Dutch Oven Beef Stroganoff
Floured beef, mushrooms, and a sour cream finish over noodles. Coals do the work.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- 1500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Beef tenderloin | 1 lb | cut into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes at home |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 3 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Butter | 1/4 cup | |
| Onion | 1/2 cup, chopped | |
| Minced garlic | 2 tsp | the jarred kind is fine |
| Mushrooms | 1 lb, sliced | |
| Water | 1/4 cup | |
| Chicken broth | one 15 oz can | |
| Sour cream | 1 cup | |
| Egg noodles | 12 oz | or rice, or instant potato flakes |
| Dried dill or chives | 1 tsp |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want a moderate frying heat under the oven, roughly 350F, which is about 12 coals underneath a 12 inch oven.
- Shake the flour, salt, and pepper together in a gallon zip bag. Add the beef cubes and shake until every piece is coated.
- Melt the butter in the dutch oven or a deep skillet set over the coals. Brown the beef in batches, turning often. Crowding it steams the meat instead.
- Add the onion and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes, until the onion goes soft and gold.
- Pour in the water and broth, then add the mushrooms. Pull coals away until it is just simmering and hold it there about 25 minutes, stirring now and then. The mushrooms will give up a lot of liquid, so it will look thin before it thickens.
- On a second stove or fire, boil the noodles in salted water and drain them.
- Take the oven off the coals. Stir in the sour cream and let it warm through for about 3 minutes. Do not let it boil or it will break into curds.
- Spoon over the noodles and scatter dill or chives on top.
This is a car-camping recipe and it stays one. Beef, butter, and sour cream all need a cooler, and the sour cream is what makes it stroganoff, so there is no honest way to shrink it into a pack without swapping to powders. Cook it the first night, before the cooler ice starts losing.
Two details decide whether it works. The flour coating on the beef is not breading, it is the thickener, and it dissolves into the broth during the simmer. And sour cream curdles above a simmer, so the oven comes off the coals before it goes in. Residual heat is enough to warm it.
Packing
Cube the beef and pre-mix the flour, salt, and pepper in the shaking bag at home, so camp prep is one step. Beef and sour cream need a cold cooler and should be cooked the first night out.
Variations
- Swap the tenderloin for stew meat and simmer 45 minutes instead of 25. Cheaper, and the long simmer earns it.
- No cooler: use freeze-dried ground beef, dried mushrooms, bouillon, and a sour cream powder whisked into the sauce off the heat. Serve over instant potato flakes and it becomes a one-pot backpacking dinner.
- A splash of Worcestershire or a spoon of mustard sharpens the sauce.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/stroganoff-2322.asp