The holidays around our house are all about time spent being with and feeding our girls who are all home for Christmas vacation. As a mom, some of my favorite memories are centered around our table as we catch up on their work and lives on their own. Each year, the meals we enjoy as we catch up can be listed on one hand for their favorites, and they always include beef as the main ingredient.

For the last several years, we served a delicious beef brisket that we smoke for Christmas Eve for our extended family on my husband’s side and to close friends who come over to join us. This year was one of my favorites to date so far. However, what I enjoy a few days after Christmas even as much as the memories is the leftover brisket that we use in recipes like my Beef Stroganoff. To date, this recipe is the most popular recipe on my site with hundreds of thousands of views and pins on Pinterest. I love to think of a beef recipe getting this much traffic!

Beef Stroganoff is an old-fashioned dish that most of us grew up on as children. The creamy gravy over slices of round steak can be served over noodles, rice or even mashed potatoes. What you serve it over is all up to what you and your family likes. However, our favorite way to serve my version of Beef Stroganoff is over wide egg noodles, keeping the tradition of how this classic Russian dish is served. The creamy sour cream sauce over buttered noodles honestly can’t be beat, and left-overs – if you have any- are easy to meal prep for the next days lunch in individual containers. You can even freeze this dish for later too!

As you prep your dish to cook, make sure to cut your brisket or roast beef against the grain so that your meat will be fork tender. To begin this simple dish, sauté the onion in a little oil, reheat the beef in a Teflon coated skillet or pan, and add in the soup, beef broth, sour cream, and spices. Next, heat the mixture to a low boil and serve over the drained egg noodles. It’s a simple meal with less than seven ingredients, all of which you probably have on hand in your pantry. For those of you that are Instapot fans, this meal can be created in under fifteen minutes following the manufacturers setting for reheating your beef and sautéing your onion.

One little trick I do with onions is to sauté’ them in the microwave with a little oil or 1 stick butter (for one onion on high for three minutes uncovered). Just cut your onions, place the butter on top and set your timer to high and three minutes. This cuts down on the time used to sauté on the stove top and makes cooking onions a breeze.

Click here for the recipe for The Ranch Kitchen’s Beef Stroganoff



So, as you think about the meals you will serve your family this holiday season or into the new year ahead, place our Beef Stroganoff on your menu rotation. Using either your left-over beef from a roast or brisket helps get this main dish on your table in under 30 minutes in a cinch. This Beef Stroganoff is husband and kid approved at our home and even our ranch manager Steve, who is the very pickiest of eaters, raves about this dish.

As an added perk for this post, I’ve also included a recipe for your New Years Eve or New Years Day table with my Black-eyed Pea Salsa. Everyone needs a little luck in the new year and our fun pea salsa is a favorite served with tortilla chips, Pita chips, or alone as a relish for your friends and family.

Make sure you pick up your canned peas well before December 31st because everyone will raid the grocery store shelves in order to make sure they eat their peas for good luck in the New Year. Using store bought Italian dressing and seasonings, The Ranch Kitchen’s Black-eyed Pea Salsa will keep in your refrigerator for up to four to five days.

Click here for The Ranch Kitchen’s Black-eyed Pea Salsa



We hope you will stop by The Ranch Kitchen and browse the hundreds of recipes we have posted over the last several years. Make sure to follow our newly re-designed The Ranch Kitchen’s Instagram page and check us out on Twitter, @theranchkitchen, and Facebook, as we always promote the Hereford breed we raise and our recipes on these sites.

Happy holidays and may the year ahead bring your family good health, great times and prosperity.

Happy cooking!

From our ranch to your table,
Alise Nolan – The Ranch Kitchen

If you like this recipe, check out another great dish from The Ranch Kitchen here.