I accidentally added the cream cheese and sour cream to beef stroganoff in slow cooker...will it ruin it in the end?

Charmaine
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13 Comments

Smaug April 10, 2018
I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of making Stroganoff in a slow cooker- how would you even do that? And WHY would you do that. I know there's no real specific tradition for this dish- it seems to have been invented in a restaurant somewhere- but this seems to be miles from any version I know.
 
Smaug April 26, 2018
Anyone? Still wondering how you would cook a dish that typically takes a half hour or less start to finish in a slow cooker. What are these people making?
 
Tara E. April 11, 2020
You can cook many other things in a slow cooker. 1. its a 1 pot meal so you can chuck everything in before work, let it cook on low for 8 hours and find it ready when you leave. I usually do it for 4 hours on a higher setting. I then don't have to watch the meal, I have it prepped and ready to go when bub is finally asleep. Helps so much. Many meals that take half hour on stove require watching over and stirring, slow cookers remove that requirement.
 
Smaug April 11, 2020
I have since found that the history of Beef Stroganoff is even more confused than I had thought and that there is an actual school of though that makes it as a stew. No telling how this got started, but the name has come to be applied to dishes that have no particular resemblance to each other I've even seen beef free versions.
 
KateTheCook July 14, 2022
Because it’s delicious that way! You should try it. I have been doing it for years. Meat is so tender.
 
Smaug July 14, 2022
The question is more of what it is than whether you like it, but this is apparently another of those dishes that has lost all identity through indiscriminate use of the name- see "pizza", "chili", "key lime pie" etc. In answer to the original question, sour cream breaks easily and will probably not fare well in a slow cooker; it's usually added at the end off the heat. Cream cheese is a new one on me- it generally contains the emulsifier carrageenan, as well as a lot of milk solids that can act as a stabilizer, so I suppose it could help hold the sour cream together.
 
Robert H. April 10, 2018
Another photo of the somewhat averted disaster.
 
Robert H. April 10, 2018
So I messed up and added the sour cream early as well. I didn't have enough sour cream for the rest of your head so I added just a little bit of whole milk. Not sure if that really mattered. Closed up my instant pot and ran for 10 minutes and low pressure.

When I opened it up it was pretty soupy so I thickened it with a little bit of cornstarch and water and added the noodles then closed it up for another five minutes, this time on high pressure. The picture below is the result. Not sure it's exactly beef stroganoff but I think it will do.
 
Nanette H. April 26, 2018
Hi, how did it turn out taste wise? I just did the same thing by adding all the ingridents together ( sour cream), should I slow cook or high? I can’t believe I did this, ugh!!!!
 
Susan W. December 15, 2015
Even if the cream cheese breaks, it can simply stirred back to creamy. I have a fun potluck creamed corn with cream cheese that is made in the slow cooker. The cream cheese broke one and came right back together with a stir. Unfortunately, the sour cream is a different story. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that somehow the cream cheese will hold the sour cream together. Hopefully this is a recipe that is cooked on low. That will help.
 
boulangere December 15, 2015
The sad news is that cream cheese will likely break as well.
 
Leith D. December 15, 2015
The cream cheese might be OK but the sour cream will probably "break" in the heat, even on low. Strain the sauce when you get home, then add the sour cream to a few TB of hot liquid and add it back to your sauce. Good luck!
 
LeBec F. December 15, 2015
I think leith means, and I agree, to add fresh sour cream just before serving. Maybe that will mask the visual of the broken sour cream(acid separating from fat) but at any rate, you have not really damaged the flavor. ( I'm guessing the cream cheese is just a stabilizer for the sour cream? but my experience is that cream cheese does not separate when a mixture is cooked over low heat. )
But plse tell us how it works out!
 
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