It took my mom 30 years to manage to make her Beef and Noodles exactly like Grandma’s, so I suppose I should not be disheartened. And in fairness to both my mom and myself, my mom is hamstrung by my dad’s complete aversion to salt and I on the other hand was hamstrung by either my absentmindedness or my hectic life depending on how you want to spin it (I choose the latter).
So I feel pretty confident that I can post the recipe here even though mine did not taste perfect.
So first of all the salt. Do not go lightly here. If you are using storebought stock, you can probably get away with salt at the searing stage and the onion stage only; if you are using homemade stock, then probably you will need to add additional salt with your stock. My dad really prefers his food be cooked without salt, and then people can salt at the table. This is a great idea in theory, but some dishes need that salt added while cooking and this is one of them.
And now my mistake. Have you noticed that beef stock is just not called for much anymore? Well I don’t keep any on hand and I forgot to buy it. I was even at the store for goodness’ sake. My dish tasted perfect at the pot roast stage; I could taste Grandma’s kitchen in that bite and I nearly swooned. But I needed more stock for the noodles–so will you–and all I had was chicken. The final dish was good, but it just was not quite beefy enough, you could taste that hint of chicken stock (my mom is shaking her head in exasperation right now because she warned me–but I had to make this this past weekend and could not go out for beef stock). I added some canned beef, which helped immensely but it was not liquid enough for the noodles, which must be cooked in the dish, not separately. And because I did not want to add too much chicken stock, my noodles did not really have enough liquid to move around freely and so some clumped together.
Note to self: buy beef soup base and some beef stock.
Anyway I am still glad I made this. This dish is not for the faint of heart where beef is concerned. My grandma was a cattle farmer’s wife and it shows in this dish. It is for people, like me, who just flat out love the taste of beef. It is also very hearty and filling–how I put away as many bowlfuls of this as I did as a child I don’t know. I was growing I guess. These days I would serve it with a generous vegetable side and a salad (my grandma probably did too, but of course all I wanted was the Beef and Noodles).
This dish is of course my entry to my Grandma’s Recipes event. The deadline is April 11, but my next few weeks are kind of crazy so I wanted to get my entry done (did I say my life was calming down in a previous post? Am I nuts?). So don’t forget to send in your own entries and check back after the 11th for the round-up!
- 1 3-4 lbs piece of braising beef, preferably bone-in (but mine was not) (My mom uses chuck and so would I normally but the local farmer's market only had rump, which they put in netting for me--not necessary)
- 2 T vegetable oil
- coarse salt and pepper to coat the beef (at least a tablespoon of salt)
- decent pinch of salt for onions
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 T white wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 3-4 cups beef stock, maybe more (you want the noodles to move freely)
- canned beef, optional (anything to up the beef flavor, but if you have good beef stock is not necessary)
- salt if stock is homemade
- 1 lb homemade handcut noodles (if impossible, buy a homemade style egg noodle, such as Amish egg noodles)
- 1-2 T flour if needed for thickening (see directions)
- salt and pepper to taste for final dish
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Heat an oval dutch oven (any braising dish will work, although Grandma always used an oval, about 5 qts, which happened to be what I have too) over medium high heat. When it is hot, add the oil and heat it to shimmering. In the meantime, dry the beef thoroughly and coat and rub it in salt and pepper. Be generous here, there should be a decent coat of salt on the meat. Place the beef in the heated oil and sear on all sides. Take your time and let a crust develop before turning it. Get as many sides as you can--due to shape you may miss some, which is ok.
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Preheat the oven to 300 F to be ready in 3-4 hours--if you need to take longer you can also cook it at 275 for the first few hours and take more like 5-6 hours total.
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Remove the beef and place on a dish that will catch the juices. Throw the onions and garlic into the pot. Turn down the heat if it is too hot, which will happen with cast iron. Cook until the onions are translucent. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, just a splash or 2. Add the 2 cups beef stock and bring to a boil. Add the beef, with its juices, back into the pan. Cover the pan with parchment paper hanging over the sides and place a heavy, tight fitting lid on top of that. Place in the oven for 3-4 hours. Turn the beef over halfway through, especially if your cut of beef is higher than the liquid line.
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When the beef is falling apart tender, break it apart into bite sized clumps. Add canned beef if using. Add enough stock to be able to cook the noodles and add some salt if using homemade.
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Bring to a boil on the stovetop over medium high heat and add the noodles. When the noodles are done, take notice of now thick or watery the sauce is. If it is too watery, let it simmer, uncovered. Mix 1-2 tablespoons flour (depending on how watery you think it is) with the equivalent of cold water and add it to the sauce. The finished dish should be saucier than mine looks (see notes above about my stock problem). Taste for salt and pepper.
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If you have some guests who need heat in their food no matter what, serve with red chil pepper flakes (Grandma just rolled over in her grave, as did Grandpa too, but what can I say I am married to a Chile Head).
this looks so good! but um… canned beef?
Gosh now it’s 2018, I make beef and noodles often. Must boil a beef bone as chuck roast bakes. Makes more broth, i cook big and freeze leftovers. And I always strain all the broth, can’t stand the little blood
Particles. This dish is beloved by all. Even my very picky grandchildren. Ohio
I frequently use a big meaty beef shank. Just make sure it’s more meat than bone. I find the freshest source is carnicerias and Mexican grocers. Great for stew and veg soup too.i prefer to make my own noodles but if I use frozen I cook them longer than than directed. Even almost double. This is German and Skandi food. Hearty, rich, made to feed farm workers. Shank meat is practical and like many stew meats delicious cooked low and slow. Guess what I’m eating right now.
Yup I come from German stock as well as a great grandma who cooked for loads of farm workers every reaping season as well as her daughter who married a cattle farmer late in life (my bio grandpa died young). There is a lot of Anglo Saxon midwestern mixed in there as well, but this is definitely hearty farmer food. I think any international meat counter is liable to have better cuts of meat (i.e., bigger meaty braising cuts with bone for gelatin) for this dish. Americans seem to be losing the art of cooking beef with bone, sadly, since it is often not available at regular grocery meat departments. My mother told me recently about finding a good, large braising cut with bone at an Asian grocery.
Thank you for explaining to me what bone in or bone out of meat means. I see that your from Germany or your grandmother was.what I am desperately trying to find is someone who knows how to make a German go golosh?also does anyone have a good recipe for homemade noodles?my greatgrandma was also german and made that for us.my grandmaalso.
Hi: My great grandma was German but honestly I don’t have any German recipes from her. The closest recipe I have to goulash (if that is what you meant, I am not familiar with go golash) would be this Hungarian Romanian stew, but it is not goulash: https://www.thespicedlife.com/marosszeki-heranytokany-hungarianromanian-beef-pork-stew/. How long had your great grandma been in the US? Do you know if the goulash she made was German German or more German American? If you are looking for the taste of something that you grew up with that can make a big difference. Let me know if that was a typo and whether you are looking for the stew as it would have been made my immigrants here or Germans there and I will do some hunting.
Will you please give me your recipe for homemade noodles?I would really like to try it with this recipe as well as others.i have tryed but was unsegsessful.
Hi: here is a link to my homemade pasta recipe: https://www.thespicedlife.com/pasta-making-in-2009-101/
I used real beef chuck pot roast meat
Canned beef is a very old fashioned, probably midwestern thing. I grew up eating it. I never use it now, but my farmer’s market had some and so I grabbed it because my mom said it is great way to amp up the dish. But don’t worry if you don’t have it–salt and beef stock will take care of the missing flavor from it.
Grsbers beef chunks were a staple of my childhood and young adulthood, we rarely had meat at home as kids, but once in a while my mom would make beef stranganoff with their canned beef chunks. Amazing! Later in my married life I was living in Arizona and found out I could order big cans online and just recently told my mother and sister (both who have moved away from our farm in northwest Ohio and they are both ordering some to be shipped now. (hopefuolly they will save a can or two for me and ship them to Spain!
I love comments supporting canned beef. People don’t blink at canned tuna, which is a lot more different from fresh tuna than canned beef is from braised beef! Hey just for my readers, can you clarify the brand you like? I suspect there is a typo in there somewhere.
I love braising beef. Actually I love braising anything. This looks wonderful for a snow April first.
I would definitely be one of those people adding red chili flakes. Can’t help it, love the spices.
This dish looks eerily similar to a dish that my grandma makes!! How fabulous. I think the dish looks delicious, and hey, now you’ll always have beef stock on hand!! I can’t wait to try this out–although, I have a feeling that grandmas just have a special touch when it comes to making food perfect.
I cook like your dad – I go light on the salt when cooking and let diners add more as they need.
first of all, i’m a notorious over-salter. not for myself–i crave the stuff–but other people say it’s too much.
moving on to more important things, this is a sensational dish! it would certainly soothe a person’s body and spirit. 🙂
my entry is coming soon, possibly tomorrow!
I love dishes like this…it’s one of those you have to continue working at but with much reward!
Looks like some yummy comfort food!
Oh gosh, I want some of that! Big soft fluffy noodle and tender beef. So good!
this is silly of me, but the other thing i remember is that grandma served beef & noodles over home-made mashed potatoes for grandpa. she did not for laura usually. and she would never have put wine in her beef & noodles! love, mom
I have to agree, my grandmother NEVER used alcohol in her cooking and I CRAVE her beef and noodles all the time. I make them and drape them over mashed potatoes, not a very healthy meal, but yummy none the less, and you’re right, I live in Iowa, canned beef is plenty stocked around here, probably not very much anywhere else. But I give her kudos, she was VERY detailed about the recipe and that is wonderful, for those of us standing in our kitchens over something that was supposed to be Granny’s recipe to a “T” and then we taste it and say to ourselves, “that’s not quite right.” You just have to keep fiddling with it…my granny has been gone for 6 years now and I can still taste her beef n’ noodles. But, I keep trying!!!
My grandparents were also from Iowa ! I am going to try and make beef and noodles tomorrow. We also eat them over mashed potatoes! I found home made noodles in the frozen food part of wallmart . I will braise the chuck roast after rubbing w/ salt pepper and a little garlic powder, and cook crock pot all day add enough water and beef stock to cover the meat and a little onion. Once the meat falls apart I will try to rid some of the fat and add the noodle and continue to cook for an hr. During that time I wil make the mashpotatoes.
Alcohol cooks out when you simmer. The flavor remains. It is also a tenderizer.
i forgot to add that my parents canned their own beef for many years. they would only use an old cow because young and tender meat breaks down too much in the process and does not keep the great flavor. i helped them a few times but have never done it myself. i buy it anytime i find a product i think is good. it is so handy for hot beef sandwiches or any dish that calls for a slow cooked beef like stroganoff or beef & noodles, and it is almost instant. love, mom
This looks absolutely wonderful!
Ok – this comment is 2 years past your post, but I can’t help myself. I found your blog by googling Rose Levy Beranbaum’s pancake recipe (my book is in a moving box) and then found this recipe. I love beef and noodles. My mom always used beef that they canned themselves, so I never thought of making it from raw meat. I think I read you live in Ohio – I grew up in Indiana, about 2 miles from the IN/OH state line. So I’m pretty sure this is the real thing. Thanks for posting. Enjoying your blog – keep up the good work!
This is nice but grandma’s beef and noodles were made from scratch!!. I remember the noodles being mad from dough and rolled out and cut with a knife not store bought ones!!
yes they were but I know people don’t always have the time. I have done it both ways.
Just wanted to add that I love the taste of black pepper in this and…depending I will use about a TBSP of black pepper when I cook this meat. I will either make egg noodles or buy Old Fashioned Granny noodled found in most frozen section of a grocery store.
I always heavily pepper my beef and noodles. I usually make my own. They’re so easy and takes very little time. I’ve made this for years! I have three sons and they can eat!! They love this!!
In addition to the “homemade” noodles…. my Gramma had a very small kitchen and hung the noodles to dry on top of the cabinet doors with wax paper. Gosh, I loved her beef/noodles (w/o wine) made in the pressure cooker. Haven’t been able to duplicate it yet – but I keep trying.
That’s awesome. And don’t give up–it took us a long time to get it right!
Thanks so much for the recipe Laura!! When I asked mom how she made the beef and noodles I got “I don’t remember it’s been too long.” I almost cried. Mom used to use the frozen noodles! I didn’t get those, but I did pick up some good Amish noodles when I was back home at Guggisberg Cheese factory over Christmas so I am looking forward to making this for my husband. Thanks for saving my bacon 😉
I make this when I have leftover roast. I almost always have a big chunk of beef and broth left over that works perfectly. Yes, canned beef is something common around here. When you have bought a side of beef, you can have it processed and canned and a great way to store if you have an undersized freezer. Same stuff, just stored in a different way. It’s usually just a flavorful.
Thanks for the recipe. I also will use half an envelope of Lipton onion soup mix to add the flavor and the saltiness.
Thanks.
This is the BEST recipe. Thank you taking the time to post so long ago. It’s become a family favorite as I am requested to make it several times. I have been using Kitchen Basics Beef Broth and adding Das Dutchman Essenhaus Beef Base at the end to enhance the beef flavor! You are so right, salt is important!
I love comments like these! Thank you so much for telling me!
I just finished mixing up these noodles and they’re in the 10 minute “rest time”. I got a pasta machine and this will be my first time using it. I used to LOVE my grandma’s beef and noodles – and she too used to serve it over mashed potatoes. We always had Harvard Beets as a side. Delicious, comforting meal. Thanks for the recipe. I know the noodles are going to be delicious!
Awesome! Comments on this post make me happier than really any other post. Those noodles are one of the best memories of my childhood–I love knowing our recipe has helped others recreate the memory too!
I made this today for company, just as you instructed. The beef and noodles turned out perfect! I am going to serve them with mashed potatoes.
Yay!!! Thanks for telling me, I love hearing that!
And corn on the Cobb.
Thanks for the recipe! Just to confirm, you do not put the lid on the pot the first time you cook it for 5-6 hours?
No you definitely want to cover it. I just skimmed through the recipe, trying to identify where the confusion came from, but could not find it. You sear without a lid, and cook the onions without a lid, but you braise with the lid. Does that help?
I am still not clear on the first 5-6 hour roasting time method. I understand the importance of braising once the beef stock is added, however, this recipe reads as though it is roasted 5-6 hours, then stock is added and covered at this point. Can you clarify this? A 5-6 hr roast w/o lid, plus additional 3-4 hours with lid. Is that correct?
I apologize for the confusion and I have tried to re-word it to make more sense. No, what I mean is, much like a slow cooker has a high and low setting for less and more time respectively, if you want the dish to cook for more like 5-6 hours total, start it at 275 F and then turn it up to 300 F for the last hour or two. Basically it is just giving you flexibility in how long you want the cooking to take. Heck I have even braised overnight at 250 F.
It’s been a while since I visited this recipe. I love reading the comments. They really make me cry because i miss my mother. Thank you to everyone who loves her recipe.
love, mom
This basic recipe is a great way to use up left over roast beef. My husband and I don’t usually eat the whole roast so I can use the left overs and gravy for a second meal. You can even tweek it up with some canned mushrooms.
With the ones in tears… Just made the noodles w my ex-husbands fancy Italian noodle maker, but any one can roll out egg noodles quick on the counter, flour/roll up/slice, toss in the water. Flour/eggs/salt knead/rest/roll/slice.
Absolutely served on mash potatoes! My grown son remember us using their play dough toy noodle maker all the years they were growing up!
Created lots of fond memories! 5 star, wouldn’t let me click the stars.
Yay! Thanks for telling me! Love comments like these!
Just found this recipe and confused by one thing. After you add the noodles to cook does it stay in the oven or do you move it to the stove top? A little late to be asking since I am about to adding them. But for next time. Because i just tasted it and there will certainly be a next time.
It can cook either place–it will be easier to monitor on the stovetop. And yay! for a next time!
I have also edited the recipe to clear that up. 🙂
Can you tell me approximately how many servings this recipe makes? It looks and sounds delicious, and I’d like to make it for 12-15 people. Thanks in advance!
I would either double it or triple it depending whom you are feeding (football players lol? small children? you get the idea) and what you are serving with it. For my family–2 adults and 2 girls, no football players, it would easily last 2 nights, so 8 servings. But I remember how my brothers ate! 🙂
Super delicious recipe. I could not find beef in a jar, however I used better than bouillon roasted beef base for broth and it turned out awesome! Whole family ate along with a friend who raved about and something to be said because my family is so picky. Will become a regular dish on our menu!
Comments like these make me so happy! Thanks for telling me, I love that my grandma’s dish has made other families happy too!
Had the recipe tonight invited my daughter over and now she wants to make it. Kudos to Grandma!!!!!! Thank you for sharing it.
Of all the comments I get on my blog, the ones on this recipe telling me people have enjoyed it make me the happiest. Thanks for letting me know!
Thank you so much for sharing your grandma’s dish. It is wonderful. I have made this recipe many times, and I am addicted. I make a huge amount and freeze in individual portions. As soon as I run out I make another. Because of issues with my hand, I can’t put it in the oven. 5/6 hours simmering on the stove in a Dutch oven works for me.
Thank you SO MUCH for this comment. You have no idea how happy it makes me, that my grandma’s recipe is still making people happy!
This is a traditional Slavic dish. Canned beef was used in the olden days because fresh beef and refrigeration were not common. I use only fresh meat and love this dish with ribeye. No canned beef for me and fresh egg noodles only. Sometimes I add fresh or dried mushrooms for a twist and always use a good red wine to deglaze. We never served over mashed potatoes but some folks like a dollop of sour cream. Fresh parsley at finish optional.
I suspect every beef-eating culture has a version of this dish. I would love it with red wine, although I have no doubt my grandma would find it shocking. 🙂
Wow, thank you! I grew up eating beef and noodles but never seemed to get them like my Granny or my Dad made them. I always make pot roast that’s good, but for leftover I was cooking noodles separately, drain and mix. I am sure that the secret is cooking noodles in the yummy broth. I am going to cook it tonight and will cook the noodles with the roast and nrotj, and I have extra beef broth ready. Yeah, another family recipe I can share.
Yay! Let me know how it turns out for you!
It was great, thank you again. I am enjoying it again tonight.
Hooray! 🙂
Just stumbled onto your blog .. LOVE the beef n noodles as my Grandmother (bless her soul) would make those wonderful homemade noodles with beef over them .. Almost the same recipe except for salting the noodles- Grandma would always say : taste the water if it doesn’t taste like salt water then you have not salted enough. So maybe that may help the taste ?? Plus the beef stock is the best thing to have on hand (as well as chicken and vegetable broth-homemade is best, but canned will do in a pinch !)
Just finished smoke braising 6 pounds of beef shanks on my smoker. Was trying to decide on tacos or beef and noodles. Wanted to find a beef and noodles recipe like my grandmas because I wasn’t sure on the gravy/sauce. This recipe is as close to how my grandma made as I can imagine. Surprised by the negatives regarding canned beef. Having grown up in Ohio/Indiana Amish country, half a dozen or so cans of beef in the pantry was normal. Glad I am going to be able to share Grandma’s beef and noodles with your and my “improvements” to my grandkids.
So cool that this is one of the top results on Google. I’m a beginner cook and this recipe and commentary were both so helpful. I had never made a roast before. Or “beef and noodles,” a standard in my region. It turned out great!! Perfectly seasoned.
Yes, the method outlined here does necessarily result in a thin sauce (since you’re boiling the noodles with the beef, and in beaucoup beef stock) but a slotted spoon can work wonders and the beef was so juicy and tender it didn’t need any “gravy.” I look forward to impressing some area Grandmas with this recipe. Thanks so much!!!
Yay! Thanks for letting me know! And yes it makes my day that my grandma’s recipe is by far my most popular post.
Laura: I would have given it 5 stars if I could — hell, 500 stars — but for whatever reason my iPad refused. I wish you all the best. With gratitude, Chris Hartman, Grainfield, Kansas
Made this tonight, mostly as written, I had leftover smoked beef brisket that I cubed,used red wine instead of white, and add carrots and mushrooms and peas…heavenly. Thank you so much (also grew up in Iowa) and remember grandma serving this over mashed potatoes. Awesome recipe and memories.
Hooray for someone else willing to add some wine lol! And that sounds heavenly to me!
Oh my just the aroma was heavenly and so was the dish. Than you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Awesome recipe! My whole family of 7 had no complaints and that alone is amazing. The beef was tender and the sauce was perfect! Thanks for giving us a recipe to add to our dinner collection.
I LOVE hearing this about my grandma’s recipe! Thanks for commenting!
My beloved grandma was also a beef farmers’s wife. Your recipe inspired me to make beef broth from the bones in my freezer while I waited for my larger roast to thaw. That entire first 24-hour crock pot broth batch (at least 1- 1/2 quarts) went into this recipe. I made six eggs worth of my grandma’s homemade noodles. I shredded most of the roast to go in the dish, leaving two large pieces for my finicky son who doesn’t think he likes sauces. My family devoured the rest for dinner! (Just one small serving remained for one son to take to school for lunch.) It was delicious and filling – perfect comfort food for a family like ours with three teenage sons (and a little daughter) who all love grandma’s egg noodles. And they thought I was crazy making this – that noodles were just for chicken noodle soup. Thanks for the inspiration and new family favorite dinner!
Yay! Comments on this post remain my very favorite.
I too stumbled on this recipe. I’m 64 and have never forgotten the taste of my grandmother’s boiled beef and noodles. She used beef short ribs and I’m doing the same this weekend in cold and rainy Oxford, England.
I love the idea of people in England eating the same basic dish–and I love that I brought back some fond memories for you! Thanks for commenting.
I’ll be making this sometime this weekend! Yes, it’s sweltering outside during a southern summer….but I cannot take my mind off of Grandma’s Beef & Noodles! Thanks Laura, I’ll let you know how much I totally destroy them! My dad has gotten some good use out of frozen home-style thick cut noodles to save time, and I think I’ll use those! 🙂
Let me know how it goes!!!!!
I wanted a real home made recipe which reminded me of my childhood. I ran across this last year and this has become a staple in my home when I want a real hearty meal. Superb!
Thank you for telling me. Happy comments about my grandma’s Beef and Noodles are my absolute favorite!
our all time favorite meal growing up. This looks similar to how my mom made it – the noodles were cooked in the pan drippings on the stove top and they were so yummy. We didn’t have mashed potatoes – just roast beef and noodles. I’m going to try this today
WHY don’t you have a “jump to recipe” tab? I never want commentary, and if a site doesn’t have the option, I simply never use the site. Thanks for your feedback!
I actually do–but I started on Blogger and did not move to WordPress until 2012–and even then I don’t think the plugin for Jump To Recipe came around until later still. I switched over in 2016-2017 when I was made aware of it, and have been slowly working my way back. I am somewhere in 2013 right now. While it is true I make some money off of my site (hooray for buying the occasional cookbook!) the fact is it does not make the kind of money that would allow me to hire a virtual assistant, for example, to go through the old recipes faster. Unfortunately it is not just a matter of installing the plug in, because the AI does not get everything right so I need to go through each recipe personally and change the things it did not understand. I have been blogging for over 10 years–that is a lot of recipes and lot of trends in blogging! And that recipe has actually already been updated once, into the recipe format recommended before the one that came with Jump To Recipe, so I have done this before. it takes a lot of time! I am sorry my older recipes (that one is really old, early 2009!) do not yet have the button.
Oh, for heavens sake, couldnt you find something worthwhile to whine about?
I was absolutely drawn to this recipe because it LOOKED and sounded like the beef and noodles I ate growing up in rural Ohio!
My aunt Ginny used to spend the morning making homemade noodles for it and the house smelled amazing with the beef in the oven.
I’m going to be making this tomorrow because it’s going to be COLD for Western Kentucky standards and my husband needs to see how real beef and noodles are done!
Thank you for sharing this..even if I’m late to discovering it!!
I have thought about updating these pictures many times, so I am glad to hear they were a draw for you. So many traditional, homestyle one pot meals do not photograph well, and I had no idea idea what I was doing back then. My grandma always did the same with the noodles. Your comment made me super happy, and made me remember my grandma again. Thank you!
I’m assuming the “mix 1-2 tablespoons” cold water – is referring to a thickener, correct?
Wow I cannot believe no one has caught that until now. Thanks for the head’s up, I have corrected it and updated it to my current recipe plug in while I was at it. Let me know if anything no longer makes sense. But yes you are correct, mix the cold water with an equal amount of flour to thicken if needed.
Laura – thank you for clarification. I made your Grandmother’s Beef and Noodles!! Delish I must say. I used my 8 qt pressure cooker (no lid yet) to brown each side of the roast, added onions, alittle water and then lidded the pot. Once continued steam escaped from the vent, I placed the10 lb weight n the vent and waited 16 minutes.
The roast was absolutely mouth-watering tender!! So good. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. It’s the best. Thank you so much for sharing such goodness.
Thank you so much for reporting back. This recipe means more to me than any other on my site. I am so glad you liked it.
Cook the Noodles First
OK, so I just made this. My mom (now 83) used to make this when I was a kid. I loved it. She’s ailing now, so I just thought I would find a recipe on line. This one fit the bill. My final dish was really good. However, here are my notes: 1) I used a nice piece of boneless chuck roast. It was not a shoulder piece, and the fat was marbled. I live in California in 2022, so it was 6.99 a pound. I bought a 3.5 pound chuck roast. I followed the directions exactly. My Le Creuset dutch oven is “24,” so Google tells me that is 4.5 quarts. I made the chuck roast in this, and it was tasty as hell. OK, so I bought Amish egg noodles. This is where next time I would make a different choice. I added more Swanson’s beef broth and boiled the noodles in the dutch oven alongside the meat. The mixture was thick. I kept adding more broth. Then I added water because the dish was too salty. Anyway, it all tasted great in the end but was too thick. Next time I will (as my mom advised me later), cook the noodles separately. Then I will drain them and add the pulled apart meat. I will add broth first if the meat seems like it needs more. Adding the meat to already cooked noodles is the key. Otherwise you have this extremely dense dish.
Happily, this is why we all cook to taste. For me, the noodles must be cooked with the meat. I personally would add more broth, but use homemade broth (I really don’t love commercial beef stock anyway) or a low sodium chicken stock for the extra because adding lots of commercial beef stock can get salty. But I really prefer the taste of the noodles cooked in the stock. To each their own!