Rich & Creamy Chicken Stroganoff | How to Make Russian Stroganoff?

Chicken stroganoff is a luxurious recipe that you must save in your repertoire for that extra-special occasion to celebrate with your friends and family! This decadent dish is full of indulgent flavors which will simply blow your mind when you try it for the very first time!

I have been planning to make the popular chicken stroganoff for months now and finally I became successful last week! Yay!

For something or the other, I kept pushing back this gorgeous chicken stroganoff and prioritized other recipes which are part of my regular meals designed particularly for my weight loss journey.

If you wanna have a look at those recipes, feel free to check out this collection!

But hey, we all deserve a break and indulge in something sinfully satisfying occasionally! And when you do, it has to be something as special as this chicken stroganoff! 

So without any further delay, let’s dig into this stunning stroganoff and enjoy the best moments of life that we curate intentionally for our rejuvenation!

Before getting into it, please forgive me, but I can’t help but repeat myself that the best way to savor these extravagant dishes is by doing conscious portion control!

You won’t want to ruin your hard work (your week long workout and mindful eating!) just for the pleasure of one meal!

What is Chicken Stroganoff?

After reading up quite a few sources about stroganoff in general, this is what I came to know. Historically, this stroganoff was made with beef.

The original recipe for beef stroganoff dates back to Russia in the late 1800s, created by a chef who cooked this dish for his employer, Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov and hence the dish is named after him. [Source]

The native dish contained meat of your choice, mushrooms and sour cream which is how it is made today as well.

Being a chicken lover family, our default choice of meat is of course chicken which makes an incredible combination with mushrooms and the sour cream based sauce.

I do feel that this creamy mushroom sauce will also create a wonderful base for making a lamb stroganoff as well.

I am surely gonna make lamb stroganoff soon enough and see which one I like better. For now, let’s relish this rich & creamy chicken stroganoff which can be enjoyed in multiple ways as mentioned below!

Ingredients for Chicken Stroganoff

Chicken: To make the perfect melt-in-mouth chicken stroganoff, you will need boneless & skinless chicken cubes.

You can choose between chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Dark meat i.e. chicken thighs retain the tenderness thanks to their higher fat content; so I typically gravitate towards that.

However, you can absolutely replace chicken thighs with chicken breasts cut into small bite-sized pieces.

Mushroom: This exotic veggie is the heart of a classic stroganoff recipe! With so many varieties of mushrooms being available in the market, you can pick up the one you like most.

We are fond of white button mushrooms and they are very easily available almost everywhere here. Hence it was an easy choice for us.

You can use Crimini or Portabella or Shitake as well in your chicken stroganoff recipe!

Sour cream: The base of the chicken stroganoff sauce is sour cream and you will need a generous amount of it to feel that authentic richness of this dish.

You can get a tub of sour cream from Amazon or from your local supermarket.

However, you can also make it at home using my step by step video here and get the freshest stock of homemade sour cream at your disposal!

Dijon mustard: If you are a salad lover just like me, I am pretty sure you have a bottle of Dijon mustard lying in your refrigerator!

This classic condiment imparts its magic to this chicken stroganoff; so now you understand why this dish is so addictive!

Dried parsley: To complement the flavor of Dijon mustard & sour cream add a dash of dried parsley and round things up!

Flour: This works as the thickener in this creamy & saucy dish. You will just need a teaspoonful of all-purpose flour.

Olive oil/Butter: I used both olive oil & butter to cook my chicken stroganoff – oil to sauté the chicken & mushrooms separately and butter to make the creamy stroganoff sauce.

My reason for using two types of cooking fat is simply to cut down the fat that comes with butter. If you are not worried about a little extra fat, you can cook your chicken stroganoff using butter end to end for a more flavorful end result!

Aromatics: To give a body to your smooth, velvety & creamy stroganoff sauce, we first sauté onions without turning them completely brown.

Then we will add a generous amount of finely minced garlic to amp up the flavors of your meat, mushrooms and the sauce!

Seasoning: Add salt and pepper to your chicken while frying which will ensure that the chicken is seasoned deeply. Season the sauce later while simmering to bring out all the flavors.

If you are using butter, but not the unsalted one, then exercise caution while adding extra salt as otherwise you will end up over-seasoning your chicken stroganoff!

How to make Chicken Stroganoff?

Step 1: Wash and pat dry the chicken thigh fillets. Now cut each thigh into small bite sized pieces. Set aside.

Step 2: Wipe the button mushrooms using a damp kitchen towel to remove all the dirt. You do not need to wash the mushrooms. Cut each mushroom into thin slices.

Step 3: Heat a large skillet with high sides and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil into it. Once the oil is warm, add the sliced mushrooms and sauté them in medium heat for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Pro tip: Do not add salt to the mushrooms while frying as then they will ooze out too much water ending up soggy and not nice!

Step 4: Take the mushrooms out on a plate and set aside. Add the remaining olive oil to the same skillet and let it warm up.

Step 5: Add the chicken pieces to the skillet and sauté them on medium heat until they turn golden brown. Season the chicken with salt & black pepper while sautéing.

Step 6: Chicken should be ninety percent cooked and develop a golden brown color on all sides in about 15 minutes on medium flame. Take the sautéed chicken out on a plate and set aside.

Pro tip: If you are using a stainless steel skillet, it is very much probable that the chicken sticks to the bottom of the pan while frying.

So after taking out the sautéed chicken pieces, try to scrape out those brown bits that are stuck to the pan; otherwise they will burn when you try to cook the flour and cream based sauce in it.

Step 7: Now add the unsalted butter to the skillet and let it melt completely keeping the flame on minimum so that butter does not burn.

Step 8: Add the finely chopped onion to the skillet, cook it until it becomes translucent and turns soft. You do not need to completely brown the onions.

Step 9: Throw in the minced garlic and continue to sauté it with onion until the raw smell is gone & it becomes flavorful.

From this stage onwards, you have to move quite quickly, so keep everything ready & handy!

Step 10: Add the flour to the skillet and keep stirring it to mix with onion & garlic. Let the flour turn somewhat brown by stirring continuously for a minute on low.

Step 11: Add Dijon mustard & dried parsley and give a good mix. Things may start to stick to the bottom of the pan but do not worry.

Step 12: Pour the water now into the skillet and start mixing everything while also scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any stuck bit of aromatics.

Step 13: It’s time to add the sour cream keeping the flame at minimum. After adding the cream, give a good mix using a spatula.

Step 14: At this stage, also add the sautéed mushrooms and chicken pieces to the skillet and stir gently to distribute everything evenly.

Step 15: Season your chicken stroganoff with salt to taste and black pepper. Do a taste test at this point and feel free to add more Dijon mustard and/or dried parsley if you feel that the punch is missing!

Step 16: As the sauce starts to simmer, it will thicken and become glossy. Let the chicken and mushroom simmer in the stroganoff sauce for about 10 minutes.

Pro tip: Simmering the chicken & mushroom in the stroganoff sauce will allow them to absorb the flavors from mustard, herbs and also seasoning.

Step 17: After about 10 minutes, check if the chicken has completely cooked through and become tender. Also check the consistency of the gravy if it’s as per your liking.

Step 18: You may thin it out by adding a little more water if you feel the gravy is too thick; or boil off some excess water if it seems too thin.

Step 19: Once you are happy with the chicken stroganoff gravy, switch off the flame. Sprinkle a handful of freshly chopped parsley over the skillet.

Step 20: Serve your delicious chicken stroganoff on top of freshly boiled pasta or plain white rice and enjoy!

More delicious special occasion chicken recipes from Flavor Quotient

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