Cheater Beef Stroganoff - Crockpot Cooking

I was inspired by a pinterest recipe described as, "melt in your mouth crockpot cube steak." My interest was peaked because cube steak is a cheaper cut of beef and now that I have a littel one, crockpot cooking is helpful on days that I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

The original recipe, posted by The Jilly Bean claims to be a favorite among her family. Although her husband comments that it looks like dog food, she says that it is full of flavor. I took her recipe and made it my own. Here we go...

Ingredients:

Package of 4 cube steak patties

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cup water

1 can cream of chicken

1 package onion soup mix

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

2 handfuls pasta shells

I bought a $5 package of cube steak which was 4 patties. I cut them into one inch slices and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. In a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil I seared the steak on both sides then moved the meat to the crockpot. Then I sliced half an onion and tossed that into the hot pan to sear on one side. To deglaze the pan I poured in one cup of water and scraped the bottom of the pan to get all the brown bits up. Then poured the water and onions into the crock pot.

Next, I added one can of cream of chicken soup, one package of dry onion soup mix and one tablespoon of whole grain mustard. Stir, top with the crockpot lid and turn to low for 6 hours. I checked on it every couple of hours and would stir the mixture. I don't think that is necessary, so it would work if you assembled in the morning and left it to cook on low all day.

As I tasted this throughout the day I couldn't help but be reminded of my Beef Stroganoff. Don't get me wrong, the Beef Stroganoff I made from Bon Appetite is the bomb! But in a pinch, I think that this easy cube steak crockpot recipe works just great.

My original plan was to cook some egg noodles when Jim came home from work. I couldn't find any in our pantry when it came time to cook the pasta so I tossed these pasta shells in some boiling water instead. After only 5 minutes of partially cooking the noodles, I had Jim drain the pasta and add it to the crockpot. The shells finished cooking in the beef and onion sauce.

It may not be a pretty dish, but this is really yummy. The cube steak nearly completely fell apart in the slow cooker, and I probably didn't even need to slice the patties in step one. The meat tasted shredded like pot roast falls apart. The addition of sliced onion is totally optional as well. I had it in the fridge and wanted to use it up, but the package of dry onion soup mix added all the onion flavor this dish needed.