Original Old Style Beef and Noodles

junho 03, 2022 Postar um comentário

This Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles recipe is just like Grandma used to make – talk about comfort food at it's best!

I know many folks out there (perhaps yourself included) write food blogs as a way of passing down recipes to their children. I love that! I just wish things like recipe blogs existed back in my grandparents' time. But alas, recipes back then were written on index cards and ~~saved~~ ~~shoved~~ crammed into wooden recipe boxes. While there is definitely a certain charm to the hand-written recipe, the downside is they disappear much too easily.

Over the years, my sister and I have tried to figure out my grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe. That recipe was legendary! The cookies were slightly chewy and thin. Like really thin. Like the kind of thin that would make you eat a dozen and still want more. No one really knows what happened to that recipe. We've asked family members, and everyone remembers the recipe…but no one has it. At this point, we've accepted that it's gone. (Although secretly I still want to go on a chocolate chip cookie baking crusade to see if I can come up with a similar version!)

Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles

This Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles recipe is another one that was lost to the ages…until now. Fortunately, this recipe is pretty simple. My grandmother used to make a similar recipe, and I can vividly remember the smell of the beef simmering away in the kitchen all day long. (She used to cook the beef in a huge stock pot. I've converted it over to a slow cooker instead.) While I don't have her exact measurements, this recipe is easy enough to figure out.

There are only a couple of key components to this Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles recipe – slow cooked beef that shreds apart easily, gravy made with the cooking liquid from the beef and egg noodles. Unlike baking and those mysterious chocolate chip cookies, there is no exact science here. This recipe – or some variation of it – is a classic old-timey recipe for a reason. It's an easy recipe that will remind you of the one grandma used to make!

Truthfully, Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles is pretty darned similar to Beef Stroganoff. One of the main differences is that Beef Stroganoff usually includes mushrooms while this Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles is sans-'shrooms. (Although you could totally add mushrooms to this recipe.) Either way, this recipe is the very definition of cold weather comfort food! It's getting chilly here in upstate New York, and I'm all about some classic comfort food like grandma used to make. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! (And if you happen to have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes thin but chewy cookies, then send it my way.) Cheers!

Did you make this Old Fashioned Beef & Noodles at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I'd love to see your version!

For the Beef and Noodles

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3-4 pound beef chuck roast
2 tsp minced garlic
1 medium white onion diced
2 Tbsp onion soup mix
4 cups beef stock
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
16 oz. egg noodles

For the Gravy

3 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups reserved cooking liquid
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

For the Beef and Noodles

Place vegetable oil in a large skillet and place skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add chuck roast and sear for 3-4 minutes per side.
Using a large slow cooker, add minced garlic, diced onions, onion soup mix, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper; stir until well combined.
Add chuck roast and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours. Once the beef is tender enough to fall apart easily, break roast into bite-sized pieces. Reserve 4 cups of cooking liquid from slow cooker to make gravy.
Meanwhile, cook egg noodles according to package instructions.
To serve, place egg noodles on a large plate and top with beef.
Pour several spoonsful of gravy on top of beef before serving.

For the Gravy

Using a small bowl, add cornstarch and water; whisk together until well combined. Set bowl aside.
Using a large saucepan, add butter and place over medium-low heat. Once butter has melted, add flour; continue sautéing, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes or until mixture turns golden brown.
Add 4 cups of reserved liquid from the slow cooker along with the ketchup and apple cider vinegar; stir until well combined. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, add cornstarch mixture. Using a whisk, stir until mixture is well combined.
Continue cooking, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes, or until gravy thickens noticeably.
Reduce heat to low to keep gravy warm.