Last updated on September 17th, 2022 at 03:14 pm

Easy Chicken Stroganoff is inspired by a dish I ate in Bosnia. It’s a delicious recipe your family will love. And you’ll love how easy it is to make!

After my trip to Bosnia, I’ve wanted to make chicken stroganoff. I also wanted to make ćevapi with shopska, too. Anyway, the first night there, I had a delicious chicken in cream sauce. Then at Kibe we had this veal in a cream sauce. Yes, I know it’s a bit of a stretch to get from veal in cream sauce to chicken stroganoff, but it was a wine and sour cream type sauce.

As I was eating it, I knew I wanted to try to recreate it at home. Except with chicken and not veal. Not that I dislike veal, it’s just not a meat that I can easily find in the cuts that I want. I can find chops most of the time, but thing, scaloppini style cuts not so much.

What is stroganoff?

It’s a Russian dish. I did not know this. Not sure why I didn’t know this, but I didn’t. Beef Stroganoff is named from after an influential member of the Stroganov family. Some claim that it’s attributed to the French chefs working for the family, but then other historians claim it’s a version of a traditional Russian dish those French chefs kicked up. But I haven’t figured out what that dish is.

Traditionally, beef stroganoff consists of strips of beef dusted with salt and allspice to marinate before being sauteed in butter. The sauce is a simple mustard sauce. Yes. I said mustard. A simple mustard roux combines with broth and simmered. The sour cream is added at the end to bring the sauce to the desired consistency.

There’s no onions. No mushrooms. No alcohol in there. A later recipe adds in the onions. But it wasn’t until it started to spread through aristocracy did it really start to morph into the recipe we know today in the States. Every country has their own spin on this now international dish.

Apparently, the dish became very popular in China. In particular Shanghai in the 20’s. Servicemen oversees brought the popular dish back to the States with them. This with the influx of Russian immigrants escaping the Russian Tsar rule brought the nostalgic dish with them, too.

Add in the fact that housewives new to suburban life. They wanted to serve something fancy and delicious. Since stroganoff was making the headlines as a popular dish they served it up.

Another factor in it’s popularity is the invention of freeze drying. And mass marketing. The combination of the two made freeze-dried sauces and flavorings that you added to ground beef and sour cream very popular. It was a quick and easy meal made with simple ingredients. Also, beef stroganoff is a popular back packing meal, too.

What other variations of stroganoff are there?

Brazilian beef stroganoff has a tomato-based sauce. They add sofrito which is sauteed onions and garlic. They also add tomato paste and/or ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. And they use cream instead of sour cream. They serve theirs either with rice or French fries.

Asian style stroganoff skips the sour cream and adds in herbs and spices like coriander and, of course, includes soy sauce. Italian style has fresh tomatoes in the sauce. French include cognac to deglaze the pan. They also add in cornichon and crème fraiche.

What does Easy Chicken Stroganoff taste like?

I had an idea of what I really wanted this Easy Chicken Stroganoff to taste like, and I think I nailed it. I wanted it to have a nice wine flavor, be creamy, and slightly tangy. Nailed it.

The first time I made this Easy Chicken Stroganoff recipe I used Marsala. I know it’s not the best “wine” to be cooking with unless you’re making Marsala, but it came out pretty good. The second time I made this with a nice pinot grigio, and it was even better.

The wine flavor really is important to how I wanted this Easy Chicken Stroganoff to taste. But feel free to skip it and use stock to deglaze the pan with. The dish will still taste delicious. I know because I’ve done that, too.

I could have licked the pan. And it was still on the stove…with the burner on. It was that good! And every time I’ve made it since then it’s still that good! So much so that the hubs has told me I can make this dish any time I want. I’d say that’s a win for me.

The first time I made this, I cut the chicken into thin fillets instead of strips like I usually do with stroganoff meat. But for this version, as you can see, I’ve cut it onto bite-sized pieces. They brown up quickly and simmer in the sauce making them super tender and delicious.

If you don’t want to use chicken, feel free to use strips of beef and swap for beef broth. Or you can make it with strips or bite sized pieces of pork. Try some veal or even turkey. Heck, ground beef is always an option, too. Or meatballs of some kind.

Honestly take this recipe as a base to alter as you want. Want wine? Use it. Don’t want wine, substitute broth. Like the idea of Cognac or Brandy? Use that instead. Add in Worcestershire if you want.

Most places serve this over potatoes of some sort: fried, mashed, whatever. Some use rice. We almost always use egg noodles. I might have to try fries or rice some day. Serve yours over whatever you want. Heck, spoon it up over some Texas toast or garlic bread if you want. That actually sounds good. I might try that with some stroganoff sloppy joes!

Favorite Chicken Recipes

• Adobo Chicken Wings from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Air Fryer Chicken Patties from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Chicken an Bulgar Pilaf from Pandemonium Noshery
• Chicken Stir Fry Lettuce Wraps from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Easy Baked Bruschetta Chicken from Blogghetti
• Easy Chicken Stroganoff from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• French Onion Chicken in the Pressure Cooker from That Recipe
• Honey BBQ Chicken Legs from Jen Around the World
• Organic Chicken Bone Broth from Art of Natural Living
• Southern Fried Chicken from Palatable Pastime

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