Beef and Noodles

Beef and Noodles, are for me, what true comfort food is all about! Slurp-worthy noodles, savory broth, and meltingly tender chunks of beef.

Old Fashioned Beef And Noodles

The world is full of comfort foods, but one of my favorites is beef and noodles. This recipe is from generations of family cooking — every time I make it, I feel my grandmother’s love. That’s the best part of comfort food: that soul balm feeling from digging into a bowl of lovingly made noodles or broth.

I love that this dish has only four — yes, four — steps! Each spoonful is bursting with fully-rounded beef while being so simple to make. Tasty food, cozy feelings, and zero stress. Go get your fuzziest blanket and your thickest socks!

Are you looking for more beefy noodle dishes to try? Check out my beef noodle casserole, homemade Beefaroni, or beef noodle soup. Change you’re mind and feel more like chicken? Try my homemade chicken noodle soup. It tastes just like grandma’s!

Ingredient Notes

• Best Cut of Steak for Beef and Noodles: Beef Chuck Roast is my favorite cut of meat for this dish. The meat comes out super tender, melt-in-your-mouth, delish!
• Low Sodium Beef Stock: What’s in YOUR broth? Low-sodium beef stock from the store is the ideal broth to use for convenience. I use a low sodium option so I have more control of the overall salt in the dish. I use Swansons beef-flavored cooking stock. I think it has the best flavor (no one is paying me to say that!) Check out what Epicurious has to say about it!
• Red 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.
• Better than Bouillon: Honestly, this stuff is like magic! I use it in almost all of my soup and stew recipes. It’s far less salty than regular bouillon and it has a more natural, less chemically tasting. It fortifies the beef broth to make it taste like you’ve spent the afternoon making the best stock in your life!
• Dried Egg Noodles – Store-bought egg noodles or Homemade? For years, I made beef and noodles using homemade noodles. I’m not gonna lie — it’s a lot more time-consuming to make them from scratch. Using the prepared noodles makes this much more doable for a weeknight dinner.

Tips + Tricks

• Beef Prep: I haven’t met a grocery butcher yet who won’t cut meat for you if you ask — have your local butcher chop up your beef chuck to reduce your prep time.
• Noodle Cooking: It’s especially important to not overcook the noodles. Egg noodles tend to break down more easily than other types of pasta.

Reheat + Storing + Freezing Tips

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? The general rule for beef dishes is that they can last for up to 3-4 days in the fridge.
• Can You Freeze This? Yes and no. The beef portion will freeze very well. The noodle portion in the assembled dish, however, won’t work well.
  • All pasta changes texture when frozen with any liquid. Egg noodles start out softer than semolina pasta so they don’t hold up after freezing.
  • If you want to go for it anyway, this can be frozen for up to four months.
• Make-Ahead Tips: Since this recipe takes up to two hours to simmer, you want to make sure your meal prep is as time-conscious as possible. Get your butcher to chop the meat for you, if you can.
  • Have your aromatic veggies pre-chopped as well (most can sit in an airtight container in your fridge a day or two).
  • You can cook the beef, vegetable, and sauce through step #4 of the instructions below, cool completely, then cover and store in the fridge for a day or two. When you’re ready to serve, heat the meat and sauce mixture up on the stovetop, cook and drain the noodles as described in step#4 below, then stir them in and serve!.

Variations, Substitutes, + Additions

Add Veggies: As you can see, this dish isn’t super vegetable-heavy — but you can easily change that! Beef and noodles taste extra yummy with chopped carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, or peas. You can really zest things up with a can of crushed tomatoes!

Thickening Broth: The sauce in this recipe tends to be 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.
• You can alternatively add a can of cream of mushroom soup at step #3 in the directions below when you add the beef stock. Thin if needed with a little beef stock or water.

Adding Other Ingredients: 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.

Make It Spicy: If you love spicy food, feel free to add a little dash of red chili flakes or your favorite hot sauce to the sauce.

Commonly Asked Questions:

What Is Beef and Noodles Recipe?

This is an old-fashioned and all-American beef noodles dish. Made with egg noodles and tender, juicy chunks of beef. This is the kinda dish our country was built on!

How To Make Beef and Noodles In The Crockpot:

1. Follow steps #1 and #2 of the recipe instructions below as written.
2. In the same pot used to brown the beef, saute onion and garlic over medium-low heat, until soft, about 8 minutes.
3. Layer sauteed vegetables into a large crockpot.
4. Add browned beef and any juices that have accumulated to the crockpot.
5. Add beef stock, red wine, Better than Bouillon, marjoram, salt, and pepper to crockpot. Cover slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours, or high 3-4 hours, or until the meat is fall-apart tender.
6. Using 2 large forks, shred the beef.
7. Cook noodles on the stovetop per package instructions just until al dente. Drain well then stir them into the sauce and gently mix until well combined. Serve.

What To Serve With Beef and Noodles:

I like to serve this with a simple green salad, roasted broccoli, or my cheesy roasted brussels sprouts!

More Yummy Beef And Pasta Recipes

• Baked Ziti With Meat
• Beef Chow Mein
• Taco Stuffed Shells
• Crockpot Goulash

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Beef and Noodles

Beef and Noodles shows you what comfort food is all about with slurp-worthy noodles, savory broth, and fork-tender beef chuck.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
• 2 1/2 to 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 stock
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon - beef flavor
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 12 ounces dried egg noodles

Garnish:

• 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

• Sprinkle beef cubes with all-purpose flour (1/4 cup) and toss to coat evenly, shaking off excess.
• In a Dutch oven or large 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 (1 cup) and garlic (4) over medium-low heat, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add beef (2 1/2 to 3 pounds) back to the pot. Pour in beef stock (40 ounces) and red wine (1 cup). Add Better than Bouillon (1 tablespoon), marjoram (1 1/2 teaspoons), salt (2 teaspoon), and pepper, (1/2 teaspoon) 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 them into large pieces. Return to pot.
• Meanwhile, cook the egg noodle (12 ounces) 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. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

Fans Also Made:

• 
  American Chop Suey
• 
  Creamy Beef Stroganoff
• 
  Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
• 
  Sloppy Joe Casserole

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Notes

1. Best Cut of Steak for Beef and Noodles: Beef Chuck Roast is my favorite cut of meat for this dish. The meat comes out super tender, melt-in-your-mouth, delish!
2. Low Sodium Beef Stock: What’s in YOUR broth? Low-sodium beef stock from the store is the ideal broth to use for convenience. I use a low sodium option so I have more control of the overall salt in the dish. I use Swansons beef-flavored cooking stock. I think it has the best flavor (no one is paying me to say that!) Check out what Epicurious has to say about it!
3. Red 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.
4. Better than Bouillon: Honestly, this stuff is like magic! I use it in almost all of my soup and stew recipes. It's far less salty than regular bouillon and it has a more natural, less chemically tasting. It fortifies the beef broth to make it taste like you've spent the afternoon making the best stock in your life!
5. Dried Egg Noodles - Store-bought egg noodles or Homemade? For years, I made beef and noodles using homemade noodles. I’m not gonna lie — it's a lot more time-consuming to make them from scratch. Using the prepared noodles makes this much more doable for a weeknight dinner. 
6. Add Veggies: As you can see, this dish isn’t super vegetable-heavy — but you can easily change that! Beef and noodles taste extra yummy with chopped carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, or peas. You can really zest things up with a can of crushed tomatoes!
7. Thickening Broth: The sauce in this recipe tends to be 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.
   • You can alternatively add a can of cream of mushroom soup at step #3 in the directions below when you add the beef stock. Thin if needed with a little beef stock or water.
8. Adding Other Ingredients: 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.
9. Make It Spicy: If you love spicy food, feel free to add a little dash of red chili flakes or your favorite hot sauce to the sauce.

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