You’ll be amazed that you can make this healthy chicken stroganoff with mushrooms in only 20 minutes! Using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream makes this traditional comfort food lighter and healthier, with every bite smothered in a creamy, delicious, gravy-like sauce.
This Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff is creamy and decadent tasting, yet guilt-free. It’s full of simple, creamy, salty, gravy-like chicken and mushroom goodness. And the sauce sticks to every piece of pasta in the most delicious way possible- it will be hard to stop eating this one!
But that’s OK, because it’s so healthy :-)
Traditional stroganoff dishes frequently use lots of added butter and heavy cream or sour cream. Now don’t get me wrong- I am the last person to be against the use of any of those ingredients. But this version uses only a small amount of olive oil for added fat, and Greek yogurt to make it super creamy and delicious.
AND IT ONLY TAKES 20 MINUTES!!!!!
I’ll stop shouting and explain how to actually make this now.
How to make healthy chicken and mushroom stroganoff
- First, sauté some onions in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Inhale deeply. This is the best smell on earth (well, besides fresh cut grass). Make sure you’re cooking up the pasta at this point, too, so it’s ready to go!
- Then, add some mushrooms and salt to the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Whenever you sauté mushrooms, it’s important to a) add salt, and b) not stir it around too much (this causes the moisture to evaporate faster). These tricks leave you with a concentrated mushroom flavor that won’t make your dish soggy with the liquid from the mushrooms (here’s more on how to make perfectly browned sautéed mushrooms).
- Add some all-purpose flour and stir to coat in order to thicken the sauce. You can use whole wheat if you like, but I find all-purpose to be better at thickening and have a better taste for the gravy-base.
- Stir in some chicken broth (or vegetable), some of the water from the pasta, the almost cooked pasta, and some salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer to thicken. Mmmmm… creamy gravy deliciousness.
- Add some shredded cooked chicken and Greek yogurt, and viola! Healthy and fast Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff.
How do I make this with uncooked chicken?
If you don’t have already cooked chicken, fear not. It will take you about ten minutes longer to prepare this meal, but you can simply sauté two cut up boneless skinless chicken breasts with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper before cooking everything else and you’ll be all set.
Alternatively, you can poach the chicken for an even healthier version.
Tips and Tricks
- Cook the pasta until just BEFORE it’s completely finished cooking. In SALTED water! I usually take it out 1 minute before it’s al-dente according to the package instructions. This will ensure it can finish cooking in the sauce, enhancing the flavor and thickening the sauce a bit. It’s a trick I like to use for pasta bolognese, too.
- For a low-fat recipe, use low-fat or nonfat Greek yogurt. For a richer taste, use whole milk Greek yogurt.
- Use lots of salt and pepper. As with most recipes that use fairly bland ingredients, you want to make sure you season it well.
What kind of pasta to use for stroganoff
Traditionally, stroganoffs are often made with egg noodles. But I used whole wheat fusilli for this recipe.
I like using whole wheat pasta for this because it’s a) healthier, and b) I think the nutty, earthy flavor goes really well with the mushrooms.
But you can use any kind of pasta you want! Whole wheat, chickpea, regular, egg noodles, linguine, etc. all work fine. It’s a great way to use up that leftover half box of pasta you have in your pantry.
Other easy comfort food recipes
- Tuna Casserole from Scratch
- Chicken Pot Pie with a Whole Wheat Biscuit Crust
- Chicken and Dumplings from Scratch
- Pasta e Fagioli
- Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole
Be sure to check out More Pasta Recipes for easy weeknight dinner ideas!
Did you make this healthy chicken and mushroom stroganoff recipe? Please click the stars below to comment and Rate this Recipe
Healthy 20-Minute Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff
Equipment
- Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion quartered and thinly sliced
- 16 oz. mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken stock/broth vegetable can also be used
- 3/4 cup Greek yogurt preferably full fat, see notes
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken such as rotisserie
- 8 oz. whole wheat fusilli or other noodles, such as egg noodles or fettuccini
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions in heavily salted water until 1 minute BEFORE it's al dente.
- Meanwhile, sauté the onions in the olive oil (2 tablespoons) in a large pot or skillet over medium-high heat until softened and starting to brown (about 3 minutes)
- Add the sliced mushrooms and 1/2 tsp. salt to the pot and sauté for a few minutes more until most of the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms have developed a golden brown color, stirring infrequently (about 4 minutes).
- Add the all-purpose flour (2 tablespoons) and stir to coat each mushroom well, getting rid of as many chunks of flour as possible and cooking out the raw flour taste (about 1 minute).
- Add the chicken stock gradually and stir well, incorporating the flour as much as possible. Add the almost al dente pasta and 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Bring to a simmer to thicken and finish cooking the pasta, stirring frequently (about 2 minutes).
- Turn down the heat to low. Add the cooked chicken and Greek yogurt and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve hot.
Notes
- Make it more flavorful: Add sherry or white wine to the cooked mushrooms before adding the flour to deglaze, stirring any browned bits as you go. You can also use sour cream instead of Greek yogurt for a richer taste.
- Be sure to heavily salt the pasta water- I usually add about two whole tablespoons of kosher salt to the cooking water when I make pasta of any kind!
- Make it vegetarian: leave the chicken out and make sure to use vegetable broth instead of chicken.
- Full fat yogurt is recommended because lower fat or no fat tends to curdle easier. If you want to save on some calories, you can use low or no fat, but I recommend turning off the heat and letting it cool off a bit before stirring the yogurt in to prevent curdling.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
This post originally appeared on Bowl of Delicious in August 2015. It has been updated with new photos, an improved recipe, and more pertinent information in the post.
Suzy
Hi! Do you think canned mushrooms would work?? We in a very rural area, so many of our things have to be shelf stable 🤷♀️
Elizabeth Lindemann
Sure! Canned mushrooms have a different taste and texture but I’m a huge fan of using what you have – I say go for it!
Nate
I loved the idea of using chicken instead of beef and that worked really well. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
I don’t know why to use yogurt instead of sour cream, though, I missed the cultured cream flavor and they’re essentially the same, health wise I assume.
One thing missing was mustard. I added a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and it added a missing dimension.
Thanks!
(BTW, despite the name, the origins of the recipe are French, not Russian)
Elizabeth Lindemann
Good question! Greek yogurt is higher in protein and lower in calories and fat. Of course “healthy” is subjective, but wanted to provide an alternative to sour cream for those who are looking for something like this. I like the idea of adding dijon mustard, thanks for sharing!
Deb by the Sea
Thank you for a great recipe.
The only changes I made were using half amount of the mushrooms and making up the other half with capsicum (bell pepper). I also added 1 tablespoon honey same time as when adding the lo-fat yoghurt (which by the way didn’t curdle).
As my husband’s diet requires low sodium, fat and sugar, this recipe nailed it! Will make again. P.s. cooking time was longer than 20 mins however I was starting from scratch – raw chicken, dry pasta etc so I expected this 🙂
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your substitutions, and for taking the time to translate “capsicum” for us Americans :-)
sawa
Uhhhh…gheesh!!!
Once again…soooo much more time, than the stated ” 20 minutes”…. No way! ( or, if someone has magic, please clue me in). I’m an experienced “cooker”, and this took me almost 90.minutes! Very disappointed…in the “headline”/ title ( which was why I chose this). Ugh.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Sorry this was frustrating for you! As a recipe writer this is one of the more difficult things to navigate, as different people are faster or slower at cooking, kitchens are set up more efficiently or not, and people buy ingredients that may or may not need more prepping. I always try to make my best estimate and sometimes this estimate is way off for some people. For this recipe, it’s assumed that the mushrooms are bought pre-sliced, the chicken is already cooked and shredded. Hope that helps!
Lisa C
I thought I would miss the richness of sour cream but I didn’t. This is a very nice lighter version of stroganoff that I will make again. I did everything in my instant pot – pressure cooked the chicken; then cooked the pasta (saute mode) adding water to the water used for pressure cooking which had some chicken drippings in it; then followed the directions above putting it all together in saute mode. Worked great with just one pot to clean. :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Great tips about using an instant pot for this – thank you!
Allie
Do you think ground chicken would work? I’m dying to try this and have lots of mini cremini mushrooms to use. Love it used whole wheat pasta so don’t have to go get egg yolk pasta like most recipes! Looks delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yes! Ground chicken will be great! I would add it after browning the mushrooms – it shouldn’t take long to cook. Then coat in flour and proceed with the directions. Good luck, hope you like it!
Aoife
Could I use cream cheese instead of yoghurt?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Sure! That sounds delicious!
Amber
Delicious healthy meal. And SO EASY. Thank you so much for the great recipe, tips, and notes.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
PJ
Just tried this for the first time this evening, we loved it! I added a lot of black pepper to give it a bit of a kick, was delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Black pepper makes such a difference in this recipe.
Amanda
So good! My husband is on a low sodium diet and we both love this dish! Quick and easy which is great, especially on weeknights.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Brewis
Unless you use full fat perhaps, the Yoghurt curdles, absolutely rank
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh no- sorry you had a frustrating experience! Yes, lower fat or no fat Greek yogurt will definitely have a tendency to curdle easier. This can be remedied by making sure the dish is a bit cooler before adding in the yogurt – you can turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes or so before stirring it in. Thanks for bringing this up – I went ahead and added a recipe note that encourages full-fat yogurt for this reason and also gives this tip to prevent curdling.
MARY BUDREWICZ
Made this tonight for supper…with a few changes. We add garlic to everything savory so included it here. Also added the white wine and parsley. Melted about an ounce of blue cheese (in the chicken stock) just to have the flavor in the background. We used two cooked chicken breasts which weighed, in total, one pound. My husband did all the prep work (shredding and chopping) ahead of time and it still took about 30 minutes to make…which is fine. Next time, we might substitute parmesan cheese for the blue. Nice recipe to use up cooked chicken. Thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it! Love the idea of adding blue (or parmesan) cheese!
Catherine
Bowl of delicious is apt description for this recipe! Divine, so easy and so quick! Thank you for sharing.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy you liked it!