022 / 75 · Skillet Chicken and Turkey

Quick Chicken Mushroom Stroganoff

2 bowls, each with half the chicken-mushroom sauce and egg noodles · Active 25 min · Total 55 min

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Mushrooms and chicken both release moisture, so this stroganoff cooks them in stages. The mushrooms get a chance to brown before the reduced-fat sour cream goes in. Egg noodles cook alongside the skillet and are part of the complete meal. The useful finishing skill is keeping a cultured dairy sauce gentle rather than boiling it hard in an attempt to make dinner faster.

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Original hand-drawn illustration of quick chicken mushroom stroganoff.

Wait through the wet stage

Slice mushrooms to a fairly even thickness. A thin shaving disappears before a thick wedge is tender. Put them in the pan after the chicken has moved to a clean plate and give their moisture time to evaporate. At first the pan may look watery; keep cooking until the liquid recedes and some surfaces color. Stir the onion often enough that it softens without turning black. Paprika only needs a short stir in this moist mixture before the measured water is added.

Temper the cool sour cream

Take the skillet off the heat and stir a few spoonfuls of its hot liquid into the sour cream in a separate bowl. That small intermediate step warms the dairy gradually before it joins the whole pan. Return the chicken and use low heat to finish; a slow approach lets you check its temperature without a furious boil that can split the sauce. Drain the noodles when tender but still holding their shape. If they sit for a minute, loosen them with a spoonful of reserved plain cooking water instead of adding unmeasured butter. Divide both noodles and sauce evenly. The meal does not need a new topping to look finished: browned mushroom slices, pale chicken strips and the creamy coating already provide a clear contrast.

Ingredients

  • 10 1/2 oz skinless boneless chicken breast (300 g raw), cut in 1 cm/3/8-inch strips
  • About 4 cups white mushrooms, sliced (250 g raw)
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced (80 g)
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil (10 ml/about 9 g)
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika (2 g)
  • 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard (10 g)
  • Scant 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (100 g)
  • 2/3 cup drinking water (150 ml), for sauce
  • About 2 cups dry egg noodles (120 g; weigh because shapes vary)
  • 4 cups drinking water (1 litre), for boiling and draining noodles
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g)
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (0.3 g)

Set out

28 cm/11-inch deep skillet, 2-litre/2-quart saucepan, Sieve, Small heatproof bowl and spoon, Tongs or spatula, Separate raw-poultry board and clean plate, Knife, Kitchen scale, Food thermometer

Allergens

Milk, Egg, Wheat, Mustard; check noodles and sour cream labels for other allergens. Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

  1. Bring noodle-cooking water to a boil. Prepare mushrooms and onion, then cut chicken on a separate raw-food board and clean equipment and hands.
  2. Heat oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken strips in one layer and cook for 6–8 minutes, turning, until they reach 165°F/74°C. Transfer to a clean plate.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and mushrooms to the skillet. Cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring, until onion is soft and mushroom liquid has mostly evaporated. Add paprika and stir for 20 seconds, then add sauce water, mustard, salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile boil noodles for their packet time, usually 6–9 minutes, until tender. Reserve a little plain cooking water, then drain.
  5. Take the skillet off the heat. Stir 2–3 spoonfuls of hot sauce into the sour cream in the small bowl, then stir that mixture back into the skillet. Return chicken and plate juices. Warm gently over low heat, without a hard boil, until the chicken reaches 165°F/74°C and the sauce is hot. Divide over the noodles in 2 bowls.

A useful kitchen skill

Warm cultured dairy gradually with a little hot sauce before returning it to the pan. Gentle heat and a thermometer can work together without boiling the sauce hard.

A useful detail

The 55-minute total includes mushroom moisture evaporation and a gentle dairy finish; noodles cook in parallel. Do not substitute a raw 300 g purchase weight with 300 g already cooked chicken and keep the same estimate.

Another way

  • Use 250 g chestnut/cremini mushrooms instead of white mushrooms, keeping slices even and recalculating for that ingredient.
  • Replace egg noodles with 120 g dry plain wheat pasta, cooking to its packet and calculating that pasta separately.

Keep it well

Refrigerate promptly in shallow containers at 40°F/4°C or below within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Use within 3 days or the shorter sour-cream label. Reheat the needed portion gently to 165°F/74°C throughout, stirring and adding a small amount of drinking water if the sauce thickens.