Crock Pot Beef and Noodles

My Crock Pot beef and noodles dinner recipe is a delicious, budget-friendly, quick, and easy meal for two or a family of four.

 

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours and 15 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Preparation Level: Beginner +

What I Love About This Recipe

• The Crock Pot casserole will quickly become one of your favorite Crock Pot dinners, especially on those busy weeknights.
• This dish is easy to make, and picky eaters love it!

Ingredients

• Ground beef
• Elbow macaroni noodles
• Beef broth
• Worcestershire sauce 
• Minced fresh garlic
• Onions
• Sour cream
• Cream of mushroom soup
• Salt and black pepper (optional and to taste)

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed below in the recipe card.

Crock Pot Beef and Noodles: Step-by-Step Instructions

You’re going to start by adding some butter and minced garlic to a skillet and let it roast for a minute or so on the stovetop, just to brown it.

Next, add the onions and let them sauté for a few minutes. They will start to look a little more translucent as they cook.

After cooking the onions, add the ground beef and chop it up in the pan. Let it cook until it’s brown.

Once the meat is cooked, go ahead and drain it and get all of the grease off.

I used about 1-1/2 pounds of ground beef for this recipe. We have two teenage boys in the house, and they can eat, so I usually try to get as much meat in as I can. 

Now, you’re going to add the ground beef to the slow cooker, pour in the Worcestershire sauce, and then the beef broth.

Once you’ve got everything in the Crock Pot, stir it and place the lid on top, and let it cook for four hours on low. 

After four hours, add the noodles to the Crock Pot. I press the noodles down into the liquid so they will soak it up. The noodles should cook within about half an hour or so. Sometimes it takes a little longer. 

If the noodles have soaked up all of the liquid but are still not completely cooked, add about 1/2 cup of water or additional beef broth and give them about 15 more minutes to soak up the water.

You can also use frozen egg noodles for this recipe and make it beef stroganoff.

If you do add water, give everything a stir once more and press the noodles down into the water again. 

When the noodles are soft, add the sour cream to the pot. 

Finally, add the cream of mushroom soup to the Crock Pot and give everything a good stir until it is all combined. Let it sit in the Crock Pot for a few minutes to heat up all of the ingredients. 

Some of y’all don’t like mushroom soup. In that case, replace it with cream of cheese or cream of chicken condensed soup.

Storage and Leftovers

If you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, put some in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about two minutes or until the food is hot.

Tips

• I buy my meat at The Fresh Market these days. They have a sale once a week on their chicken and ground chuck, and I go and stock up. I will freeze it so I can pull it out whenever I need it, so I don’t have to run out to the grocery store.
• You can also use ground turkey or shredded chicken for this simple recipe. 
• As a little side note, I usually put my meat in a strainer to drain the grease before adding it to the Crock Pot. I will run hot water over it to get as much grease off as possible. 

Optional Ingredients

You can use these ingredients to switch things up a bit and add some variety to the simple dish.

• Onion soup packet (if you use this, leave out the salt because the packet usually has a high salt content).
• French onion soup packet.
• Any type of gravy packet (brown gravy mix, country gravy mix, peppered gravy mix)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Cream of cheese soup
• Cream of chicken soup
• Homemade noodles
• Cream cheese

More Delicious Slow Cooker Meals

• Crock Pot beef stew is one of those hearty meals that covers you up in comfort.
• Crock Pot chicken and rice are always great when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.