Easy dinner recipes: Mushroom Stroganoff

On the surface, mushroom stroganoff should be a simple, quick dish. All it really requires are mushrooms, plus something creamy and something starchy.

Perhaps because mushroom stroganoff is a vegetarian alternative to a rich, beefy comfort food dish, recipes for such a meal trend towards the needlessly complicated. Extraneous ingredients like wine, three types of herbs, or goat cheese, abound, which is a shame, since it is easy to make mushroom stroganoff with just five ingredients.

First, the starch, which should always be egg noodles. Extra-thick ones are ideal, but those marked “thick” will work just fine. So will gluten-free options. Boil them until tender and toss with a little butter while you cook the mushrooms.

The mushrooms can be any variety you prefer. Button or cremini are the easiest to find, but wild blends are even better. If you are short on time or intimidated by slicing a pound of mushrooms on a weeknight, pick up a couple of containers of presliced ‘shrooms. Instead of enhancing their flavor with garlic, onion and a green herb, use an entire bunch of scallions; the whites hint at both garlic and onion, and the greens bring a pop of herbaceousness.

Finally, for the creamy element, stick with tradition and stir in a generous cup of sour cream. It’ll bring balancing acidity in addition to creamy texture, and you really can’t beat it for pure, rich comfort. I like to serve the mushroom-sour cream sauce scooped on top of the buttery noodles, but you can just as easily toss it all together in a big pot. Even if you throw together a mixed green salad, you’ll still have dinner in about 20 minutes without extra complications.