[2][3][4][5] A legend attributes its invention to French cooks working for the family,[6] but several researchers point out that the recipe is a refined version of older Russian dishes.

[7] Elena Molokhovets [ru]'s classic Russian cookbook A Gift to Young Housewives gives the first known recipe for Govjadina po-strogonovski, s gorchitseju, "Beef à la Stroganov, with mustard", in its 1871 edition.

The sauce is a simple roux mixed with prepared mustard and broth, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no onions, no mushrooms and no alcohol.

Another recipe, this one from 1909, adds onions and tomato sauce, and serves it with crisp potato straws, which are considered the traditional side dish for beef Stroganoff in Russia.

[citation needed] It came to Hong Kong in the late fifties,[11] with Russian restaurants and hotels serving the dish with rice but not sour cream.

Some variations include mushrooms and onions or other vegetables and varied seasonings such as sugar, salt, black pepper, and bottled marinades (especially Worcestershire sauce) and rubs.

[15] In the version often prepared in the United States today in restaurants and hotels, it consists of strips of beef filet with a mushroom, onion, and sour cream sauce, and is served over rice or noodles.

Additionally, Japanese home recipes for Stroganoff frequently call for ingredients that are outside of Russian tradition, such as small amounts of soy sauce.