Leftover Roast Beef Stroganoff is a fantastic family dinner and the perfect way to use up leftovers. Serve with rice, pasta or potatoes for a yummy Monday night dinner.
This recipe has been updated a few times over the years, but the basics remain the same. Leftover roast beef, a yummy creamy sauce and a super simple, easy-to-follow recipe.
It’s a kid-friendly beef stroganoff recipe that my family absolutely love.
Why I Love Leftover Roast Beef Stroganoff
I adore this recipe, and it’s always been very popular with my readers.
- It’s easy to make.
- Leftover roast beef stroganoff is the perfect way to avoid food waste, make the most of expensive roast beef, and save time.
- It’s a fantastic midweek dinner.
- I love the flavour of stroganoff. It’s not too strong but very creamy and has a nice kick of flavour.
- Served with pasta stroganoff with leftover roast beef, it is one of my favourite comfort foods.
- It’s a delicious meal with a fairly low cooking time.
Disclaimer: While I aim to be as accurate as possible, any advice in this post, including but not limited to, cooking times, quantities, nutritional information and storage and freezing guidance is based on my own experience. Please use your own skills, knowledge and judgement, and get up to date food safety information.
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Ingredients For leftover Beef Stroganoff
When I make my leftover roast beef stroganoff recipe, I use:
Butter – Margarine is ok, but butter will have a much better flavour. You could also use olive oil, but I prefer butter.
Red Onion – Brown/yellow is ok too, but I prefer red.
Garlic – or Garlic puree.
Mushrooms
Dijon Mustard
Smoked Paprika
Lemon Juice – Fresh or bottled is fine.
Beef Stock
Leftover Roast Beef – Ideally about 400g, but use whatever you’ve got.
Salt and Pepper
Soured Cream
Parsley – Fresh is best, but I often use dried.
You’ll Also Need
I recommend a sharp knife and chopping board to chop your beef and vegetables, and I cook my stroganoff with leftover beef in a large non-stick frying pan. A cast-iron Dutch Oven would be good, too. Anything that’s flameproof and non-stick.
You’ll also need a spatula and a saucepan to cook your sides.
How to Cook Stroganoff from Scratch – Step-by-Step Instructions
Full, easy-to-follow instructions and quantities are available in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step One
Melt a good knob of butter in a large non-stick flameproof pan or dish over medium heat.
Step Two
Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often until soft.
Step Three
Add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring often.
Step Four
Add the sliced mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes, stirring often.
Step Five
Stir in the mustard, paprika and lemon juice until well mixed together.
Step Six
Pour in the stock and add the sliced beef with a little salt and pepper.
Step Seven
Bring to a boil, reduce to a low heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
Step Eight
Add the sour cream and parsley. Stir well.
Step Nine
Simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Top Tips
This leftover roast beef stroganoff recipe is super simple, so there are not too many tips.
- You don’t need to cook, or sear the beef first, because it’s a stroganoff with cooked beef. It’ll warm as it simmers in the sauce.
- I recommend butter instead of margarine.
- Use full-fat dairy, which is less likely to separate.
- If, after 20 minutes, your sauce is too watery, simmer for a little longer to thicken it up.
Serving Suggestions
I usually serve my leftover roast beef stroganoff with pasta. Something like tagliatelle is good, but tubes are nice too because all the sauce gets inside, so there’s stroganoff sauce with every bite.
Other options include rice, potatoes and egg noodles. I’ve never tried it, but I suspect beef stroganoff from leftover roast would be amazing on a baked potato. Because I think everything is great on a baked potato!
You could also serve with bread or garlic bread to mop up the creamy stroganoff sauce.
Variations
There are a few variations that you can make to this leftover roast beef stroganoff recipe.
First, the soured cream. I prefer leftover roast beef stroganoff with sour cream, but I know some recipes call for cream or crème fraiche. Some people even make leftover roast beef stroganoff with cream of mushroom soup.
Next, the vegetables. I just add mushrooms, but you can add some peppers, too, if you want to. I usually use close cup or button mushrooms; chestnut would be great, too. See my mushroom stroganoff recipe for some options.
Leftovers
I don’t recommend saving leftovers because the leftover roast beef has already been cooked twice, and every time you reheat meat, the risks increase. Try to eat your beef stroganoff with leftover roast on the same day as you cook it.
Storage
Before making stroganoff, make sure your leftover roast beef is stored in a clean, sealed or covered tub in the fridge (between 1-5 degrees C) and that you only keep it for a day or two.
Don’t save beef if it wasn’t in date when you cooked it or if it’s been left out on the side for too long (just leave it out to cool, doing so quickly by removing it from the cooking pan) and throw it away if it smells, looks or feels off. Trust your instincts.
I try to cook my leftover roast beef from Sunday on Monday.
FAQ
Typically, stroganoff sauce is made from soured cream and stock or beef broth and then flavoured with mustard and sometimes paprika. I love to add plenty of mushrooms, too.
Yes, you can use cream or crème fraiche. Some recipes even use cream of mushroom soup or cream cheese, but I haven’t tried these. I don’t recommend yoghurt, which can separate, but if you want to try it, use full-fat.
Because this recipe uses leftover Roast beef, I wouldn’t advise freezing or keeping it at all.
Yes, just brown the beef first.
I always think tough beef is better in something slow-cooked, like a stew or casserole. See this post for more ways to use tough leftover roast beef.
Beef stroganoff with pasta is lovely. Rice, potatoes or even bread work, too.
No beef bourguignon is more of a stew.
If your leftover beef was overcooked or tough, it will probably stay tough in a stroganoff. Cutting into thinner strips might help.
Other Recipes Using Leftover Roast Beef
If you are looking for how to use up leftover Roast beef, and you like this easy beef stroganoff, there are tons of options! Some of my favourites include:
- Leftover Beef Ragu
- Burritos with Leftover Beef
- Leftover Roast Beef Pie
- Cottage Pie with Leftover Roast Beef
- Leftover Roast Beef Fried Rice
- Hotpot
- Chilli
- Leftover Roast Beef Curry
- Stir Fry
If you’ve found this guide useful, why not take it a step further? The Leftover Makeovers Challenge is packed with clever ways to use up the most commonly wasted foods, plus handy tips on storage, reheating, and delicious step-by-step recipes to help you make the most of every ingredient. Save money, reduce waste, and enjoy stress-free meals! Grab your copy here.
Leftover Roast Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 30 g Butter
- 1 Red Onion (Diced)
- 1 Clove Garlic (Crushed)
- 250 g Mushrooms (Sliced)
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Splash Lemon Juice
- 200 ml Beef stock
- 400 g Roast Beef (Sliced into strips or diced)
- Pinch Salt and pepper
- 150 ml Soured cream
- 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Parsley
Instructions
- Melt a good knob of butter in a large non-stick flameproof pan or dish over medium heat.
- Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often until soft.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes, stirring often.
- Stir in the mustard, paprika and lemon juice until well mixed together.
- Pour in the stock and add the sliced beef with a little salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the sour cream and parsley. Stir well.
- Simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Video
Notes
- Simmer for longer if the sauce is still watery.
- See the post above for more tips and advice.
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
Looks delicious, my kids love meat prepared this way, the creamier the better!
Thanks Monika. Such a nice easy meal!
It looks delicious! We rarely have leftovers after having roast beef but this looks delicious so I’ll just have to buy a bigger joint of beef next time so I can have a go at something like this.
I buy giant beef just so I can do leftovers! Thanks Corina!
Stroganoff is one of my favourite winter warmers, love it! I often do a version in the slow cooker, and love to come home to the beautiful smell of it cooking away. This one looks perfect! Thank you for sharing #CookBlogShare
I made this using some frozen Cooked pork and Beef slices I found in my freezer. I used Full fat Philadelphia cheese rather than Sour cream as that was all I had available during the Covid lockdown And served it with white rice. This meal tasted amazing-better than any Stroganoff I had ever bought in the shops and it was so Quick and easy to make. I was very impressed and will make it again
Sounds lovely Linda, I’m a big fan of using what you’ve got, and I must say we’re using some funny ingredients at the moment too!! Hope you are safe and well, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Take care.
My husband gave the ultimate compliment….”.I like this better than the 1st time we had the roast beef” ! Thank you for sharing. It was so easy and tasty!!
Aww, that’s lovely to hear. So glad you enjoyed it.
Very nice recipe. We have to try. So easy, flavorful and delicious
Thank you!
What a great way to use up leftovers. Stroganoff is something I have never made so I am keen to try this.
I was looking at another recipe and saw yours. I had leftover cooked beef and cooked pork. Followed your recipe … love the idea of red onions and used Crimini mushrooms, garlic and added red bell pepper for color and added Worcestershire sauce and love the Dijon mustard and paprika and little sour cream. Mix in cooked rotelle pasta. Delicious.. Thank you for sharing
Sounds lovely! I add peppers sometimes too, always nice to have a bit of colour. Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it!
Lush. Was worried the beef would do tough but it was just as tender as the first time round. My fussy eater loved it though he avoided the mushrooms! Swapped sour cream for Greek yogurt
Brilliant, so glad you enjoyed it! Mine avoid the mushrooms too :)
As a veggie with a “meatie” hubby I’m always looking for recipes that could be easily adapted to work for both of us to save cooking 2 entirely separate meals AND using up left-over meat from his roast (I never buy a tiny joint!) made this a winner! Prepared the sauce then split across 2 pans for the 20 minute simmer, 1 with the beef and 1 with extra mushrooms for me, mountain of rice, job done, absolutely yummy with very little effort or skill required – my kind of meal! Thank you
MY kind of meal too! So glad you enjoyed it, Alison. Thanks for letting me know. :)
Our house recipe for stroganoff was using ground beef, but this recipe will take over as #1! It was absolutely delicious. We don’t really enjoy leftover roast beef, my hubby doesn’t like gravy so it limits what you can do with it. The flavours were spot on with this. I didn’t have a smoky paprika(on my grocery list) so shook in a bit of mesquite seasoning. I used a regular onion, will try the red next time. We think the beef was more tender and tasty in this recipe than first made! Glad I found this, thank you.
Ah Myrna that’s so nice to hear, thank you! So glad that you enjoyed it so much, it’s one of our favourites too.
Wow! Looks delicious! My friend is coming over tonight and I think I will make this for her! Thanks for sharing.
Made it. Followed the recipe. Delicious. Don’t worry about the Smoked Paprika. It’s smokiness is extremely subtle after cooking and is worth the taste medley.