The Canned Ingredient That Will Give Your Steak Dinner A Decadent Upgrade

For mushroom lovers, sauteed fresh mushrooms slathered over a sizzling steak is drool-worthy. If you don't have time to clean and slice fresh mushrooms, you can make a delicious sauce for steak with canned mushrooms instead. There's little difference nutritionally between fresh and canned mushrooms (except there is more sodium in the canned variety).  When drained, canned mushrooms can be easily switched out for fresh in a variety of recipes. 

Dry red wines, like cabernet, are often paired with steak. In our elegant recipe for steak with a red wine mushroom sauce, fresh mushrooms are sauteed and added to the wine and butter sauce before serving. But you could skip that step and add drained canned mushrooms to finish the sauce. 

Another delicious dish is steak Diane, famous for its luscious creamy Cognac sauce with mushrooms. Traditionally, it's made with beef tenderloin, but it would be delicious on any cut of steak. This Cognac-based sauce for a holiday recipe for chestnut and mushroom gravy with roasted onions can be enjoyed any time of year by simply making the sauce without the chestnuts. In adapting this recipe, you could reverse sear a ribeye in a cast-iron skillet, add a little oil or butter to the steak juices, then saute canned mushrooms for a minute or two. Flambé some Cognac, stir in cream, and voila, you have a decadent sauce to drape over your steak.

Before using canned mushrooms, they must be drained and patted dry with paper towels or you won't achieve the desired golden-brown color you'll want for a saute. Another important tip is to spread the canned mushrooms in a single layer in the pan so that any excess moisture will evaporate and allow the mushrooms to cook and brown evenly.

With canned mushrooms, you could save time by making a beef stroganoff sauce for steak. A good cut of beef, such as sirloin or ribeye, elevates this popular family favorite. The cream sauce is Cognac or brandy-based, but it can also be made with white wine or, using beef broth instead, no wine at all. Beef stroganoff requires several steps, like searing the steak strips and sauteing the mushrooms. But if you add canned mushrooms and ladle the sauce over a grilled or pan-seared steak, you'll be ready to serve in a jiffy.

Sometimes you might not want a rich sauce for your steak. Canned mushrooms are a worthy stand-in for fresh in this easy recipe for white wine-sauteed mushrooms. A popular topping for hamburgers that you could try on steak is caramelized onions. Adding sauteed canned mushrooms to caramelized onions would boost the flavor of the tender but bland filet mignon, which always benefits from a buttery and savory addition on top. Canned mushrooms are so versatile, they should be your new go-to for any mushroom sauce.