Can You Say Comfort Food?
If you're looking for comfort food to the extreme you need to try this crock pot beef and noodles recipe! Amazingly simple and uber delicious it is 🙂
- It takes about 5 minutes to prep...
- You can make it with 5 to 7 ingredients...
- You will be DROOLING when you smell it cooking...
- It's even better the next day...
- You can freeze the leftovers up to a month, but probably won't have any!
Homemade Beef and Noodles Recipe Table of Contents
Recipe Video
Click here for Pinnable & Printables
Crock Pot Beef and Noodles Step-by-Step
Step 1: Gather your ingredients
Spray, oil or butter your slow cooker insert Trust me, don't skip this step...you'll hate yourself later if you don't
Step 2: Dice up the meat...
Toss it in the slow cooker
Step 3: Mix your canned soups, soup mix, and gravy mix...
Add 4 cups of water...
Pour over the beef tips & stir it all up...
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours
Step 4: 30 to 45 minutes before serving this is what it'll look like...
Turn the crockpot to high before proceeding so it'll heat up...
Step 5: Add the seasoning sauce, mushrooms, and noodles...
Stir and squish down the noodles to be under the liquid
Step 6: Cover and cook on high for 30 to 90 more minutes... this is going to vary as a matter of personal preference 🙂
Epic deliciousness awaits you!
Beef & Noodles Printable
Recipe
Crock Pot Beef and Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of beef roast or beef tips
- 2 12-oz cans cream of "something" (My personal favs are a can cream of mushroom & a golden mushroom soup)
- 1 packet Au Jus Gravy mix
- 1 12-16 ounce package frozen egg noodles
- 1 packet beefy onion soup mix
- 1 tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce (optional)
- 12 ounce can of sliced mushrooms (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter (depending on cooking method)
- 4 cups water or beef broth (depending on cooking method)
Instructions
Slow Cooker:
- Spray, oil or butter your slow cooker insert Trust me, don't skip this step...you'll hate yourself later if you don't
- Dice up the meat and toss it in the slow cooker
- Mix your canned soups, soup mix, and gravy mix with 4 cups of water. Pour over beef tips.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
- 30 to 90 minutes before serving: Turn the crockpot to high. Add the seasoning sauce, mushrooms, and noodles. Stir well and "squish" noodles under the liquid. Cover & cook on high 30-90 more minutes.
Stove-Top:
- Cook your noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.
- In a nonstick skillet or Dutch oven, brown the beef tips (and fresh mushrooms, if using) in butter or oil; over medium heat. Remove beef and set aside.
- Turn heat to medium-low and scrape the pan (leave this, it will add a lot of flavor).
- Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water (or beef broth),the cream soups, canned mushrooms (if you are using them), Au Jus Gravy mix, onion soup mix, and browning sauce (optional). Stir and cook until bubbly.
- Turn to low, cover, and continue to cook for 7-10 minutes.
- Add the cooked beef and drained noodles. Stir well and remove from heat. Cover and allow to set about 20 minutes before serving.
Oven-Baked:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Follow steps 1 thru 5 for stove-top directions.
- Combine your sauce, pre-cooked noodles, and pan-seared beef. Mix well. Pour into a buttered (or oiled) 9x13 baking dish.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the dish is bubbly and begins to brown.
Pressure Cooker:
- Optional Step #1: Brown the beef tips in the butter using your saute function before proceeding.
- Add the beef tips to the pressure cooker insert. Sprinkle with onion soup mix and Au Jus Gravy Mix.
- Next, we'll be adding layers. Mushrooms THEN the frozen noodles. Order of layers is very important for proper cooking.
- Sprinkle with the browning sauce and pour 4 cups of water/beef broth over the top. Spoon on your cream soups.
- Close and lock lid. Use manual high setting for 25 minutes. Quick release and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Freezer Meal:
- Slow Cooker Freezer Meal ONLY:
- Dump the creamed soups, Au Jus Gravy, onion soup mix, 1/3 cup beef broth (optional), and browning sauce into a one-gallon freezer safe bag. Zip closed and knead to combine ingredients. Open and add beef and mushrooms (optional).
- Zip closed and remove as much air as possible. Lay flat stacked on top the bag of frozen egg noodles. Use freezer tape or painter's tape to attach bags together (a couple wraps works very well).
- Label and freeze up to 3 months. Defrost overnight before cooking if possible, if not add 1-1 1/2 hours to cook time. Low only if frozen.
- Multi Meal Freezer Prep:
- Pour beef stew meat and mushrooms into a one-gallon freezer bag. Add butter, browning sauce, onion soup mix, and Au Jus gravy mix. Zip closed while removing as much air as possible. Lay on top frozen noodle bag.
- Pour water (or beef broth) and soup into another one-gallon freezer bag. Do not stir. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Lay flat on top of the beef bag. Alternately, you can add a note on your freezer label to add these when you cook!
- Use painter's or freezer tape to wrap and tape all three bags together. Label and freeze for up to 3 months. Must be defrosted overnight to cook all methods except crockpot cooking option.
Video
Notes
1. You can prep it for any and all cooking methods. Which is a few more steps but a great option if you have no idea HOW you plan to cook this meal.
2. Prep for slow cooker cooking only. This prep method is easier but limited, as the sauce and beef are mixed and doesn't work for other cooking methods. When cooking from multi-meal freezer prep in the instant pot, the broth/soup bag will have liquid and lumps. Open one corner of the defrosted bag and pour as much of the broth over your noodles as possible before allowing the soup(s) to pour out on top. This will mimic the prep method outlined in the pressure cooking directions and seemed to work the best for me.
Pinterest Pinnable Version
Crockpot Beef and Noodles
Beef and Noodles Recipe Alternatives:
When I first made this recipe I had no idea it would go over so well. It was made on the fly when I had 10 minutes to toss something in the crock pot. I had a 10-hour farm day ahead of me... "Good for me", low sodium and how many servings were the last thing on my mind at the time. I grabbed stuff out of the freezer and the pantry, tossed, took a couple photos and went to work.
So with that explanation out of the way, I've since tried a couple different versions since. None are exactly the same, but they are decently close. They are good, the house smells incredible and all that jazz. But again, they are not exact.
Also, I did NOT make homemade noodles. I don't like to make homemade noodles, mine have never been that grand. My mother-in-law makes really good ones. I'll see if she has time to teach me this winter. If she does, I'll add another update.
Low Sodium Alternatives Cream Soups
If you still want to do quick and easy...and I mean you still want the stuff on the shelf and you can be ready to toss it in the crockpot in just a few minutes... then purchasing pre-canned low sodium versions is a great option. Campbell's Healthy Request Low-Sodium Cream of Mushroom has 60 mg of sodium in the entire can.
If this is the route you decide to go, just use two of these instead of 1 cream of mushroom and 1 golden mushroom. You can purchase it at most any grocery or big box store. You can also grab it online at via Amazon. They have a 12-pack available, both via subscribe & save or a one-time purchase. If you get a lot shipped, subscribe and save is a great option. It saves us a lot of money and hassle.
If you'd prefer to go homemade on the cream soups Salad in a Jar has a good one. I've not been able to improve on it and it's rather handy. Their version has salt, but you can always leave it out. It takes about 8 minutes to make and works with this recipe.
Salt-Free Beef Broth
Swanson's now has a salt-free beef broth. It isn't sodium free, but there is no additional salt added. It has 75 mg of sodium per cup according to the label. I tried the recipe using 3 cups of beef broth and 1 cup of water. It worked well.
This is actually a two-step substitution. It will sub out the au jus gravy mix and the onion soup mix. You'll only need to add your own spices to taste. Here's the recipe I came up with we liked the best.
Low-Sodium Beef and Noodles Recipe
Recipe
Low Sodium Crock Pot Beef and Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of beef roast or beef tips cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 cans of cream of low sodium cream of mushroom soup
- 1 12-16 ounce package frozen egg noodles
- 1 large can of sliced mushrooms optional
- 3 cups salt-free beef broth
- 1 cup water + 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 2-3 teaspoons onion powder
- 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Spray or butter the slow cooker insert
- Dice the meat into bite-sized pieces and toss in the crockpot
- Mix the COLD water and cornstarch until all the lumps are gone
- Add the cream soups, spices, and beef broth to the water mixture, stir well
- Pour mixture over the beef tips
- Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours
'30 to 90 minutes before serving: - Turn the crockpot to high
- Add the mushrooms and noodles
- Stir and squish down the noodles to be under the liquid
- Cover and cook on high for 30 to 90 more minutes.
I appreciate your interest in this recipe. It's humbling on one hand and very cool on the other. I am not sure whether I should be wearing a big goofy smile or stand shell shocked in amazement. Either way, I really do appreciate it and you.
Please feel free to ask any questions you have. The comments on this particular Facebook post have become a bit overwhelming. That isn't an argument or complaint, it only makes response time via Facebook take longer as I can't do it while mobile. If you'd rather have a more immediate response time you can use the contact form. If I'm within signal range, I can usually respond within a few hours.
Thanks again 🙂 Sure hope this is one of those recipes that "Rock's Your Crock"!
If you like this recipe you might also want to check out these:
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- 9 Deliciously Easy Slow Cooker Casseroles
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I have never seen frozen egg noodles. Could you use any dry packaged uncooked noodles? This recipe sounds very good, but not sure what to do about the noodles.
Hi Pauline,
The frozen noodles are at Wal-Mart, Krogers, and Safeway that I am aware of. I am sure they are in more locations but those are the only places I have personally seen them.
You could also make the recipe, precook regular noodles to al dente, and put them in at the end for just a couple hours. But I wouldn't do raw at all.
I'd go with egg noodles and the homemade Amish sort if they are available.
Good luck and let me know how it works out 🙂
I have used wide egg noodles but I cook them first and add them to the crock pot right before I serve it.
Very cool Carol. Your method absolutely works too. I've used them before as well. I just thought these noodle looked interesting and bought them 🙂
instead OF USING 2 CRANS OF CREAM OF MUSHROOM, CAN I GET TO CANS OF BEEF BROTH AND AND COOK MY BROWN GRAVY SEPARATE USING THE 2 BROWN GRAVY PACKETS I HAVE? HEATING THOSE ITEMS ON THE STOVE AND THEN POURING IT IN THE CROCK POT. CAN I ALSO ADD FRESH OR FROZEN CARROTS?
Yes you can. It isn't going to be nearly as thick that way but it would still work. And if you use fresh carrots I would cut them very thin.
In the first recipe, I don't see the 4 cups of water in the ingredients list, but it is in the step by step directions. Which is correct please?
Hi Kelly,
It's on Step 3 in "instructions". Yes, you need to use 4 cups of water. Enjoy 🙂
I'm so glad to find this, beef and noodles is my husbands favorite and I cant make them very well, my question is, Do the noodles get mushy? from being in the crock pot? seems like you would need to boil the noodles? thank you
Hi Darla 🙂 The noodles. Not really. But there is a huge variance in crockpot temperatures and noodle texture people seem to prefer. I personally liked ours cooked for about 30 minutes on high during the second step. But that is my crockpot and our preference. Some readers seemed to want the more done than that.
I would personally check the first time I made it. Check at about 30 minutes after adding the noodles. If you don't like them at this point I'd cover it and cook another 15 minutes and do it again.
And I mean JUST the first time you make it. Then you will know what you prefer. They can't be frozen. But they are still good for leftovers. The noodles have never gotten mushy on me.
Psstt...Just say theoretically you did check at 30 mins, then 15 mins later, then 15 mins after that. So at 60 minutes, you were happy with them. That doesn't mean the 2nd time you'll need to cook them 60 mins. More like 45 since you won't be removing the lid.
Sorry if that's too much explanation but I don't know how new you are to cooking and I didn't want you to get a pile of goo. Best of luck 🙂
thank you so much!!
You're very welcome Darla 🙂
Is there a substitute I can use instead of The browning sauce?
You can just leave it out. There doesn't have to be a substitute. A bit of Worchestershire would probably work as well.
I used Schwan’s home food service Beef Tips, all the other ingredients, but, since I didn’t have noodles of any kind, I served this over Success Rice. My tribe scarfed it down and told me to save the recipe!
I made this it easy too. Was one of the best dishes I've madr..it was so so good. Beth
I'm glad you enjoyed it!