Kyl Haselbauer has 20 years of experience working in fine-dining and modernist kitchens, including Bar Cotto and Anchovies &amp; Olives in Seattle. He is also the owner of Bright Spot, a café and coffee shop in Seattle.

Kyl Haselbauer

Our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/beef-bouillon-cubes">beef bouillon cubes</a> are super convenient for making <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/beef-bouillon-red-wine-pan-sauce">tasty pan sauces</a> and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/beef-bouillon-sipping-broth">aromatic, warming sipping broths</a> in minutes, but they can also be reconstituted and used whenever you need some good stock, like when you’re making beef stroganoff.My dad’s beef stroganoff was one of my favorite dinners as a kid: tender steak and cremini mushrooms swimming in packaged powdered beef gravy, served over egg noodles. This version is pretty similar, although I put a few of my own twists on it. Chuck has a lot of flavor, and if you brown and then cook it in a pressure cooker, it’ll become juicy and tender without falling part in just an hour. I also add dried mushrooms—shiitakes, morels, or porcini will all work—to bump up the umami of the stew, since dried mushrooms have a lot of guanylic acid, which combines with glutamic acid (from the beef and the bouillon) to create a deeply savory flavor profile.And while the best part about most stroganoffs is the buttered noodles coated in sauce, the real star of this dish is the reconstituted beef bouillon. Try using this same recipe with some other beef bouillon cube, or subbing in the prepared, store-bought “beef” stock made with artificial flavoring and caramel coloring, or even our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/chicken-bouillon-cubes">chicken</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/pork-bouillon-cubes">pork bouillon cubes</a>, and you’ll see the difference. The stroganoff will still be pretty good (the recipe is solid), but a stroganoff made with our beef bouillon cubes will be far better, because they have real beef flavor and a truckload of gelatin, and they’re seasoned perfectly with salt and MSG. The stew will taste beefier, the sauce will be silkier and richer, and those buttered noodles will taste so much better.

Ultimate Beef Stroganoff