Source video by Josh Cortis on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.
A big-batch meal prep stroganoff. Lean beef cooks in beef stock with Worcestershire sauce and spices for 4 hours on High or 6 on Low, with carrots and mushrooms added for the final 30 minutes so they keep some texture. The beef is shredded back into a sauce thickened with a cornflour slurry, then enriched with Greek yogurt, cream cheese and Dijon mustard, and tossed with cooked pasta. The presenter puts each serving at around 1,013 calories and 80 g of protein. It makes five servings and keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Ingredients
- 1.135 kgbeef topside (top round)
- 600 mlbeef stock
- 15 mlWorcestershire sauce
- 6 gsalt
- 6 ggarlic powder
- 6 gpaprika
- 3 gblack pepper
- 200 gonion, 1 medium, cut into a small dice
- 454 gcarrots, cut into 2.5cm pieces (add late)
- 227 gmushrooms, small ones quartered, larger ones cut into sixths or eighths (add late)
- 24 gcornflour (cornstarch)
- 60 mlcold water
- 150 gplain Greek yogurt (2%) (add late)
- 150 gcream cheese (add late)
- 15 gDijon mustard (add late)
- 681 gpasta of your choice
- chopped parsley
Method
Dice the onion small. Cut the carrots into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces, a fairly large dice so they hold some texture. Quarter the smaller mushrooms and cut larger ones into sixths or eighths. Keep the carrots and mushrooms to one side.
Into a large slow cooker, add the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper. Add the diced onion and stir to mix in the spices.
Lay the beef on top. There is no need to brown it first. Put the lid on and cook on High for about 4 hours or on Low for about 6 hours.
~240 minWith 30 minutes of the cooking time left, add the carrots and mushrooms. Stir them into the liquid so they are submerged, put the lid back on and finish cooking.
~30 minMeanwhile bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta until done. Drain and set aside.
Mix the cornflour with the cold water in a small bowl to make a slurry.
When the beef is cooked, lift it out into a large bowl. While the liquid is still hot, drizzle in the cornflour slurry and stir to thicken. You are aiming for a sauce that easily coats the back of a spoon. The amount of slurry needed depends on how much liquid the beef released. The sauce thickens further as it sits with the pasta.
Break the beef into bite-sized chunks with a fork and a butter knife, or shred it with two forks, then return it to the slow cooker and stir to coat.
Stir in the Greek yogurt, cream cheese and Dijon mustard until the cream cheese has melted. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.
Add the cooked pasta and stir until everything is coated in sauce.
Divide between five meal prep containers, weighing them to keep portions even, and garnish with chopped parsley if you like. Let them steam off, then lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days. If your slow cooker is too small for the pasta, put the plain pasta in the containers and spoon the sauce over each one.