Beef and Noodles using Granny’s classic easy 5-ingredient recipe made even quicker in the Instant Pot, but can be made using the crockpot or stove top too.
This is the best easy dinner recipe you’ll find with stew meat and a creamy mushroom sauce. Classic beef and noodles is a great option for a busy weeknight dinner, and it’s a meal that your entire family will love!
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BEEF AND NOODLES
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Granny’s Classic Monkey Bread Recipe has always been a favorite in our house, so I figured I’d better share more of Granny’s classic recipes! This recipe is very similar to Classic Beef Stroganoff in that it combines tender meat with a flavorful mushroom sauce over pasta, but it’s different at the same time.
Granny’s Classic Beef and Noodles is my favorite kind of comfort food. The meat is so incredibly tender and so full of flavor. The mushroom beef gravy is just what those noodles need. Not only do I love making this easy dinner, but I like to make extra to pack up in my kids thermos for lunch the next day!
How do you make beef and noodles tender?
This recipe would be downright awful if the meat weren’t tender. I buy a pack of beef stew meat directly from my grassfed meat seller at the farmers’ market. That takes all of the guess work out of it for me. This stew meat even comes cut into perfect bite sized little pieces.
If you can’t buy stew meat, you want to use beef from a large cut either from the front shoulder or the rear end. Any cuts that says chuck (chuck roast, chuck shoulder, chuck eye-roast, etc.) will work as long as you cut them into bite sized pieces and remove most of the fat.
Stew meat is generally pretty lean and requires to either be braised in liquid for a long time or cooked under pressure in order to make it tender. I’ll explain the different cooking options below.
How do you make beef and noodles in the Instant Pot?
In my recipe card below, I detail how to make classic beef and noodles in the pressure cooker. The process begins by browning the stew meat in olive oil. Once browned, I add the cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth to the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes with a slow release of pressure.
I highly recommend Trader Joe’s Portabella Cream of Mushroom soup. Every fall I buy enough to last all year because it’s a seasonal item. I use it in my classic tuna casserole recipe as well. I also highly recommend making your own roasted beef broth and storing it in the freezer in quart sized containers. I always have some on hand!
While the beef and gravy are cooking, I’ll cook the egg noodles. I prefer al dente doneness.
How to make crockpot beef and noodles:
The same recipe can be followed if you want to make your beef and noodles in the slow cooker, but the process varies slightly. You’ll still want to brown your meat first, so unless you have an extra fancy crockpot, you’ll need to do that on the stove. Then, you’ll transfer the browned stew meat to the slow cooker with the cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth.
Set it and forget it. I recommend cooking this recipe in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours which makes it the perfect meal to prepare in the morning and enjoy when you come home after work. Don’t worry – the noodles only take a few minutes to make!
How to make beef and noodles on the stove top:
Again, same recipe as below. You’ll use a heavy bottom dutch oven with a lid. Brown the stew meat first, uncovered. Then add the cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth, heat until it comes to a gentle boil and then reduce the heat as low as it goes to maintain a gentle simmer. I would cook this for at least an hour, but you can cook it for up to 3-5 hours on the stove top.
As long as your heat is set to low, you can’t really over cook something like a stew or beef and noodles.
Granny's Classic Beef and Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound beef stew meat cut into one inch pieces
- 22 ounces cream of mushroom soup two 11-ounce boxes from Trader Joe's recommended
- 2 tbsp onion dip mix
- 1 cup beef broth
- 8 ounces egg noodles
Instructions
- Add olive oil to pressure cooker pot and set to saute function. Divide meat in half and brown the first half, turning only once. Remove from pot and set on plate. Brown second half of meat.
- Add first batch of meat back to the pressure cooker along with any juices that may have accumulated on the plate. Add cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth. Stir to mix.
- Close lid and set to high pressure for 15 minutes. When done, allow to release naturally.
- When meat is cooking, cook egg noodles in salted boiling water to al dente doneness, drain, and set aside.
- To serve, top egg noodles with beef and mushroom mixture.
Notes
Nutrition
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Lauren Vavala @ DeliciousLittleBites
October 9, 2018 at 12:48 pmI haven’t had a meal like this in forever! And, you are so right! This totally reminds me of something one of my grandmothers would have made – looks delish!
Shanna Jones
October 9, 2018 at 2:05 pmThis dish looks great! Looks like a night-on-the-couch-with-a-great-movie type of recipe. 🙂
Kristi
October 9, 2018 at 2:12 pmThis sounds delicious and I appreciate you sharing different ways to make this. We don’t have an instant pot yet and it seems like so many places assume everyone has one. I will try this in this in the crock pot!
Hope
October 9, 2018 at 6:01 pmWow that meat looks so full of flavour! What a hearty dish, perfect comfort food!
Danielle
October 9, 2018 at 6:23 pmWow, this looks so delicious! You can never go wrong with Granny’s recipes: 🙂
Jenny
March 2, 2019 at 12:02 pmCan any other soup be substituted I’m allergic to mushrooms
Krissy
March 6, 2019 at 12:23 pmHi Jenny, I’ve only ever made this with cream of mushroom, but I would think any other creamy soup would work. They make like a cream of cheese soup or something similar, right? Sorry I’m not more helpful.
Nancy Hollingshead
April 11, 2019 at 3:40 pmJenny, other soups that could probably be substituted is cream of celery or cream of onion, although if you use cream of onion, with the onion dip mix it may be too much. I use cream of celery as a substitute because two of my children don’t like mushrooms.
Chelsea S
May 9, 2019 at 8:35 amCould Cream of Chicken soup work as a subsitiute?
Krissy
May 13, 2019 at 5:05 amPersonally, I don’t think it would taste very good.
Jennifer
March 6, 2019 at 6:39 pmI tried to make this in an 8 qt instant pot and I got the burn alert. I opened it and stirred it and turned it back on
Krissy
March 7, 2019 at 4:47 amOh wow. Mine doesn’t have a burn alert. Sounds like I need to upgrade! Thanks for letting me and other readers know in case they come across the same thing.
Norma Bailey
April 11, 2019 at 2:00 pmI have not tasted this recipe yet. I am close to 71, I have been cooking for a long time, I like to cook. I ran into a problem. You said to use Trader Joes mushroom soup. I went to my local store and could not find what I thought would substitute, so I drove 2 miles to the next town to the Trader Joes and even asked for help when I could not find it, and they did not have it. I know have improvised, so I hope it comes out like your pictures look with a good taste, it may be to juicy and not creamy. Lately I see recipes that say use 1 tbl of tomato paste, then I have almost a whole can left and need to refigerate till I make spaghetti at some later date. Maybe it would be nice, if you do suggest something like Trader Mushroom soup, give us an alternative if we can not find that ingredient. Thank you for great recipes.
Krissy
April 12, 2019 at 8:14 amHi Norma, Thank you for checking out my recipes! Yes – I love Trader Joe’s cream of mushroom soup but sadly it’s a seasonal item. The product I’ve found to be closest in taste and quality is made by Pacific Foods. As far as tomato paste, Trader Joe’s (and maybe some other stores) now carry it in a tube and I love it! I just squeeze out what I need and the rest stays in the fridge. Hope that helps!
Kayla
April 24, 2019 at 4:50 pmI’m confused. In the blog portion you said you would cook this for 3-4 hours on the stove top but in the recipe card you say to cook this for an hour on the stove top? My gravy mixture is looking a lot more creamy than dark brown.
Krissy
April 25, 2019 at 5:29 amSorry for the confusion! I updated the text to say to cook it on the stove top, it’ll need to be for at least an hour, but you can leave it on there a good 3-4 hours as long as the heat is low. Since you’re braising the meat, longer cook times will only make it more tender.
Nancy L Araujo
May 4, 2019 at 10:05 amI just made this and it’s delicious
Cheri Towle
May 5, 2019 at 2:36 pmI’m making this recipe with 3 pounds of stew meat that seems like a lot of soup that would equal out to 6 small cans of soup just using Campbell’s condensed At 10 oz pet can.
Krissy
May 8, 2019 at 12:29 pmI like a lot of “gravy” so I can smother my noodles. You can use less soup if you want and it will still turn out.
Stephanie
May 11, 2019 at 12:40 pmThis looks awesome, but I have a child who has go eat gluten free… any suggestions for substituting the onion dip mix? The only ones I can find have wheat warnings. 🙁
Krissy
May 13, 2019 at 5:10 amGluten free can be so hard! I feel your pain. You can definitely substitute with some dehydrated onion and garlic salt. The onion dip mix is really just for flavor… and since Trader Joe’s no longer carries it, I usually make my own substitutions as well.