THE CROCKPOT SUPPER CLUB • OCTOBER 13, 2026

This recipe began with Mable Hoffman’s Budget Beef Stroganoff from her vintage slow-cooker classic, Crockery Cookery. We’ve adapted it for today’s kitchen while keeping the cozy character of the original: tender beef, plenty of mushrooms and onions, a savory slow-cooked gravy, and sour cream stirred in at the very end. Served over broad buttery noodles, it’s exactly the sort of old-fashioned supper an October evening seems to call for.

Ingredients

For the slow cooker

• 1½–2 lb. beef round steak or stew beef, cut into bite-size strips
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. tomato ketchup (a classic touch!)
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. dried thyme or 4 fresh thyme sprigs

To finish

• 8 oz. cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
• ¼ cup dry white wine or additional beef broth
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup cold water
• ¾ cup sour cream, at room temperature
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Fresh thyme or chopped parsley, for serving

For serving

• 12 oz. broad egg noodles, cooked and buttered
• Steamed green beans or peas, if desired

☀ 1 • In the Morning

1. Season the beef. Pat the beef dry and season with the salt and black pepper.
2. Add the aromatics. Place the sliced onion and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker, then arrange the beef over the top.
3. Mix the sauce. Whisk together the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, Dijon mustard and dried thyme, if using.
4. Fill the slow cooker. Pour the broth mixture over the beef. Add fresh thyme sprigs now if you’re using them.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours, until the beef is beautifully tender.

◷ 2 • While You’re Away

The beef slowly becomes tender while the onion, broth, thyme and Worcestershire settle into a rich savory gravy. The mushrooms, wine and sour cream wait until later so their flavor and texture stay distinct in the finished Stroganoff.

LOW • 6–8 hours

⌂ 3 • When You Get Home

1. Add the mushrooms. Remove any thyme stems. Stir in the sliced mushrooms and white wine. Cover and cook on HIGH for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to soften.
2. Thicken the gravy. Whisk the flour and cold water together until smooth. Stir it into the slow cooker and continue cooking on HIGH until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
3. Finish and serve. Turn the slow cooker to WARM or OFF. Stir a spoonful of the hot gravy into the sour cream, then gently stir the tempered sour cream into the Stroganoff. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon generously over hot buttered egg noodles and finish with thyme or parsley.

A Little Flexibility

Stew beef is perfectly at home here if you don’t want to slice round steak. White button mushrooms can replace cremini, and the wine may simply be replaced with additional beef broth. Greek yogurt can stand in for the sour cream, although it should also be tempered with a little hot gravy and added only after the slow cooker has been turned down or off.

To Serve

Broad buttered egg noodles are the old-fashioned choice and particularly good at catching all that mushroom gravy. Add simple green beans or buttered peas alongside and supper really doesn’t require much else.

Cook’s Note

Mable Hoffman’s original Budget Beef Stroganoff includes that wonderfully vintage tablespoon of ketchup, and we’ve let it stay. It doesn’t make the Stroganoff taste like ketchup; it simply adds a little acidity, sweetness and tomato depth to the savory gravy. The sour cream belongs at the very end, after the strongest heat has passed, so the sauce stays smooth and creamy.

Recipe inspiration: Adapted and modernized from Mable Hoffman’s Budget Beef Stroganoff in Crockery Cookery.

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