This slow cooker French beef and noodles is cozy, easy comfort food with fork-tender beef, rich gravy, and wide egg noodles. French dressing adds mellow sweetness and tang that works beautifully with onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and beef broth. You’re going to love how simple it is to put together.
Why You’ll Love It
- Hands-off cooking — the slow cooker does the work while the beef becomes fork-tender.
- Rich, cozy gravy — French dressing, onion soup mix, mushroom soup, and beef broth create a savory-sweet sauce.
- Perfect noodles — wide egg noodles are folded in at the end so they stay tender, not mushy.
- Easy grocery-store ingredients — everything is simple to find, with no special shopping trip needed.
Ingredient Notes
Use the thick, orange, sweet-tangy bottled French dressing here, not a thin vinaigrette. The familiar kind in the plastic bottle is exactly what you want. Catalina dressing can work too, especially if you prefer a little more tang and a little less sweetness, but regular French dressing is the flavor I come back to.
For the beef, buy stew meat already cubed if you want the easiest possible day. I do look through it and cut any huge hunks down a bit, because some packages seem to contain one piece the size of a softball for reasons known only to the meat department. Aim for roughly 1- to 1 1/2-inch chunks.
The condensed cream of mushroom soup is part of the deal. You can say you don’t like canned soup all you want — and I get it, I really do — but it makes a smooth, comforting gravy here. Cream of mushroom is the right choice, not cream of chicken. I’m not usually bossy about substitutions, although apparently I am today.
Low-sodium beef broth is helpful since the dry onion soup mix brings plenty of salt. As for noodles, wide egg noodles are what make this feel like proper beef and noodles. Those curly little grocery-store egg noodles are just fine. No need to get precious about it.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch chunks — trim or cut down any especially enormous pieces
- 1 cup bottled French salad dressing, the thick orange sweet-tangy kind
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (1-ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
- 2 cups beef broth, low-sodium if you can find it
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles, uncooked
Instructions
Put the beef stew meat in an even layer in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. If the pieces are much bigger than bite-size, cut them down now; they’ll cook more evenly, and nobody wants to wrestle a giant chunk of beef in a bowl of noodles at 6 p.m.
In a medium bowl or a big measuring cup, stir together the French dressing, condensed cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix, and beef broth. Whisk it until the soup is mostly smoothed out and everything looks blended. It may not become silky like restaurant gravy, and that is perfectly fine — this is crockpot food, not a French exam.
Pour the dressing mixture over the beef, then gently stir everything around so the meat is coated. I use a spoon or little silicone spatula and try not to splash the front of my shirt, though that has not always gone according to plan.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the beef is very tender and pulls apart easily with a fork. Keep the lid on as much as possible. I know it is tempting to peek, particularly when the whole house starts smelling good around hour three, but every lid lift lets out heat and drags the whole thing along.
About 25 to 30 minutes before you plan to eat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the wide egg noodles according to the package directions until they are just al dente, then drain them well. Don’t overcook them because they’ll soften a little more when they meet that hot gravy.
Stir the cooked, drained noodles into the slow cooker with the tender beef and sauce. Fold gently until the noodles are coated and the beef is distributed through the pot. If it seems thicker than you like, stir in a splash of warm beef broth or hot water until it loosens up.
Taste before adding anything else. Between the broth and onion soup mix, it is usually salty enough already; I generally add only black pepper at the table. Spoon it into warm bowls and make sure everybody gets plenty of gravy, because that’s really the whole point.
Variations
For a creamier, stroganoff-ish version, stir in 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt right before you add the cooked noodles. It does make a nice tangy sauce, I’ll give it that.
If you want vegetables in the slow cooker itself, add 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms or 1 to 2 cups of baby carrots over the beef before pouring on the sauce. The carrots get soft and sweet. I prefer green beans on the side because I like a little snap in my life. There isn’t much snap in a slow cooker, bless it.
You can also use homemade-style frozen egg noodles instead of dried wide noodles. Add them directly to the slow cooker at the end, cook on HIGH for about 20 to 30 minutes, and add a little extra broth if the sauce gets too thick. I tried dumping dried noodles directly into the crockpot once, figuring I could save a pot. Well. They cooked unevenly and drank every drop of gravy like they had been stranded in the desert. Don’t be like me.
For less sweetness, use a tangier French or Catalina dressing, or use 3/4 cup dressing and replace the remaining 1/4 cup with extra beef broth.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 days in a covered container. The noodles will soak up a lot of sauce overnight — that’s normal, though it does make the leftovers look a bit like they’ve been sitting around contemplating their choices.
Reheat a serving gently in a saucepan over low heat with a splash of beef broth or water, stirring now and then until the gravy loosens back up. The microwave works too, especially for lunch, but add that splash of liquid first and cover the bowl loosely.
I don’t usually freeze this after the noodles have been added, because the noodle texture suffers. The cooked beef and gravy can be frozen, then thawed and served with freshly boiled egg noodles later, which is the smarter route if you’re planning ahead. I rarely plan that far ahead, but it’s nice to know the option exists.
Final Notes
Serve this with a crisp green salad if you want something sharp and fresh next to all that rich gravy, or just put out buttered green beans and call it a night. A basket of warm rolls is awfully nice for swiping up the extra sauce, although I have also watched people use the last noodle for that purpose. Resourceful, if not exactly elegant.
There’s something about meals like this that makes a busy afternoon feel a little more manageable. The slow cooker sits there on the counter doing its quiet little job while everything else spins sideways.
The house is not quiet, exactly. The dog has opinions, the television is always too loud, and a glass is forever left in the sink directly above the empty dishwasher. But when this beef and noodles is bubbling away, it still feels like dinner can be simple for once. Like maybe dinner can stay simple for a minute before life starts up again.
Slow Cooker Amish-Style French Beef and Noodles
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Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat Cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch chunks; trim or cut down especially large pieces
- 1 cup bottled French salad dressing Use thick, orange, sweet-tangy dressing
- 1 can (10.5 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 packet (1 ounce) dry onion soup mix
- 2 cups beef broth Low-sodium if available
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles Uncooked
Instructions
- Put the beef stew meat in an even layer in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, cutting down any pieces that are much bigger than bite-size.
- In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, stir together the French dressing, cream of mushroom soup, onion soup mix, and beef broth until the soup is mostly smoothed out and everything is blended.
- Pour the dressing mixture over the beef and gently stir so the meat is coated.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the beef is very tender and pulls apart easily with a fork.
- About 25 to 30 minutes before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook the wide egg noodles according to the package directions until just al dente, and drain well.
- Stir the cooked, drained noodles into the slow cooker with the tender beef and sauce, folding gently until the noodles are coated and the beef is distributed throughout.
- If the mixture is too thick, stir in a splash of warm beef broth or hot water, then taste and add black pepper if needed before spooning into warm bowls.
