab a large, heavy skillet and heat it over high heat. I always use my giant cast iron skillet because it handles the high heat so well. Spray the pan with a quick mist of olive oil and let it get screaming hot. 

You won't miss the heavy calories in this beef stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

Before you cook your flank steak, sprinkle the meat with kosher salt and black pepper. Add it to the hot pan in a single layer. This is important. If your pan isn’t large enough to cook your meat in one single layer, cook it in batches. You want the meat to brown, and it can’t do that properly if it’s too crowded. Once your meat is in the pan, don’t touch it for a minute or two so it can get nice and brown. Salt and pepper the tops of the pieces (if needed) and then flip the pieces of flank steak to cook the other side for a minute or two. Remove the meat from the skillet and set it aside. 

Lightened Up beef stroganoff for anyone counting macros. www.lillieeatsandtells.com

Grab your diced onions and add them to your hot pan. Let them cook for a minute before adding your sliced mushrooms. Cook both of these together for about 5 minutes or until they have cooked down and are very soft. You’ll see the mushrooms release their liquid during this time. To the mushrooms and onion mixture, add your garlic, some dijon mustard, thyme, and a little flour. Mix this all together well and let it cook for a minute. The flour in this step will help to thicken your sauce. But don’t let it scare you! It’s not enough to add many carbs. No biggie.

Super quick and healthy beef stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

Finish Your Sauce

All right, you’re almost done! With your pan still hot, add 2 cans of beef broth to your onion and mushroom mixture. Use the broth to deglaze the pan. Scrape all of the browned bits of vegetables and beef off the bottom of the pan. This is where the flavor is! Bring your mixture to a boil and reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes to let the sauce thicken. 

Beef Stroganoff for a large family www.lillieeatsandtells.com

While the sauce is simmering, add a few tablespoons of the hot beef broth from your pan to your greek yogurt to warm it up a bit and then stir this mixture into the sauce. By warming the greek yogurt with the broth, you’ll prevent those weird lumps you can get from adding cold dairy to a hot mixture. 

Once your sauce is complete, add your flank steak pieces back into the pan and combine it well. Garnish your finished lightened up beef stroganoff with chopped parsley, chives, or even green onions. 

Time to Eat- Lightened Up Beef Stroganoff

feed your family with healthy beef stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

To serve my lightened up beef stroganoff, you have a few options. My kids love to eat this over egg noodles for that traditional meal. For me, I love to eat this lighter beef stroganoff over roasted spaghetti squash and broccoli. 

For more tips and tricks for tracking macros, and to see what I eat on the daily, check out my Instagram account @lillieeatsandtells. Love this dinner recipe? Check out more of my dinner recipes here.

Lightened Up Beef Stroganoff www.lillieeatsandtells.com

Lightened Up Beef Stroganoff

My lighter version of a classic, family favorite dish. This lightened up beef stroganoff is big on flavor without being big on calories!
4.34 from 3 votes
Author Lillie
Course dinner
Cuisine comfort food
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 5 servings
Calories 316 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1.25 lb flank steak sliced thin and chopped into 1 inch pieces (570 g)
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper
  • 1 large onion diced 280 g
  • 1 lb white mushrooms sliced (665 g)
  • 3 cloves garlic minced (or frozen cubes)
  • 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 2 10.5- oz cans of beef broth 21 oz total
  • 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt 240 g

Instructions

  • Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat. I like to use my giant cast iron. Spray with a quick mist of olive oil spray and let it get nice and hot. 
  • Sprinkle chopped steak with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Then add it to the hot pan in a single layer. Let it cook undisturbed and uncrowded for a minute or two until browned, salt and pepper the tops (if you haven’t already) before you flip. Then cook for just a minute on the other side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  • Add onions and cook for a minute, then add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions and mushrooms have cooked down and are very soft. Add garlic, dijon mustard, thyme, and flour. Toss the flour around well and cook for just a minute.
  • Add broth and deglaze the pan, scraping all the browned bits off the bottom. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes to let it thicken.
  • Add a few Tbsp of the hot beef broth to the Greek yogurt to warm it up a bit (this will help it from separating when it's mixed into the hot broth), then stir the Greek yogurt into your sauce.  Add back in steak and combine well. Garnish with chopped green onion, chives, or parsley.
  • Serve over egg noodles for a more authentic stroganoff, or use whatever pasta your kids love! I love mine over roasted spaghetti squash and broccoli.

Notes

  • Find this recipe on My Fitness Pal by searching: Lillie Eats and Tells Lighter Beef Stroganoff
  • If you want yours creamier, feel free to mix in a little more Greek yogurt.

Nutrition

Serving: 300gCalories: 316kcalCarbohydrates: 13.5gProtein: 39gFat: 9gFiber: 1.4g
Keywords beef, family dinner, flank steak, greek yogurt, mushrooms, stroganoff

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About the Author

Hello. My name is Lillie. I’m not a registered dietitian, or a macro coach, or a public figure or culinary genius. I’m a mommy of four who FOUND macro-counting and fell in love with this balanced approach to food...

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made tonight and loved it. Flavors are so tasty. I sautéed the mushrooms separately, as my daughter and I are the only ones who like them. She and I added them in our bowls at the end. Still tasted fantastic without the mushrooms in the sauce for those that don’t like mushrooms. Thanks Lillie!

  2. 3 stars
    I made this tonight and did not care for it at all. The sauce didn’t thicken up well and wasn’t creamy at all but was runny and had a very grainy texture to it and I felt like you could taste the Greek yogurt a little too much. I tried warming up the Greek yogurt ahead of time with the hot broth before I put it in but it still did not mix well into the broth. I am not sure if maybe adding it in just a tiny bit at a time would help. It may have just been my error but my family didn’t enjoy it.

    1. I had the same experience. I added a couple tablespoons of hot broth at a time four or five times and it still curdled. Flavors were good. I’ll only add one cup of yogurt next time and hopefully it’ll turn out great.

  3. I want to make this but haaate mushrooms (slimy texture) . What do I do? Does the sauce need them for flavor? Do I just take them all out after? This looks so good though!

  4. 5 stars
    I made this tonight and it was delicious! I did substitute portobello mushrooms for the white mushrooms and used beef bone broth for a little more protein. Next time I may add a bit of red wine when I’m deglazing. I served it over banza chickpea pasta. Thanks for the great recipe!

  5. Is this supposed to be 1 or 2 cup of green yogurt? The ingredients say “2 cup,” But the recipe instructions say “a cup.”