Chicken Stroganoff is a variation of the classic Russian dish called Beef Stroganoff or Stroganov. Chicken Stroganoff cooks way faster than its beef counterpart and that makes it a perfect choice for a quick and easy dinner. Just like the original Stroganoff, it serves well with rice, mashed potatoes or your favorite type of pasta. If you really want to stay authentic, you should serve Stroganoff with shoestring fries.

There is quite a bit of confusion surrounding the history of Stroganoff, but pretty much all sources agree that this recipe originated in Russia and it was named after the wealthy St Petersburg family of Stroganovs. If that’s of any interest to you, read more about the history of Stroganoff here.

Now let’s talk a bit about my Chicken Stroganoff recipe, shall we? There are two major differences between my recipe and most others you can find online. First of all, I’m not using mushrooms today. The reason is simple, my kids don’t like them 🙂 When cooking for just me and my wife, I add a solid amount of finely sliced white or brown mushrooms, that I sautee along with the onions.

The second difference is that I add finely chopped pickles when making chicken stroganoff and I actually let them cook in the sauce, so they release the flavors into it. I’ve seen some recipes, where pickles are used as a side or garnish, but most home cooks skim them entirely. You can definitely skip the pickles, but I think they just make the chicken stroganoff sauce taste better, try it for once!

TIP: Looking for more great and easy to make chicken recipes? Try my Marinated chicken wings, Grilled chicken salad, Baked chicken thighs, Grilled chicken gyros or this Crockpot chicken pasta recipe from Rachel.

Should you use a slow cooker, pressure cooker or instant pot when making chicken stroganoff?

I would say no to all the options. While it’s quite common to use a pressure cooker or instant pot when making the beef version of stroganoff, mainly to reduce the cooking time, it’s absolutely not necessary with a chicken stroganoff. Chicken meat cooks quickly, so it’s not really needed.

And the same goes for making chicken stroganoff in a slow cooker. It’s basically pointless. This dish is meant to come together QUICKLY, it takes just about 45 minutes from start to finish and chicken meat becomes tender really fast too. So why would I opt in for a method that takes hours? Nope, doesn’t make sense.

Chicken Stroganoff Recipe Ingredients

My chicken stroganoff recipe is very simple and requires just a bunch of common ingredients. I’m pretty sure you already have all the spices at home… I just had to get some Worcestershire sauce as I don’t use it all that often.

BTW: the name of the sauce is so hard to pronounce, I had to look it up again. Check this video to see if you’re saying it right, I certainly wasn’t 🙂

1kg of chicken breasts
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
Vegetable (or olive) oil
1-2 tablespoons of tomato puree
1-2 tablespoons of yellow or Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream
1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
1.5 cups of chicken broth or stock

How To Make Chicken Stroganoff

Watch the video or scroll down for step by step instructions:

Start by cutting the chicken breasts into chunks or strips. The cutting size depends on your preferences, but traditionally, chicken stroganoff calls for smallish pieces. I’m working with roughly 1 kilo or 2 pounds of chicken breasts today, which is enough for about 5 adults.

NOTE: You can also use boneless and skinless thighs to make chicken stroganoff.

Transfer the meat to a bowl, add a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil, you can use olive oil if you will, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix it all up properly and let marinate for a few minutes, while we work on the rest.

Heat up 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. I’m using a WOK today, but feel free to use whatever frying pan you like to work with, just make sure it’s deep enough to take all the sauce. The sauce is probably the best part about this chicken stroganoff and we want to make a lot of it.

Add one large finely chopped yellow onion and sautee for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes translucent. Then drop in 1 clove of chopped garlic and sautee some more.

Once the onions become lightly browned it’s time to add the meat into our pan. Fry for about 10 minutes, mixing frequently, until there is no pink color present anymore. We don’t want the meat to become fully cooked just yet.

Go on with a big tablespoon of tomato puree and mix it in. A small tip for you, using 2 spatulas makes the mixing so much easier, try it. Especially when cooking something with a lot of sauce, just like this chicken stroganoff.

The next ingredient is yellow mustard, one big tablespoon again. Finish it up with 2 tablespoons of the hardest to pronounce ingredient: Worcestershire sauce.

Mix everything up again and proceed with 1 and a half cups of chicken broth or stock. You can use beef too, for a more intense and deep flavor of our chicken stroganoff sauce.

The last ingredient we are about to add at this stage are 5 smallish finely chopped pickles. Simmer on low until the meat becomes fully cooked, which shouldn’t take longer than 10 or 15 minutes.

NOTE: As mentioned in the introduction, not everyone uses pickles when making chicken stroganoff, but I strongly advise to try this. It simply gives the sauce a specific taste that I really love.

Now it’s time to finish the sauce. Mix a cup of heavy cream and a cup of sour cream with 2-3 tablespoons of all purpose flour. I recommend using a whisk to make sure no lumps can form.

NOTE: Some people don’t like to use flour or cannot eat it due to allergies, if you are one of them, replace the flour with corn or potato starch. Just keep in mind that starch behaves differently than flour, add it in batches or the sauce might become too thick.

Add this cream mixture to the pan while stirring and keep simmering for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens. In case the sauce looks too thin, just mix some more flour with water and add it to the pan.

Chicken stroganoff sauce needs to be rather thick, but still a little bit runny, this way it sticks to the meat and side dish nicely and that’s what we want. Once you are happy with the consistency, it’s time to give the sauce a taste and add more salt if needed.

And it’s time to serve! My side of choice for today is the Fusilli pasta, I think it goes really well with this saucy dish. Let’s add some chopped parsley for garnish and we are ready to eat.

Chicken Stroganoff Tips & Questions

Is chicken stroganoff healthy? This dish is definitely on the healthier side, though it’s not exactly low in carbs or calories. In the end, it depends on what ingredients you use as you control the amount of salt, broth quality, fat content in the cream etc…

Can you freeze chicken stroganoff? Yes, this dish freezes nicely, there is no ingredient included that would degrade when frozen.

Can you reheat chicken stroganoff? Yes, this is a perfect make-ahead type of a dish, just like pretty much any sauce-based recipe. It reheats perfectly and doesn’t lose its quality.

How long does chicken stroganoff stay good for? You can safely store this dish in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just make sure you cool it down and refrigerate within 2-3 hours or else the creamy sauce might go wrong.

What to serve chicken stroganoff with? This is a very versatile dish and it works really well with a wide range of sides. Boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, fries, rice, risoni, orzo, basically any pasta… All of these make great sides for this recipe.

Is chicken stroganoff better than beef stroganoff? That’s a hard call, really. Beef has a deeper and more intense flavor but chicken is considered more healthy and it also cooks way faster. I’d say it comes down to your personal preferences. I’m making both versions and I like both a lot.

Want to try some more chicken stroganoff recipes? I like this one from Cafe Delites or this one from Recipe Tin.

Mora Recipes With Pasta

Penne al Salmone – For those who love salmon.