Cooking for two

Meatball stroganoff a one-dish delight

One-Pot Meatball Stroganoff sans mushrooms
Photo by Kelly Brant
One-Pot Meatball Stroganoff sans mushrooms Photo by Kelly Brant

This cheater stroganoff comes together in less than half an hour, making it perfect for those evenings when you want something comforting and filling, but also fast.

Fully cooked meatballs from the freezer stand in for the cubes or strips of beef called for in traditional stroganoff. The whole thing, including the egg noodles, cooks in a mixture of beef broth and butter that reduces to a flavorful sauce and becomes lusciously creamy with a generous dollop of sour cream stirred in just before serving.

We finished the dish with a smattering of fresh parsley to give it some color.

Those with hearty appetites may wish to serve the dish with an additional vegetable such as braised cabbage, green beans or broccoli.

The recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker Right-Size Recipes: Delicious Meals for One or Two.

The original recipe calls for mushrooms, but a certain picky eater in our household (aka the cook) doesn't eat them, so we left them out.

A note about the nutrition information: The data below are what is included in the book. The actual amounts will vary depending on the brand of broth, meatballs and noodles you use and whether you use the full amount of sour cream. When we calculated the data based on our ingredients, the protein, sodium and calories were lower, 24 g, 883 mg and 645 respectively, than the cookbook.

One-Pot Meatball Stroganoff

2 tablespoons butter

4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms

⅛ teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper

2 cups beef broth (use reduced-sodium or no-salt-added if sodium is a concern)

2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles

12 frozen fully cooked meatballs, thawed (see note)

2 to 5 tablespoons sour cream

Fresh parsley, optional garnish

In a deep skillet or wide saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth, egg noodles and meatballs. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer vigorously for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until noodles are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed/evaporated. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

Note: To thaw them quickly, place the meatballs on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on 100% power for 1 minute.

Nutrition information: Each serving (prepared with regular broth, all-beef meatballs and the full amount of sour cream) contains approximately 760 calories, 42 g protein, 42 g fat, 52 g carbohydrate, 250 mg cholesterol, 2,040 mg sodium and 3 g fiber.

Carbohydrate choices: 3.5

Food on 10/09/2019

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