Slow Cooker Beef and Noodles
Slow Cooker Beef and Noodles is a hearty crockpot dinner perfect for busy weeknights. This easy comfort food recipe is a classic family meal everyone loves.
Slow cooker meals are the best. There’s just something so satisfying about putting all your ingredients in early in the day and letting it works its magic. The smell of delicious food that fills the house makes you even more hungry for dinner.
Beef and Noodles in the Crockpot is one of those cozy dinners that have stood the test of time. I remember my mom making this meal when I was a young girl. I’ve been making it for a long time and it’s a hit in my home, too.
It’s said to be a classic Midwestern dish though we eat it up here in Canada, too. If you haven’t tried it yet, get that slow cooker out and get cookin’!
Why You’ll Love This Beef and Noodles
- Easy family dinner that everyone enjoys
- Dinner is ready soon after you get home from work
- Minimal prep time
- Budget-friendly
- Incredible home-cooked taste
- Hearty and filling
- Easy to find ingredients
- One-pot with little clean-up required
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Beef and Noodles
- Stew beef
- Packet ranch seasoning – Try my homemade ranch seasoning.
- Envelope brown gravy mix
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Water
- Egg noodles
How to Make Best Beef and Noodles
- Step One: Add stew beef to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Step Two: Sprinkle the ranch packet and gravy packet on top of the beef.
- Step Three: Add the can of cream of mushroom soup and stir to combine.
- Step Four: Stir in the water.
- Step Five: Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours OR 4 to 6 hours on high.
- Step Six: An hour before the end of the cooking time, add the egg noodles and stir, making sure to cover all the egg noodles in the sauce. Cover and continue to cook for the remaining hour.
Kitchen Equipment Needed
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What to Serve with Crockpot Beef and Noodles
Side Dishes
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Party Potatoes
- Cheesy Corn Casserole
- Sauerkraut Salad
- Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
Desserts
Variations
- Substitute beef brisket cut into cubes for the stew beef
- Try cut up pork shoulder roast instead of the stew beef
- Use homemade ranch seasoning if you have some hand
- Try another cream soup like cream of celery or cream of chicken
- Try Amish egg noodles instead of regular egg noodles if you can find them
Storage Instructions
Best Way to Store Slow Cooker Beef and Noodles
If you have any leftover beef and noodles, you can store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Can I Freeze?
Yes, you can freeze beef and noodles. Once the recipe is cooled, place in freezer safe bags or containers and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
You can reheat in the microwave for a couple minutes. Make sure to stir it well and check for hot spots.
You can also reheat this recipe in the oven. Place the leftovers in an oven safe baking dish covered in aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Why do the Noodles Go in Last?
I place the uncooked noodles in towards the end of cooking time so that they will keep their shape and not turn into mush.
What is Stew Beef?
Stew beef is typically very affordable compared to other kinds of meat. It comes from the chuck (front shoulder). It’s pretty tough making it the perfect beef to use in a slow cooker recipe like this one. It’s supposed to be cooked low and slow to give the most incredible beefy flavor to your dishes.
Beef Recipes
- Tater Tot Casserole
- Taco Casserole
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
- Mexican Spaghetti
- Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
- Slow Cooker Mississippi Beef Stew
- Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli Ramen
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Slow Cooker Beef and Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 lb stew beef
- 1 packet ranch seasoning 1oz packet
- 1 envelope brown gravy mix 0.87oz/25g envelope
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup 10.5oz/284ml can
- 3 cups water
- 1 lb egg noodles uncooked
Instructions
- Add stew beef to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Sprinkle the ranch packet and gravy packet on top of the beef.
- Add the can of cream of mushroom soup and stir to combine.
- Stir in the water.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours OR 4 to 6 hours on high.
- An hour before the end of the cooking time, add the egg noodles and stir, making sure to cover all the egg noodles in the sauce. Cover and continue to cook for the remaining hour.
Video
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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I tried this but I have to say I would (next time) cook or at least par-cook the noodles first. Mine did not get done because there wasn’t enough juice left in the crock pot. I had mine on low cook because I was gone all day (took my grands to the swimming pool!) and we are all very fussy about our meat, too, so I would fry that first in a pan on the stove and BROWN it. We also don’t like packaged gravy mixes so I made my own with the leftover juices from the pan fried beef stew meat, and a flour/milk slurry. In the end the kids loved it the second time around, and we make it often now.
This recipe didn’t work out for me…and may well qualify as the worst meal I’ve ever made. There was no flavor and the noodles turned into a pile of mush. My husband and I joke and called it “gruel”. I think cooking the noodles separately and spooning the mixture over it would have been better. It definitely needs something more to flavor it, idk what. It made for a fun joke at dinner last night. I might not live this one down.
Hi,
Can I make it without Ranch dressing? My adult son does not like Ranch dressing.
OR can I replace it with something else?
You could use another seasoning mix. Maybe Italian dressing mix?
I made this recipe today. I grew up eating beef and noodles. I tried several times to make it and tho it always came out good it was not quite like the old days. I tried this recipe and low and behold there it was. Brought me back to my youth! Thank you.
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
I tweaked this a bit. I used 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, 1 pkt ranch seasoning, 2 brown gravy packets, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of French onion soup, 16 oz sliced mushrooms, 1 1/2 T coarse pepper and 4 cups beef broth. Cooked on low for 8 hours. Then I whisked in 1 brick of cream cheese and 1 cup of sour cream. I cooked the 32 oz of egg noodles separately and then added to the sauce since someone said it was dry when cooked in the sauce. It was delicious!
can i add uncooked mushrooms? would i add same time as noodles?
thank you!
Yes you can. I would add them in at the start of the cooking time with the other ingredients.
Can you use something in place of the mushroom soup?
You can use another cream of soup flavor or just use sour cream in its place.
I only have a 4.5 quart crock pot. How do i modify?
I think you should be still ok with that size of crockpot to keep the recipe the same.
Yes, you can do it on the stovetop. I would brown the stew beef first. Then add the rest of the ingredients minus the egg noodles. Cook on medium heat, covered, for 20 minutes or so. Add in the egg noodles and cook for another 10 minutes or until they are cooked.
Can this be made on the stove top? Am no longer able to handle my slow cooker, too heavy.
If I cant find the flat egg noodles like in your pictures, is it ok to use the curly egg noodles??? Will it affect the timing of cooking them??
Yes, you can definitely use them and the cooking time should be the same.
Hi I am making this today I also added a can of beef broth is it suppose to be very watery I haven’t added noodles yet
I made this yesterday (4/3/22) and it was fantastic! I did use all beef broth though. Next time I will use more to have more gravy.
Could you substitute ground beef? Browned first of course.
Yes, you can substitute with ground beef.
This says “Cook Time 8 minutes” should this be hours? Total time says 13 minutes…not sure what this is suppose to say..
Thanks for pointing that out! It was defaulted on minutes and it should have been hours. I fixed it in the card.
This is Very dry . I have made it 2x now . The 2nd time I doubled the the gravy mix , ranch mix , and soup & added 5 cups water ….It was to die for so much gravy and so good
Thank you for your comment, I thought the picture looked like it might be dry. I will try your suggestion!
This is delicious, but I would also like it to be less dry. It is a personal preference. Thank you for commenting, and letting us know how much to add. I also sliced an onion and put it underneath the beef, and sprinkled some garlic on top before I poured everything else in. I have it in the slow cooker right now.
I am making this tomorrow and I plan on adding 1 onion and some baby porta bella musshrooms and go half water half beef broth
I also added a can of beef broth and it was delicious, love this recipe
Hi! This looks absolutely fabulous! It says to add uncooked noodles an hour before done cooking. Does this apply to cooking on high, low, or both? Thanks for your time and a great recipe!
Good question! TY for asking! I usually make it on LOW so I add it an hour before the end. If you were doing it on HIGH, I would do less time so about 30 minutes or so before the end of cooking time.
Hi hot beef and noodles but it doesn’t say how much water to use can you tell me
All the measurements are in the recipe card. It’s 3 cups of water.