What to Make Next if You Love Beef Stroganoff

If you’ve been cooking up a Pinch of Nom storm for some time now, it’s likely you’ve heard about our Beef Stroganoff. This hearty, comforting midweek staple bubbles away in an oh-so-creamy sauce that looks and tastes so indulgent, for only 274 calories per portion.

To make our recipe lighter than restaurant versions, we’ve stirred reduced-fat cream cheese into the homemade sauce. The onions and mushrooms are sautéed with punchy Dijon mustard and brandy, but you can skip the alcohol if you don’t fancy it.

A batch-cook wonder, the first step for this recipe should always be making some room in your freezer. You’ll never regret keeping a stash of extra portions handy, ready to be paired with all sorts of side dishes including rice, vegetables, potato wedges or mash. 

Its versatility makes it a great addition to any meal plan, but for those days where you fancy something a bit different, all of these budget-friendly recipe ideas are worth a try.

What to make next with lean beef or beef steak

If you’re trying to keep an eye on how much red meat you’re eating, or you’re budgeting, you might not buy beef very often. Beef steak is the priciest ingredient you’ll find on the list for our Beef Stroganoff, as cheaper cuts of beef don’t tenderise as nicely in a short amount of time.

When you’re cooking low and slow, like with our fiery Beef Madras, cheaper cuts of beef are just the ticket. You want to add lean diced stewing steak or braising steak, with all the visible fat removed, to the pot for this recipe.

Let it all bubble away until the sauce is rich and thickened, and the beef chunks are fall-off-the-fork tender. Don’t forget to serve with a sprinkling of fresh coriander!

You can make this one in the oven or in an Instant Pot.

Taking inspiration from our stroganoff, we’ve made this Creamy Chipotle Beef just as silky with the help of reduced-fat cream cheese. This ‘Quick Prep’ fakeaway is on pages 138-139 of Pinch of Nom: Express, and we’ve used quick-cook steaks cut into strips so that it’ll stir-fry in next to no time.

The punchy flavours from smoky chipotle paste and zingy lime juice pair beautifully with lots of different sides, including rice, potatoes or crunchy Corn on the Cob.

When you’ve got time to wait, our Beef Paprikash is yet another delicious option to use up stewing steak or braising steak. Inspired by Hungarian cuisine, we’ve stirred a variety of herbs and spices into the stew, including peppery caraway seeds.

After around 5 hours, you’re left with a velvety, melt-in-the-mouth stew that’s spot on with rice, noodles, potatoes or pasta (talk about making the most of your store cupboard!).

Fancying something on the tomatoey end of the flavour scale? You can’t go wrong with Beef Ragu Fettuccine. This low-fuss pasta dish only needs minutes of your attention, while you’re chopping the veggies, sautéeing the onions and combining everything together.

Your slow cooker or Instant Pot will do the rest of the work for you!

What to make next with reduced-fat cream cheese

It’s no secret that we love cooking with reduced-fat cream cheese. From silky, savoury sauces to sweet treats, it’s a reliable ingredient for adding a hint of luxury to your cooking, without piling on the calories.

Just like with our stroganoff, we’ve reduced the heat before stirring a dollop of reduced-fat cheese into the pan with our Creamy Garlic Chicken. The beauty of this sauce is that it’s delicious no matter how thick you like it – to thin it out, add some water until you’re happy.

Full of flavour, easy to batch cook and slimming friendly, it’s no wonder this dish has been a Facebook group favourite ever since we pressed ‘publish’ on our website.

If you don’t have beef steak at home, but you do have reduced-fat beef mince, you’ve got the perfect starting point to whip up our Meatball Stroganoff. By making the meatballs from scratch with mince, herbs and spices, you’ll cut out the chance of hidden nasties in an instant.

Plus, you won’t find any crème fraîche or sour cream in our recipe. Instead, the reduced-fat cream cheese makes our lower-calorie, stroganoff-style sauce just as rich and smooth.

Cream cheese and mushrooms are a heavenly combination in our Beef Stroganoff, and the same is true with our Marmite Mushrooms on Toast recipe. This sumptuous breakfast-time dish is perfect to wake up to, especially with the savoury umami ‘oomph’ that Marmite gives to our cheesy sauce.

You’ll soften the mushrooms in a frying pan first, until they’re browned, juicy and ready to top a crunchy slice of wholemeal toast.

We’ve also thickened our Cream of Mushroom Soup with the magic of low-fat cream cheese, instead of using a heavy, high-calorie cream. That leaves our scrumptious soup unbelievably light at 65 calories per bowlful, making it perfect to serve as a starter, or even as a nutritious lunch.

Try wiping your bowl clean with a wholemeal bread roll to make it even more filling, or take our Cheesy Garlic Bread for a dip (it’s only 85 calories per cheese-topped slice!).

What to make next if you love a batch-cook wonder

There’s always space in our freezer for wholesome, batch-cook favourites like our Mushy Pea Curry. To recreate the curry sauce you’d get from the chippy, we’ve used a stick blender to blitz oodles of veg and store cupboard staples (including mushy peas, baked beans and mushrooms) together.

You’ll be left with far more sauce than you need to comfortably serve 6 portions, but that’s far from a bad thing! Refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight jar, and you’ll be able to fast-track chip-shop flavours another day.

You can even top up your leftover portions, if you’re in the mood for a saucier serving.

While fruity ciders might make you think of summer, this Somerset Pork is a surefire wintertime favourite. Traditional pub-bought versions can be high in calories, but we’ve kept things nice and light with slimming-friendly swaps.

Trust us when we tell you that the cider-infused sauce is far too good to leave on your plate. You’ll need a side of Creamy Mashed Potatoes or wedges to help you soak up every last drop!

This Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Lasagne is well worth cracking out your tupperware. With layers of creamy, cheesy goodness, you’ll be glad to hear that this Special Occasion dinner also reheats like a dream.

It’s tough to believe that there’s no actual cream in sight for this one. You’ll use nifty swaps like reduced-fat spread and reduced-fat Cheddar cheese to rustle up our answer to béchamel-style white sauce.

Looking for more cooking inspiration? Our other ‘what to make next’ articles are well worth having a scroll through (they’re all based around Nom favourites!):

• What to Make Next if You Love Creamy Garlic Chicken
• What to Make Next if You Love Sausage Traybake
• What to Make Next if You Love Campfire Stew
• What to Make Next if You Love Tuscan Chicken Macaroni
• What to Make Next if You Love Viking Toast

Have you decided what you’re making next?

While the luxurious silkiness of our Beef Stroganoff will have you coming back for more, we’re hoping all of the tasty ideas above will leave you just as satisfied. 

Don’t forget to share photos in our Facebook group of what you make next! We have almost 1 million lovely community members waiting to support you on your slimming journey.

You can always take a quick look in our Gallery if you’re on the hunt for even more inspiration. You’ll want to sign up to a free website account to upload and share your photos (we’ve got a step-by-step guide you can follow that makes it even easier).

If you liked this article, there’s more where that came from. Explore our blog to browse for recipe ideas, kitchen equipment recommendations, money-saving tips and more.