This beef noodle casserole is ground beef in a rich tomato sauce, tossed with egg noodles then topped with plenty of cheese and baked to perfection. An easy comfort food dinner that’s perfect for feeding a crowd.
When I have a package of hamburger in the fridge, I often make homemade hamburger helper, ground beef stroganoff and this simple yet hearty beef casserole. It’s cheesy, kid friendly, and quick to whip up on a busy night.
I love a good casserole, and this beef noodle casserole is always on our regular dinner menu rotation. It’s a simple yet delicious combination of ground beef, tomato sauce, egg noodles and cheese. Put it all together and bake until melted and bubbly, then serve it to your family and watch the compliments roll in!
How to make beef noodle casserole
The first step to making beef noodle casserole is to brown some ground beef with onions and garlic. I use 90% lean ground beef, it’s got plenty of flavor but isn’t overly fatty. I cut the onions small so that my kids won’t even notice that they’re in this dish. After the beef is cooked, some seasonings and tomato sauce go into the pan.
While the beef is cooking, I boil my egg noodles. The noodles go into the pan with the beef and everything gets mixed together and spread into a baking dish.
The finishing touch is shredded cheddar cheese, and plenty of it!
I add a sprinkling of parsley at the very end, but that’s an optional step.
Can beef noodle casserole be made in advance?
Yes, you can make beef noodle casserole in advance. Simply prepare the beef and tomato sauce and toss it with the noodles, then cover and refrigerate. Right before you’re ready to bake your casserole, add the cheese and pop it in the oven. You’ll need to add about 10-15 more minutes to the bake time to compensate for the fact that you’re starting with a chilled casserole.
This beef noodle casserole is a great basic recipe that can be altered in different ways to be customized to your tastes. Some variations include using ground turkey instead of beef, adding more vegetables like peas or green beans, using macaroni instead of egg noodles and trying different types of cheese for the topping.
If you’re craving comfort food tonight, grab a container of ground beef and try this casserole, you won’t be disappointed.
More fabulous casserole recipes
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
- Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Beef Noodle Casserole Video
Beef Noodle Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 ounces egg noodles uncooked
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 1/4 lbs lean ground beef I use 90% lean
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 16 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes drained, I prefer to use the small diced (petite cut) variety
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil; add the egg noodles and cook according to package directions. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- While the noodles are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat.
- Add the ground beef to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking up the meat with a spatula.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until onion has softened and beef is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes and Italian seasoning to the beef and stir to combine.
- Drain the noodles and add to the pan with the beef; toss to combine.
- Pour the beef and noodle mixture into a 9"x13" baking pan that's been coated in cooking spray. Top with cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
I just made this. It was great. I’ll be making it again. I followed the recipe exactly. I think next time all add the cheese throughout the mixture.Thanks
This was delicious! Followed the recipe just as it is. The flavors are wonderful and with a small salad and some crusty bread, it was a perfect and satisfying weeknight meal.
5 stars recipe. Is delicious and easy to make. Everybody liked it, including my younger grandson, who sometimes is a very picky eater. Sorry I didn’t take a photo after I took the casserole dish out of the oven for everybody to see how it came out. All I can tell you is that it was delicious.
I made this last night and my kids did like it. I will add some extra pasta sauce when I reheat leftovers as it was a tad on the dry side. I drained the ground meat after cooking it. Was this step needed? Maybe if I didn’t drain it would have been creamier?
Glad your kids liked it! It’s fine to add more sauce. If there is excess grease, you should drain the ground beef as the dish is not meant to be creamy.
This recipe is great, but you could change it up by making a taco meat add refried beans and and serve it with sour cream
You could also use crushed up tortillas chips put on top and then top with the cheese.
This recipe is very, very good, made this last night, it’s was the first time I made this, and I’ll make it again, the only thing is I’m going to put Italian sausage in it.
I just made this and was impressed. I didn’t have egg noodles so I used penne. I did take your tip and added some cheddar to the mix as well as on top. I also crushed Ritz crackers, added a little melted butter and sprinkled over the top. I was a bit concerned that it needed something else for flavor so my can of tomatoes had chili’s. Gave it just a tad of heat. I’m usually not a spicy person, but this was good. Very glad I made this. Always looking for easy and tasty casseroles. I’ll certainly follow you!
I’m trying this tonight
Thank you for the ritz tip
I,’very always enjoyed trying out your family recipes. They are so easy to make and so delicious. Thank you!
If I want to freeze it would I just make it as usual, cool it then freeze it?
Yes that’s correct!
This was so good. I used Shreddied Mozzarella Cheese instead. It was a hit.
Instead of chedder cheese, I use shredded Velvetta cheese.
This was a great hit with the family. Everyone loved it, even my pickest! I felt like mine didn’t have enough sauce though. I was wondering if I add a 1/2 jar of pasta sauce next time, or a whole jar of chunky pasta sauce and omit the tomatoes, would that help me out? This is definitely becoming a regular of ours. It was great!
The pasta does absorb some of the liquid as it cooks in the oven, it would be fine to add extra sauce as pasta sauce or more tomato sauce.
So I’m vegan and used tofu.
I’m on a no carb diet and used wheat pasta.
I’m allergic to tomatoes so I used green Chiles and a special sauce.
It was amazing! Lol
Seriously, I love when people comment on how they changed the entire recipe and they liked it. Hahahahaha…so annoying.
Anyway, made it exactly the way your recipe was given.
Delicious 😋
You didn’t add the diced tomatoes to your recipe on the video. Is the tomato sauce enough or should I add the diced tomato, too?
Yes add the diced tomatoes!
I’ve made this with cheddar but can it be made with mozzarella or another type of cheese? Thanks!
Yes that’s fine!
It was so good I had to get more. My I year old LOVED it!!!
This looks so good and the reviews are great. I wanted to make this for dinner tonight. Do you have to use diced tomatoes as I can’t eat them so is the tomato sauce ok or what do you do instead of the diced tomatoes. If the tomato sauce is ok do you add more?? I can eat the tomato sauce though. I know it’s weird. Lol.
Yes you can add more tomato sauce!
What size pan for 3x
I’d probably bake it in two 9×13 pans!
Wow! This was quite the hit. I made this for a community meal – sized it up to serve 80! Honestly, with sides we had enough for 160! It was easy and delicious. My partner and I plan to do this meal again in November when it’s our turn to cook again.
This was an amazing, comfort food dish! Love dishes that are super quick and easy to make. The only critique I would give is that the dish could use a bit more seasoning. I added a few tbsp of taco seasoning, some chili powder and oregano.