Homemade Beef and Noodles with Mushroom Gravy

This beef and noodles dinner is cubed sirloin tip or round steak browned in a Dutch oven, then simmered with sweet onion, mushrooms and beef broth until the meat is fork-tender. The gravy stays medium-brown and savory — no cream, no sour cream — and is spooned over wide egg noodles cooked separately and tossed with butter.

It serves 6. Plan on about 20 minutes of prep and roughly 1 hour 45 minutes of cooking, with the simmer time varying until the beef gives under a fork.

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How Long It Really Takes

The source listing of 15 minutes prep and a flat 1 hour 30 minutes cook is optimistic for 2 pounds of cubed steak:

• Prep, about 20 minutes: cubing the beef, slicing the onion and mushrooms, mincing garlic, and coating the cubes in flour, salt and pepper.
• Batch browning: 10 to 12 minutes across 2 or 3 batches so the pan is not crowded.
• Onion and mushrooms: 8 to 10 minutes until softened and golden, then about 1 minute for garlic and tomato paste.
• Covered simmer: usually 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes, until a cube is fork-tender. Start checking around 75 minutes; do not stop the clock at a fixed minute if the meat is still tough.
• Slurry and noodles: about 5 minutes to thicken and cook out the flour taste; boil the egg noodles separately in the last 8 to 10 minutes.

Card times use 20 minutes prep, 1 hour 45 minutes cook and about 2 hours 5 minutes total as a practical mid-to-high estimate.

Ingredient Notes

Beef: Two pounds of sirloin tip or round steak, cut into about 1-inch cubes. Both cuts are lean and benefit from a gentle braise. Chuck works too if that is what you have; it often turns tender on the earlier side of the range. Do not substitute ground beef or meatballs — this recipe is built for steak cubes.

Flour: 1/4 cup for dredging the beef, plus 2 tablespoons for a cold-water slurry at the end. The dredge browns and starts the body of the gravy; the slurry finishes it. Whisk the slurry smooth and simmer it long enough that the gravy does not taste pasty.

Broth: Four cups of beef broth. With the dredge, a covered simmer and the final slurry, you should get a gravy that coats the beef, not a bowl of soup. If it is thin after thickening, simmer uncovered a few more minutes. If it is too thick, whisk in broth a splash at a time.

Mushrooms and onion: Eight ounces of sliced mushrooms and one large sweet onion. They soften into the gravy; do not add extra vegetables that change the dish into a stew.

Wide egg noodles: Twelve ounces, boiled separately, drained and tossed with 2 tablespoons butter. Cooking them in the gravy would cloud it and pull starch into the sauce.

Seasoning: Worcestershire, tomato paste, dried thyme and a bay leaf. No cream, cheese or soup mix.

Making Beef and Noodles

Coat and brown the beef

Pat the cubes dry. Toss them with 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper until lightly coated. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches without crowding, 3 to 4 minutes per batch, turning so more than one side gets color. Move browned cubes to a plate. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil between batches if the pot looks dry.

Cook the onion and mushrooms

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the sliced onion and mushrooms to the same pot. Cook, stirring now and then and scraping up browned bits, 8 to 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the mushrooms have released liquid and started to turn golden. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook about 1 minute.

Simmer until fork-tender

Return the beef and any juices to the pot. Add the broth, Worcestershire, thyme and bay leaf. Bring just to a gentle simmer, cover and cook over low to medium-low heat until a cube is fork-tender, usually 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes. Keep the simmer gentle; a hard boil toughens lean cubes. Start checking at about 75 minutes.

Thicken, cook noodles and serve

Whisk 2 tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup cold water until smooth. Remove the bay leaf. Stir the slurry into the pot and simmer uncovered 3 to 5 minutes, until the flour is cooked and the gravy coats the beef. Meanwhile, boil the egg noodles in salted water according to package directions until tender. Drain and toss with the butter. Spoon noodles into bowls, ladle beef and mushroom gravy over the top, and finish with parsley.

Texture and Doneness

The finished dish should show irregular browned steak cubes, cooked mushroom slices, soft sweet onion and a medium-brown gravy that clings to wide, pale-golden egg noodles. It is not stroganoff (no sour cream), not Mississippi crock-pot noodles and not beef noodle soup.

Troubleshooting

• Beef still tough: Keep simmering gently and check every 10 to 15 minutes. Lean round and sirloin tip need time; do not raise the heat to a boil.
• Gravy too thin: Simmer uncovered a few more minutes after the slurry, or whisk in a little more smooth flour slurry (1 teaspoon flour + cold water) and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
• Gravy pasty or floury: The slurry was not cooked long enough, or it was lumpy. Whisk well next time and simmer at least 3 minutes after adding it. Thin with a splash of broth if needed.
• Gravy too thick: Whisk in warm broth 2 to 4 tablespoons at a time.
• Crowded browning: The meat steamed gray. Brown in smaller batches next time.

Substitutions

• Chuck roast: Cut into 1-inch cubes; often tender nearer the early end of the simmer range.
• Mushroom type: White button or cremini both work; keep the amount at about 8 ounces.
• Herb: 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme plus a pinch of dried rosemary can replace the full teaspoon of thyme if you prefer a quieter thyme note.
• Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend for dredge and slurry, and gluten-free egg noodles or another wide noodle you like.

Storage and Reheating

• Refrigerate: Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours for up to 3 to 4 days. Store noodles separately from the beef and gravy when you can so the noodles do not drink all the sauce.
• Reheat: Warm the beef and gravy on the stove over medium-low heat with a splash of broth until steaming hot (165°F). Reheat buttered noodles gently or boil a fresh batch.
• Freeze: Freeze beef and gravy up to 2 to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Cook fresh noodles when serving.

More Beef and Gravy Dinners

For a creamy ground-beef skillet with noodles, try our one-pot ground beef stroganoff. If you want mushroom gravy over formed steaks, make the Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy, or go heartier with beef stew with egg noodles. You can also browse all of our dinner recipes.

Beef and Noodles Questions

Can I use stew meat from the store? Yes, if the pieces are about 1-inch cubes of a braising cut. Trim large hard fat pieces. Simmer time still varies until fork-tender.

Is this the same as beef stroganoff? No. Stroganoff finishes with sour cream or a cream sauce. This gravy stays broth-and-flour based.

Can I cook the noodles in the gravy? Not in this recipe. Separate boiling keeps the gravy clear and the noodle texture right.

Can I make it ahead? Yes. Make the beef and gravy up to 2 days ahead, refrigerate, reheat gently and boil noodles just before serving.

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