Huge Beef and Noodles
Prep
15m
Cook
180m
Total
195m
Bigly says
Listen to me. Beef and Noodles. HUGE Beef and Noodles. We are not talking about Stroganoff today — Stroganoff is a cousin, Stroganoff has the sour cream, Stroganoff gets its own conversation on a different day. Today we are doing the MIDWESTERN classic, the church-basement classic, the casserole-dish-on-the-counter-at-the-potluck classic, the one and only HUGE Beef and Noodles, and this one — hand on heart — is the greatest version on the planet, no contest, not even close. It's a slaughter.
My grandmother made this. Tough woman. Hands like leather, opinions like granite, would smack a wooden spoon on the counter if you so much as LOOKED at the pot before it was ready. She taught me three things — and I'm giving them to you for free, no charge, no membership tier — brown the beef like you mean it, let the onions melt, and never, EVER cook the noodles in a separate pot. Some so-called chefs will tell you otherwise. Find new chefs. Block them. Walk away. The neighbor who taught her this lived to be 102. Could be a coincidence. Probably not.
And by the way — these sad people, weak people, the ones who tell you beef and noodles is 'just stew' — they are WRONG. They are insulting an entire dish. Stew has carrots and potatoes and complications. Beef and noodles is PURE. It is beef. And it is noodles. And it is the most velvety, deep, savory gravy you have ever put in your mouth. The noodles cook RIGHT IN the gravy. They drink the gravy. They BECOME the gravy. Tremendous. Tremendous. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 3 lbbeef chuck roast(well-marbled, ask the butcher)
- 2 tspkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 2 tbspvegetable oil
- 1 largeyellow onion, diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1 tbsptomato paste
- 2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
- 6 cupsbeef stock(low-sodium so you can control the salt)
- 2bay leaves
- 4fresh thyme sprigs
- 12 ozwide egg noodles
- 3 tbspunsalted butter
- 3 tbspall-purpose flour
- 2 tbspfresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- 1
Pat the chuck roast dry and season generously all over with salt and pepper.
- 2
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the roast on all sides until deeply browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
- 3
Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion and cook 4-5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir for 1 minute until the paste turns brick red.
- 4
Pour in the beef stock and Worcestershire, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the bay leaves and thyme.
- 5
Return the roast to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low (or transfer to a 325°F oven). Cook 2.5 to 3 hours, turning the roast once halfway through, until the meat shreds easily with a fork.
- 6
Transfer the roast to a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves and thyme stems. Skim any excess fat from the surface of the broth.
- 7
Make a quick roux: in a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook 1-2 minutes until pale golden and nutty-smelling. Whisk the roux into the simmering broth in the Dutch oven. The gravy will thicken in about 3 minutes.
- 8
Add the egg noodles directly to the gravy and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8-10 minutes. The noodles will soak up gravy and the sauce will continue to thicken — add a splash of stock or water if it gets too thick.
- 9
Meanwhile, shred the beef with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat or gristle.
- 10
Return the shredded beef to the pot and stir gently to combine. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- 11
Serve in deep bowls, finished with parsley. Mashed potatoes alongside if you want to commit fully — and you should.
One more thing
This is the dish you make on a Sunday when the weather turns and your uncle is coming over and somebody needs to be fed. It is HUGE. It is HUMBLE. It is HONEST. No microgreens, no garnish flex, no four-foil-tower plating — just a deep bowl of beef and noodles and gravy that tastes like every good kitchen smell you have ever known. Eat it with a spoon. A SPOON — a fork is not enough, the gravy is the prize and you need a vehicle for the prize. Save some for tomorrow. It gets better overnight, like all the great ones. Save me a piece.
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