Beef and Noodles

Beef and Noodles is the ultimate comfort food! This is an old family recipe that will take you right back to your Grandma’s kitchen table! Sometimes simple, humble, old-fashioned food is the best.

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I love making old-fashioned recipes for my family– the kind that ooze nostalgia; the kind that Grandma absolutely, positively used to make.

I put lots of those recipes up on this blog: American Goulash, Vegetable Beef Soup, Crockpot Beef Stew, and Southern Style Green Beans. These recipes have stuck around and been passed down from generation to generation. They’re classic and have long since proven their worth on the dinner table. If I had a tab in my recipe box for these tried-and-true dishes, this Beef and Noodles Recipe would be one of the highlights.

I’m totally crazy for this old-fashioned beef and noodles. It’s super easy to make – in fact, my recipe only has three steps. (Seriously – three steps!) You’ll love how simply you can make this easy beef and noodles recipe. Stovetop or crockpot, though? Many easy recipes use a crockpot because you don’t have to be around for the “cooking” part of the process. And while you can definitely make crockpot beef and noodles, my recipe uses a good old-fashioned stovetop.

******This allows you a little more control over how the beef gets cooked, and I think the ground beef and noodles taste more fresh and have a better consistency when cooked over a stovetop.

I love that this recipe is made from scratch – there’s no canned soup in the sauce (canned “beef and noodle soup” doesn’t really sound that good anyway). Using “made-from-scratch” recipes is awesome. You get so much more say in the ingredients and the flavor. If you don’t like something, take it out. If you want to use organic, grass-fed beef, go for it!

As you might imagine, the leftovers of this recipe are almost as good as the first time around.

For a long time, I would make this beef and noodles recipe with homemade noodles.

But I have changed my opinion over years. While the homemade noodles were super delicious, they were also a lot more time consuming to make and made the recipe quite a bit heavier. I realized I didn’t make this recipe as often as my family wanted it because it wasn’t easy, so I’d only make it once in a blue moon.

Now, I’ve found that using packaged egg noodles in place of the homemade noodles is preferable for me and we get to have this dish a heck of a lot more often.

Beef and egg noodles are incredibly yummy and a whole heck of a lot easier, which makes the whole recipe far more appealing to make as part of your regular meal routine.

This recipe is virtually identical to what a lot of people call “Amish beef and noodles” (except, of course, without the homemade Amish noodles). I just know it as plain old “beef and noodles.” But whatever you call it, it’s darn good.

A classic comfort food, a bowl of beef and noodles is warm, hearty, beefy, and absolutely scrumptious. You’ll love its simple beauty.

When I serve this recipe (and I do, often now :)) I serve it with a fresh green salad and rolls. If I haven’t used vegetables in the recipe (see the “variations” section below), I’ll also make up some steamed carrots or asparagus. During the prime season, I’ll also make up fresh corn on the cob. My family loves that meal, and the rich aroma that fills our house is always met with smiles.

As you might imagine, this recipe doubles very easily. Just make double the noodles and beef! The double recipe works well for large groups or potlucks, or just to keep some of the delicious leftovers around.

Give this recipe for beef and noodles a try. It’s great for rainy days, cold evenings, and balmy summer days – a dish as versatile as this is always good to have on hand. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Recipe Notes:

Beef and Noodles vs. Beef Stroganoff: The difference between beef and noodles and beef stroganoff is a messy line. The two recipes are similar in their treatment of beef and the inclusion of egg noodles or homemade noodles.  Typically, beef stroganoff has a thicker, creamier sauce often using butter and another cream (like sour cream). The sauce used in my recipe for beef and noodles is more brothy and beefier – more savory, less creamy.

Beef: I love Beef Chuck in this recipe. The beef chuck cooks up buttery, tender, and absolutely delicious. The longer cook time creates a yummy beef broth that gives this dish a tremendous flavor. And if you have your local butcher cut up the beef for you, the recipe has virtually no serious work associated with it.

Some people like to marinate the beef in something like Worcestershire sauce. While I prefer the simple taste of the beef and sauce, marinating the beef isn’t illegal or anything. It’s not how I was taught to make this dish, so I just don’t do it. If that’s what you prefer, give it a go!

Beef Broth: I like to use a low sodium broth in most of my recipes, this one included. That way I get to control the saltiness of the dish. I find it’s easy for this recipe to taste too salty if you start with regular beef broth.

Wine: I’ve seen some other recipes for this dish that don’t include wine. My family has always used wine in the sauce. It really deepens the flavor profile and enhances the beef flavor. Skip it if you must, but you may need to increase the Better than Bouillon to compensate.

Broth: The sauce in this recipe tends to be a more like a slightly thickened broth than a gravy. The flour coating on the beef and the oil used to brown the beef provide a bit of a thickening agent. If you would like your sauce to be thicker, I suggest making a cornstarch slurry and adding it to the sauce when you pull the beef out to shred. Just combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of cold water and whisk it together with a fork until there are no lumps. Add half of the slurry to the sauce and cook the sauce over medium heat until it begins to bubble. If it’s not thickened to your liking you can repeat the process with the second half of the slurry.

Variations: If you’re interested in increasing the vegetables in the dish (and as a parent, I definitely am), I recommend peas and chopped carrots for this recipe. Mushrooms are also a very popular addition. You might consider adding peppers – especially green peppers. I sometimes will also add a large can of drained plum tomatoes, crushing them in my hands before adding them to the pot.

Lots of people love putting their favorite gravy recipe over this dish. While beef and noodles with gravy aren’t my favorite thing, its popularity probably speaks for itself.

If you love spicy food, feel free to add a little dash of red chili flakes to the sauce. Be careful – a few flakes go a long way!

Try a dash of ginger in the recipe for a unique flavor that stays true to the longevity of beef and noodles. It’s a fresh twist on the recipe, without deviating too far from the recipe’s roots.

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Beef and Noodles

Beef and Noodles is the ultimate comfort food! This is an old family recipe that will take you right back to your Grandma's kitchen table! Sometimes simple, humble, old-fashioned food is the best.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 20 mins

Servings: 4

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 2-4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil-Divided
• 2 1/2--3 Pounds Boneless Beef Chuck Roast Trimmed and Cut Into 1 Inch Cubed
• 1 Cup Yellow Onion Chopped
• 4 Large Garlic Clove Minced
• 40 Ounces Low Sodium Beef Broth
• 1 Cup Red Wine
• 1 Tablespoon Better than Bouillon~Beef Flavor
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram
• 2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 12 Ounces Dried Egg Noodles

Instructions

• Sprinkle beef cubes with all-purpose flour and toss to coat evenly, shaking off excess.
• In a large stock pot, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, brown meat in batches without crowding it. Add more oil as needed. Transfer browned meat with a slotted spoon, to a plate, and set aside.
• In the same pot, saute onion and garlic over medium-low heat, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add beef back to the pot. Pour in beef broth and red wine. Add Better than Bouillon, marjoram, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat immediately and simmer gently, partially covered with a lid, for about 1 1/2-2 hours or until the beef is tender. Transfer beef chunks with a slotted spoon to a plate and shred into large pieces. Return to pot.
• Meanwhile, cook the egg noodle according to package directions in salted water, just until al dente. Drain well then stir them into the sauce and gently mix until well combined. Serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 1015kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 72g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 267mg | Sodium: 1948mg | Potassium: 1862mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1.8% | Vitamin C: 4.7% | Calcium: 9.7% | Iron: 46%

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