This satisfying Cheesy Beef & Noodle Casserole is easy to make with simple staple ingredients. Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner that will appeal to the whole family!
If you are looking for a satisfying family meal that is easy to do, look no further! This super simple casserole is an easy way to get dinner on the table. I love it and turn to this recipe often as it uses ingredients I almost always have on hand.
It is super satisfying and oh-so-yummy!
The best part? It feeds a crowd! Also awesome? Since this makes several servings, that means if you aren’t feeding a crowd, you have lots of leftovers! And I am all for that! Minimal work and multiple meals? Yes, thank you!
If you are a fan of bolognese or meat sauce over your noodles, than this dish is right up your alley. It essentially includes a flavorful meat sauce tosses with noodles and veggies. Then it is all baked together with melty cheese on top. Easily my favourite part of the casserole.
Ingredients in Cheesy Beef & Noodle Casserole
- Egg noodles: Egg noodles are my favorite in this cheesy casserole. I use broad or medium thickness noodles as they can hold the sauce and other ingredients. They also hold up well to baking provided you don’t over boil them first. If you wish to keep this dish egg-free, you can substitute regular pasta like penne or shells.
- Olive oil
- Ground beef: This can be substituted for a beef and pork mix, ground turkey, or ground chicken.
- Veggies: chopped onion and frozen vegetables are used in this dish. I opt for frozen vegetables to keep this recipe quick and simple but you could always use fresh vegetables. If you are using fresh vegetables, you will need to saute, boil, or steam them until they are tender.
- Tomato sauce: Use a good, flavorful tomato pasta sauce.
- Seasoning: Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper.
- Cheese: Cheddar cheese is my favorite to top this cheesy casserole. It adds the perfect flavor and pairs well with ground beef dishes. If cheddar isn’t your thing, you can substitute your favorite melty cheese instead.
How to make Cheesy Beef & Noodle Casserole
- Cook your noodles. To begin, I start by getting my noodles boiling, following package directions.
- Make the ground beef sauce. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and begin to saute the beef. After a few minutes of cooking I add the onion so that it can cook along with the beef. After about 5 minutes of cooking, the onion is soft and the beef is cooked through. Then I add the sauce, seasonings and frozen veggies.
- Toss noodles and beef sauce together. Once the noodles are cooked, I drain them, place them back into the pot and add the beef sauce. I toss it all together and then add it to a baking dish. You can use a 9×13 baking dish or something similar. I think the dish I use is 11×11 or 12×12 but anything close to that works.
- Top with cheese and bake. Sprinkle it with the cheese (about 2 1/2 cups) and then pop it in the oven until the cheesy gets all melty and gooey. Perfection!
That is pretty much it! All in all, its a pretty easy dish but one that is satisfying and delicious!
Can you prep this dish in advance?
This dish can easily be prepped in advance. You can either prep just the meat sauce to cut down on the hands-on prep time later or you can prep the entire dish altogether. This definitely helps get dinner on the table quicker on busy weeknights.
To prep the whole dish, follow the directions in the recipe card right up to the step of tossing the noodles in the beef sauce. Let the noodles and beef cool completely and then sprinkle on the cheese. Cover the dish in plastic food wrap well and then refrigerate it. When dinner time comes around, all you have to do is pop it in the oven to bake. You will need to add more baking time (20 minutes total should suffice), to ensure the dish warms through. Note: If you are assembling ahead of time, you will need to use a baking dish that is safe to go from fridge to oven such as an aluminum pan.
Another option if you really want to prepare the whole meal and eat it as leftovers is to completely cook the casserole in advance.
Pro tip: Double the beef sauce and freeze the extra portion for future meals! I almost always do this with meat sauce.
Storing leftovers and reheating
Once cooled completely, leftovers can be stores in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.
To reheat, transfer them to a baking dish and reheat them in the oven until warmed through. I recommend sprinkling a little more cheese over top of the dish when you reheat it.
What to serve with this dish
This casserole is a complete meal already. You can serve it as is with a light salad or some extra veggies on the side. Some of our favorite sides to serve with this dish are Radish Cucumber Salad, Orange Pomegranate Salad with Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing, or Healthy Caesar Salad.
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Chicken Noodle Casserole
Easy Stove Top Ground Beef and Noodles
Easy Beef Bolognese with Creamy Polenta
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Cheesy Beef & Noodle Casserole
Ingredients
- 340 g egg noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 1 jar tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables (or chopped fresh vegetables)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook noodles according to package directions.
- While the noodles are cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and add the beef. Cook, breaking up the meat to prevent clumping for about 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped onion and continue to cook until for about 5 minutes or until the beef is cooked through and the onion has softened.
- Add the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and the frozen veggies. Bring to a simmer and let everything cook for about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Drain the noodles and return to the pot. Add the beef mixture and stir everything together. Pout into a 9×13 baking dish or similar. Top with grated cheese and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
