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This easy beef and noodles recipe is a homestyle favorite! It’s made in 30 minutes with pantry staples, and the rich gravy is a comforting treat you’ll crave again and again.
I think you’ll also enjoy my Easy Hamburger Gravy or Salisbury Steak next.
Why you’ll love it
Like my Chicken and Noodles, this beef and egg noodles recipe is just good old-fashioned comfort food that’s affordable and no fuss. You need very few ingredients for this one to hit the spot. It has seasoned tender ground beef and is ready in a jiffy for a quick family meal that’s made on the stovetop.
This definitely is not a fancy recipe, and mysteriously that seems to be the best kind of meal for picky eaters! If you’ve got kiddos in your home, they will devour this ground beef and noodles with gravy made from scratch. It’s one of my favorites for when motivation to cook is lacking but you’re craving a cozy dinner fast.
What you’ll need
- Egg noodles – they’re the traditional choice for this recipe since they’re a hearty pasta that’s perfect to coat with the gravy
- Ground beef – I prefer at least 90% lean. We love ground beef for this one since it’s cheaper than other cuts but every bit as tasty.
- Onion and garlic – sweet (Vidalia) onions are my usual pick, but yellow is fine
- Worcestershire sauce – it’s a staple in my pantry and my secret weapon to impart tons of savory flavor in many recipes. Don’t skip it!
- Italian seasoning – a fantastic blend of dried Italian herbs like rosemary and thyme that you’ll find all in a single jar for convenience
- Flour – to thicken the gravy
- Beef broth – for even more rich, deep flavor
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- For the garlic, this press makes it easy to mince the cloves since you don’t need to peel them first. I store the rest of the garlic in a cute garlic saver.
- Here’s the skillet I use.
- Store dry pasta in one of these handy airtight containers.
How to make beef and noodles
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Boil a salted pot of water, and cook the noodles until al dente. In a skillet, add the ground beef and onion, cooking until the meat is nicely browned. Don’t drain the fat. Add in the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and Italian seasoning and cook for a minute. Stir in the flour and cook for another few minutes.
Gradually pour in the beef broth, scraping up any delicious brown bits from the bottom of the skillet, until the flour has dissolved. Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gravy has thickened up. Drain the noodles, toss with the beef mixture, and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Helpful tips
- I like using lean ground beef for this recipe since you can skip draining the fat. There’s just enough to help make the gravy.
- While there’s no shame in opening up a can of “cream of” soup, it’s definitely not necessary here. Try my homemade gravy, and you won’t want to go back to recipes with canned soup.
Substitutions and variations
- This recipe is designed to be inexpensive, quick, and kid-friendly. There’s endless ways to jazz it up if you are looking for something more fancy than the base recipe was intended to be.
- Try adding in some frozen mixed veggies or canned corn for a bit of color. Add in during step 6.
- You could stir in a couple handfuls of fresh spinach during the last couple minutes of cooking time.
- Readers have customized this by adding in mushrooms and/or green peppers, added in a splash of wine, and stirred in sour cream or cream cheese at the end.
- If using ground turkey or a leaner ground meat, you may need to add a tablespoon or so of oil or butter prior to adding the flour to help make the gravy.
- Feel free to swap the egg noodles with a different kind of pasta or even use rice.
What to serve with beef and noodles
- I like to serve beef and noodles with a big slice of my Cheesy Garlic Bread or a dinner roll.
- It goes with pretty much any veggie side dish. Try my Honey Roasted Carrots or Simple Sautéed Leeks.
- A side salad is another great option. Try mixed greens with my Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing, a reader favorite.
Leftovers and storage
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days, but keep in mind the noodles may soak up more of the sauce the longer they sit.
- Reheat on the stove or microwave over low heat until warmed through.
- If freezing, I recommend doing so without the cooked noodles and cooking some noodles just prior to serving.
More comfort food recipes
If you made this simple beef and noodles recipe or have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram to show me your creations.
Easy Beef and Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked egg noodles
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water for the egg noodles and cook according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, add the ground beef and onion to a skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as you go along, until it's nicely browned (about 10 minutes). Don't drain the fat unless you're not using lean ground beef (then drain a bit but still leave at least a couple tablespoons of it in the pan).
- Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and Italian seasoning, and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the flour and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring often (this cooks the raw flour taste out).
- Gradually pour in the beef broth while stirring until the flour has dissolved and scraping any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes (stir occasionally) or until the gravy has thickened to your liking. If it gets too thick, add in a splash more beef broth.
- Drain the cooked egg noodles, add them to the skillet, and toss with the beef mixture. Season with salt & pepper if needed and serve immediately.
Notes
- This dish is designed to be a very simple, inexpensive, quick, and kid-friendly recipe that uses everyday (mostly pantry) ingredients, and so it’s very easy to jazz it up if you’re looking for something more than the base recipe. Readers have added veggies in (try mushrooms or green peppers), upped the herbs and seasonings, stirred in some sour cream or cream cheese at the end, and even added a splash of wine.
- It can also be found in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials hardcover cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Loved this used vegetable seasoning and tiny bit of soya sauce
Thanks, Joyce!
This is nice and easy. However the noodles completely took over the recipe. It calls for two cups which is too many noodles for the other ingredients. I would definitely add more of everything if you’re going to use that many noodles. It’s also rather bland. Add more seasonings more veggies and more broth!
Serving size question: if one serving of egg noodles is considered to be 1 cup, how can 2 cups of noodles be considered 4 servings? Are your servings sized for children or is this recipe actually enough to feed 4 adults?
Hi Melisa! It really depends how much people eat. For some people, 1 cup of egg noodles could be considered one serving, but I have found with this recipe that the 2 cups uncooked feeds 4 adults just fine, and I don’t think I have had any complaints re: that particular issue. With that said, you know your crowd best, and as with any recipe, the number of servings is just a suggestion. The skillet pictured is 10.25″ and you can get an idea how full it is when looking thru the blog photos. If you’re feeding 4 hungry men who have been doing manual labor all day then yes, you might want to serve it with something else (see suggestions in the blog post) or double the recipe. It is quite rich and ground beef is filling, so yeah, I would say that it makes four reasonably sized portions… not large portions. Hope this helps!
This was delicious, real comfort food. We don’t eat red meat so I used ground turkey and chicken broth. Added sauteed mushrooms, and increased the Italian seasoning to 3/4 tsp since ground turkey can be bland. It was great!!!!! Thanks!!
You’re very welcome, Barbara! 😀
Easy and super delicious.
Thank you!
I am shocked that no one has said this recipe tastes like ground beef stroganoff. Good news! I love beef stroganoff. I tried to change the flavor a bit by adding a packet of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix, heavy cream, and a bell pepper. It just made it taste even more like beef stroganoff. The best comparison I can make is going to sound bad, but I love the taste of it. The recipe reminded of me Hamburger Helper’s beef stroganoff but better with more intense flavors from the soup mix.
Sounds good to me!! 😀
Delicious! Next time I am going to add mushrooms. I topped my with a little sour cream.
Thanks, Lib!!
How would you do this in a crockpot with about 4 hours cook time? My office building doesn’t have a cookstove atm. And I bring lunches in for the rest of the coworkers and it just makes it easier to use a crock pot.
Hi! I really wouldn’t want to guess without testing. That would change the recipe quite a bit – sorry!
This was good – so easy and real comfort food. I added a drained can of mushrooms and stirred in a couple of tablespoons of sour cream at the end but it would be totally fine without any additions.
Excellent!! Thanks, Jane!
Exactly as described! I have no kids but this is easy to jazz up and heat up the next day. This recipe delivers that comforting flavor you want on a budget and short time. I doubled the worcestershire sauce and the seasonings and added more salt & pepper at the end. I will definitely make this again when I don’t want to spend a lot of money or time cooking for a food meal.
Thank you, Leah!!