This is a struggle meal that is all about using up leftovers because when money is tight, wasting food is not an option.
One hundred percent, the only way you survive during a struggle season is by using what you already have. Nothing gets tossed. Everything gets repurposed.
Now, here’s the problem in my house: My family will not eat leftovers. They just won’t.
So instead of reheating the same meal and listening to complaints, I create what I call makeovers. Same food, different form. And funny enough, they’ll eat it every time.
One of my husband’s favorite meals is beef stroganoff, so this struggle meal makeover is my version of it. It’s quick, inexpensive, filling, and built around leftovers.
Why Stroganoff Is the Perfect Struggle Meal
Stroganoff is one of those meals that feels fancy, but it really doesn’t need much to work. It’s creamy, comforting, and stretches a small amount of meat a long way, which is exactly what a struggle meal should do.
This version is especially good if you have leftover beef.
Here are a few ways that happens in real life:
- You go out for steak or prime rib and don’t finish it
- You make a roast at home and have some left
- Alternatively, you can get canned beef from places like Costco, but it’s a little salty to me.
No Leftover Beef? Still a Struggle Win
If you don’t have leftover beef, you can still make this fresh and keep it budget-friendly.
At my local Kwik Trip, bacon-wrapped sirloin steaks often go on sale for $2.99–$3.99. You only need one, maybe two if you want it meatier, but one will absolutely do the job. That’s what I’ve used in the picture below. Kwik Trip has these on sale 2 for $5 and since there’s only 3 of us in my family we had 1 left over after having steak and baked potato the night before. Usually though this is made with leftover roast.
The key to stretching this into a new meal is to slice the meat very thin.
How to Stretch the Beef
- Slice the beef ¼ inch thick or thinner
- Cut longer strips in half or thirds
- The thinner the slices, the further the meat goes
Ingredients (Struggle Meal Style)
This is not fancy. It’s pantry-friendly and flexible.
- Leftover beef or 1 thin-cut sirloin
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- Egg noodles -I like the wide/wavy ones but I only had rigatoni in the pantry. Use any pasta you have. In he end it all tastes the same.
- Beef broth or 1 beef bouillon cube
- About 1 cup water
Optional add-ins:
- Canned mushrooms (drained)
- Fresh mushrooms (sautéed see note below)
- Garlic or spices you like
How to Make Struggle Meal Stroganoff
Boil your egg noodles
Get these going first so everything finishes around the same time.
Warm the beef
Add about 1 cup of water to a frying pan
Dissolve 1 beef bouillon cube
Bring to a simmer
Add the thin-sliced beef and gently simmer just until warmed (You’re not cooking it, just re-heating it.)
Add the soup
Stir in 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup.
The broth and water will thin it into a stroganoff-style gravy.
Simmer to thicken
If it looks too watery, just let it simmer a bit longer.
It will thicken. I promise.
Add mushrooms (optional)
- Canned mushrooms can go right in after draining them
- Fresh mushrooms should be cooked separately first to release their water – Slice or quarter (whichever you prefer) mushrooms, brown them lightly, then add them to the sauce just at the end.
Drain noodles and serve
I dump the noodle right into the pot but you can plate them if you want.
How We Serve It
Traditionally in our house, this gets served with buttered bread and pickles. That’s the struggle version.
We will add a side salad if we can and if it’s summer and the garden is bursting we’ve been known to serve with a side of sliced cucumbers.
This isn’t fancy. Just filling.
I like fresh cracked pepper on mine. My husband doesn’t.
I don’t usually add salt. The soup and broth are salty enough in my opinion but you season it to your tastes. If you want to add garlic, or other spices, go for it. This is the base struggle recipe. You can dress it up however you like.
Why This Struggle Meal Works
This checks every box for a struggle meal:
– Uses leftovers
– Inexpensive
– Quick
– Filling
– No one complains
And most importantly, it turns something nobody wanted to eat into a meal everyone’s happy with. That’s the real struggle meal win.
Share this post if you know someone who’s in their “make it work” season — because we’ve all been there.
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