French onion beef mince stroganoff

If you are looking for an easy one-pan family meal, why not try this French onion beef mince stroganoff? This dish has all the flavours of classic stroganoff with a simple no-fuss approach. Ready in just 30 minutes, it makes a comforting dinner that's sure to become a family favourite!

This French onion beef mince stroganoff pasta dish is packed with mushrooms and onions, and I've added one of my (few) favourite canned ingredients - a can of Heinz French Onion Soup.

For the purists amongst you, this is obviously not proper beef stroganoff! But it's tasty and makes a delightful family meal, and in my book that's what matters! For a more traditional stroganoff you might like to try my beef and mushroom stroganoff recipe.

Everything (including the pasta) is cooked in one pan, meaning easy cleanup afterwards!

I don't normally cook with canned foods, preferring to combine my own ingredients. But there are 2 reasons why I decided to use a can of soup in this recipe:

• I love the flavour of Heinz French Onion soup.
• The liquid consistency of the soup is perfect for cooking pasta, ensuring that the pasta absorbs all the delicious French Onion flavours as it cooks.

The other thing I've done with this stroganoff recipe is to use beef mince rather than cubes of beef steak. The reasons for this are:

• Beef mince is a lot cheaper than steak, making this an economical meal that can stretch to fill lots of hungry tummies;
• The mince also cooks and tenderises in no time, making this a really quick meal to put on the table.

There's also an entire punnet of mushrooms in this recipe but you hardly notice them as they cook away to almost nothing and hide themselves in amongst the tender pasta shells. Fussy eaters won't even notice them, but you get the lovely mushroom taste in every bite!

Finally, there's no fussing around making a creamy sauce. Just stir in half a pack of cream cheese when everything is cooked and it's job done! Fast mid-week meals don't get easier (or tastier) than this!

This recipe was a great success in my household. I've based this recipe on my cheesy one-pan pasta recipe which you may also like to try.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips for a successful outcome
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• FAQ
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Ingredients

This recipe is a way of making 350 grams (or 12 ounces) of beef mince stretch to feed 4 people. If you want to feed up to 6 people simply add extra stock and pasta. There's no need to add extra meat - this recipe is so tasty, no one will notice!

• Beef mince (or ground beef) - this recipe is made with beef mince rather than the traditional beef cubes normally found in stroganoff. I would recommend buying lean beef mince as you don't want a lot of fat in this recipe. I used 5% fat content beef mince.
• French onion canned soup - this is a 400-gram (or 14-ounce) can of soup made by Heinz. It is not condensed soup - it is thin and liquidy and is ideal for cooking pasta. I've made this recipe previously, using dehydrated French onion soup (and water), but for some reason, dehydrated soup mixes (other than chicken noodle and spring vegetable) are no longer available in UK supermarkets. To be perfectly honest, I think I prefer this one - it has a lovely taste and is absolutely packed with caramelised onions.
• Onion - just in case there are not sufficient onions in the can of soup! But joking aside, I think a sliced onion that has been browned lightly in oil makes a great addition to this dish.
• Mushrooms - I used an entire punnet of sliced mushrooms (that's 225 grams or half a pound of mushrooms). You could use either white closed-cap mushrooms or chestnut mushrooms but they should be cut into slices. If you use baby mushrooms, cut them in half.
• Pasta - you can use whatever shapes of pasta you prefer. I like the way the conchiglie (or little shells) fill up with bits of ground beef and mushrooms. Fusilli would also work well. However, if you prefer the more traditional flat pasta such as tagliatelle or papadelle, that would be fine to use too.
• Tomato puree - adds extra flavour to the stroganoff. You may know tomato puree as tomato paste, and it is simply highly concentrated tomatoes, normally sold in tubes or small cans.
• Paprika - this is optional, but I like the slight smokiness that it adds to the pasta dish.. Leave it out if you prefer.
• Worcestershire sauce - adds a savoury element to the dish.
• Stock - this is beef stock - you can make it with a stock cube or stockpot if you don't have liquid beef stock on hand. Along with the can of soup, this adds sufficient liquid to cook the amount of pasta stated in the recipe. If you add extra pasta to make the meal stretch further, add extra stock to ensure there is sufficient liquid to be absorbed by the pasta.
• Cream cheese - use your favourite brand - this forms the cheese sauce when stirred through the cooked pasta at the end of the cooking time.
• Salt and ground black pepper - for seasoning. This is to your own taste.
• You will also need a little sunflower or other neutral-flavoured oil for frying the onions and the beef.

**You can find the exact ingredient measurements on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

These are the easy instructions for making this one-pan French onion minced beef stroganoff.

Tips for a successful outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure your French onion minced beef stroganoff turns out perfectly every time:

• Fry the onions on moderate heat, stirring frequently. If the heat is too high the onions will turn brown and burn before they have softened.
• As soon as the mushrooms have softened, transfer the onions and mushrooms to a plate. There should still be moisture in the pan from the mushrooms - transfer this to the plate as well.
• When browning the meat, you can increase the heat slightly so the meat browns and sears. If the pan is not hot enough the meat will draw moisture and boil rather than brown.
• Once you have added the stock (in step 4) turn up the heat and allow the stock to come to a boil before adding the pasta.
• Once the pasta has been added, turn the heat back down to a simmer and cover the pan with a lid. There is no danger that covering the pasta with a lid will cause the liquid to overflow - it should be simmering slowly at this point.
• Leave the pan to simmer without removing the lid for 8 to 12 minutes until the pasta is tender and the liquid has been mostly absorbed. There should still be a few tablespoons of liquid left in the pan.
• Stir in the cream cheese and mix well so that it combines with the remaining liquid and forms a thick sauce.

Variations

If you would like to turn this into an oven-bake, you could tip the cooked pasta and mince into an oven-proof dish, cover it with grated cheese and bake it in a hot oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese has melted.

I've only included mushrooms and onions for the vegetables, but there's absolutely nothing stopping you from adding a few extra veg into the mince.

• Stir in half a cup of frozen peas 5 minutes before adding the cream cheese.
• Add some finely diced carrots when you add the stock.
• Spice it up by frying finely chopped garlic with the onions, or add a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes with the stock.

Equipment

I like to use a large saute pan for cooking this type of meal, but a large saucepan will work just as well. The main thing is whatever pan you use, it should have a tightly fitting lid to prevent the moisture from evaporating too quickly.

Storage

Store any leftovers for up to three days in a covered container in the refrigerator and reheat them either in the microwave or over moderate heat in a saucepan on the stove.

Technically this dish can be frozen for up to 3 months, defrosted in the refrigerator and then reheated as above.

Practically I wouldn't freeze it as the pasta may become stodgy after being frozen and defrosted.

If you would like to make this dish ahead of time this is my recommendation:

• Fry the onions and mushrooms and set them aside.
• Fry the meat and add it to the mushrooms and onions.
• These can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
• When you are ready to make the dish, bring the stock, soup, worcestershire sauce and tomato puree to a boil. Add the pasta and the pre-cooked meat, mushrooms and onions and continue with the recipe from step 6 above.

FAQ

Save for later

If you would like to try this French onion minced beef stroganoff recipe yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Related recipes

Visit by beef recipes page where you can find plenty of other recipes using beef. Here are a few using ground beef that you might enjoy:

📋The recipe

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