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Indulge in comforting and delicious Beef and Noodles recipe, a simple recipe that invokes nostalgia and delivers a satisfying burst of flavors. With the flexibility of three cooking methods—Instant Pot, slow cooker, and stove top — this recipe brings the classic together with modern convenience.
Enjoy the flavor of seared tender beef tips or stew meat, smothered in a creamy mushroom gravy, and served over a bed of delicate egg noodles. This gravy-smothered comfort food dinner evokes the same kind of nostalgia as favorites like Country Fried Steak and Easy Salisbury Steak.
This classic dish is one of my family’s favorite meals. Similar to beef stew or beef stroganoff, it’s the perfect meal when you want to enjoy rich flavors in a simple recipe.
Reasons to Make Beef and Noodles
- Effortless Ingredients: Embrace simplicity with the core components of stew meat or beef tips, Cream of Mushroom soup, onion dip mix, beef broth, and noodles, complemented by a touch of olive oil to elevate the searing process.
- A Trip Down Memory Lane: Rediscover the warmth of cherished memories as you savor the authentic flavors reminiscent of grandma’s comforting cooking. At least, that’s how I feel when I make this!
- Versatile Cooking Techniques: Make this recipe in the Instant Pot, crockpot, or by using my stove top method. Easy instructions grant you the freedom to suit your lifestyle and schedule.
How to Make Instant Pot Beef and Noodles
The full recipe with ingredient quantities is detailed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, but here is a summary.
Step 1: Sear the Meat
Heat the olive oil in the Instant Pot using the sauté mode. Divide the meat in half and brown the first half, turning only once. Remove the seared pieces from pot and set them on a plate. Brown the second half of the meat. Transfer the first batch back to the Instant Pot along with any liquid from the plate.
Step 2: Combine Ingredients
Combine the cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth with the seared meat.
Step 3: Pressure Cook
Seal the pressure cooker lid, and cook under high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to gently release.
Step 4: Cook the Noodles
As the mixture cooks, boil the egg noodles in salted water. Once cooked and drained, choose between two serving options: blend the noodles into the beef gravy mixture or allow the beef and gravy to smother the warm noodles.
Alternate Cooking Techniques
Crock Pot Beef and Noodles
- Sear the beef on the stovetop before starting the slow-cooking process.
- Mix ingredients: Transfer the browned meat to the crockpot. Add the cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth. Stir well to combine.
- Slow cook: Set slow cooker to low and allow to cook for 6-8 hours. This method is ideal for those busy days when you return home to a warm, inviting meal. When you’re ready to serve, cook the noodles and serve them with the beef gravy.
Stove Top Beef and Noodles
- Brown the beef: Begin with a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, and brown the stew meat over medium-high heat. You can use a large skillet, however it will need to be transferred to a large pot or Dutch oven. For the best flavor and to capture all of those browned bits, and to avoid having to wash an extra pan, just use a Dutch oven.
- Braise meat: Combine the cream of mushroom soup, onion dip mix, and beef broth with the seared meat in the Dutch oven. Initiate a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to a tranquil simmer. Cover it to preserve moisture, allowing the meat to tenderize over an hour or more on low heat.
- Serve: Boil the noodles separately. Once done, serve them with the beef gravy.
Recipe Tips
Use the Best Ingredients
- Use Trader Joe’s Portabella Cream of Mushroom soup. It’s just the best. It’s only available for a very short window each fall, so if you’re not lucky enough to get some, Pacific brand is the next best option.
- Make your own homemade roasted beef broth. This is only convenient if you have some stored in quart-sized containers in your freezer. But if you do, you will definitely notice a difference!
- Use good quality meet. Stew beef works great for this recipe, but I still tend to cut it into smaller pieces. You can use chuck roast as well. Just be sure to remove as much fat as possible.
Instant Pot Burn Notice
Safeguard against the infamous Instant Pot burn notice by increasing the amount of beef broth. When I use Trader Joe’s Cream of Mushroom, I do not get any burning with the recipe, as written.
Sear the Meat Properly
Sear the beef in small enough batches to allow each piece to have contact with the bottom of the pan without crowding.
Make Ahead
This is a great recipe to double or triple so that you have leftovers available for a future meal. Freeze extra portions (without the noodles) for an easy meal prep option.
Recommended Side Dishes
Counterbalance the richness of Beef and Noodles with vibrant vegetable sides.
- Roasted Broccoli
- Wilted Garlic Spinach
- Roasted Green Beans
- Garlic Parmesan Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Sautéed Brussels Sprouts
If you tried this Beef and Noodles recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
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Video
Equipment
- stockpot optional cooking method
- Slow Cooker optional cooking method
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon 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, see note below
- 2 Tablespoon onion dip mix
- 1 cup beef broth more if needed, see instructions below
- 8 ounces egg noodles
- 1 Tablespoon salt for cooking the noodles
Instructions
Instant Pot directions:
- Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to pressure cooker pot and set to sauté function. Divide 1 pound beef stew 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 22 ounces cream of mushroom soup, 2 Tablespoon onion dip mix, and 1 cup beef broth. Stir to mix. Note: if your Instant Pot gives you burn notices, you may want to increase the beef broth to prevent that from happening.
- Close lid and set to high pressure for 15 minutes. When done, allow to release naturally.
- While meat is cooking, cook 8 ounces egg noodles in large pot of salted boiling water to al dente doneness, drain, and set aside. Note: I recommend using egg noodles but in the video, the recipe was made with traditional pasta. Either works.
- To serve, top egg noodles with beef and mushroom mixture or simply stir the noodles into the beef gravy mixture.
Stove top directions:
- Brown meat in heavy bottom pot over medium high heat using same procedure. Once all ingredients (not the egg noodles which will need to be cooked separately) have been added to pot, cover and allow to braise at a simmer for at least an hour. When done, stir in the drained cooked noodles.
Slow cooker directions:
- Brown meat in heavy bottom pot over medium high heat using same procedure. Transfer to slow cooker with remaining ingredients (not the egg noodles which will need to be cooked separately). Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or low (recommended) for 6-8 hours. When done, stir in the drained cooked noodles.
Notes
- Choosing the best ingredients:
- Cream of mushroom: 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. Pacific Foods makes a good version too. I find that Campbell’s is thicker and may require thinning. You may need to add additional liquid to avoid the burn notice on the Instant Pot.
- Beef broth: 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! Otherwise, your favorite store bought beef broth works fine.
- Beef: Stew meat works best for this recipe but any cut 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. Beef tips are another great option.
- Instant Pot burn notice: I’ve had many readers that tell me they get the burn notice when making my beef and noodles recipe. That has never happened to me, however this is easily preventable by increasing the amount of beef broth you use.
- Searing the meat: For the best flavor, it is important you properly sear the meat. That often means you’ll need to sear the beef in small batches in order to keep the pan super hot and prevent crowding which would result in tough steamed meat, rather than meat with a nice browned sear.
- Freezing: This recipe can easily be frozen, so feel free to double or triple the recipe for future leftovers. Just make everything as written except for the noodles. Chill in the refrigerator and then freeze in an air tight container.
- Reheating: Fully thaw before reheating. I recommend either reheating in a covered pot on the stove over low heat or in the microwave on 50% power in 1 minute increments.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally posted in October 2018 and has been updated with additional process photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don’t worry – I didn’t change the recipe!
So I got the burn notice, scraped added 2 cups of broth, continued and did for 10 min. Came out soooo good. Thank you! Had to season a crap ton. Added Worcestershire sauce. Yum
I need help!! Can I use the Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup???
You can, but if it’s condensed and tells you to add water or milk, then be sure to do that.
I made this tonight in the instant pot and it was very good! I did deglaze my pot with the beef broth. This may help your readers who’ve had burn issues.
Haven’t had beef and noodles in YEARS.. Wife is not into gravies or pasta dishes.. I found this recipe yesterday.. Of course I told her about it and she made that icky face and replied “That sounds miserable “ .. Seared the meat in a cast iron skillet, followed the recipe for a slow cooker at 8pm last night.. got up at 4am for work and OMG, that meat was melt in your mouth delicious!! I will definitely be making this A-LOT!! Easy and delicious.. So happy I found it!!
This was super easy to make. The recipe is easy to follow and the Hubby and I really enjoyed the results. I will certainly be making this again in future.
Your instructions regarding the mushroom soup is confusing. Trader Joe’s Portabella Mushroom Soup IS a condensed soup also, so when you talk about a condensed soup (meaning Campbell’s) your instructions make no sense.
Oh my gosh. Wow. I feel really stupid right now. I’m being totally honest – I’ve never treated the Trader Joe’s version like a condensed soup. Sure enough, I had to go look at the package and not only does it say condensed but the directions (that I never read) do say to mix with water to make soup. It’s just so much more creamy than the Campbell’s version I grew up with that I didn’t think it was condensed. This is one of my more popular recipes too! I’m gonna go fix what I said in the recipe card. Thank you so much for pointing that out to me!
Well, since I am “The” home cook since 1974, (my mother passed away and dad didn’t live with us 6 kids), I was elected to be the cook. I have always taken a recipe and do my best to follow it, however, due to my experience, I usually make some adjustments. That doesn’t me that they all work! LOL
To proceeded, I took the best of this recipe and made only a few modifications. First of all, it is WAY faster to sear your meat in a large cast-iron stove. You not only get the benefit of a quick sear, but you also reap the rewards by having enough room to caramelize some onions. So I used the stove to sear, and then went to the Instant pot to pressure cook. There was no need to pound my beef to a certain thickness, as the pressure-cooked beef could be cut at any size you wish, and still be tender. The only thing I added to the Instant pot was the beef broth and the beef. I did season my beef prior, and I am certain that when the pressure cooking cycle is over, I will be able to reap all the benefits of a very flavorful beef broth and some really tender meat. I DID NOT put my caramelized onions in the pressure cooker as they will go into the stovetop version of the wonderful recipe. Other than my own preparation procedures, the only thing I added was a little Worchestershire sauce, my preferred seasonings, and some caramelized onions. Oh … I always butter my noodles just prior to serving. The funny part is that I am actually grilling some marinated pork chops as the main course! LOL Great recipe here folks, and you will love it!!!
Can this be made with frozen meat?
It can! Just takes longer and I think you get a better sear when the meat isn’t frozen, but it will work.
Can someone please tell me what ‘onion dip mix’ is?? Are you talking about Lipton onion soup mix you can make dip out of??
I used to buy onion dip mix at Trader Joe’s but they don’t carry that product anymore. Lipton onion soup mix would work equally well in this recipe. You can find onion dip mix (the kind you just mix with sour cream) at a lot of major grocery stores too.
This recipe is one of our favorites!! It comes together quickly and is consistantly delicious.
I do add saute’d sliced mushrooms to sprinkle on the top after it is plated.
They bump it up a notch.
Tried to make this tonight and kept getting the burn notice 🙁 I added extra broth and I even poured everything out, washed my pot and then poured it all back in and just kept getting “burn” gah!! Finally on the 4th try it went through to pressure cook. Woo! Great recipe but I will definitely stick to my crock pot next time!
I’m sorry about that! My version of Instant Pot doesn’t even have a burn notice so I never have issues like that. Glad it eventually worked for you!
To avoid the burn I took all the meat out of the pot after sautéing. I then canceled the sauté program and added some of the broth scraping the leftover beef fragments from the bottom with a wooden spoon. I then put the meat back in the pot, poured the remaining broth in the pot, sprinkled the onion soup mix over the meat, then added the mushroom soup just on top of the meat. DO NOT STIR. Continue with recipe as written. My addition to the recipe is 1 tablespoon of mustard and 1 tablespoon of ketchup. YUMMY
I have found that the instant pot will keep cooking even if it gets the burn notice! Just keep an eye on the time and usually it comes out fine