Ground beef noodle casserole with egg noodles, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, parmesan, and mozzarella. 🍝

The whole family will love this casserole dish because it’s a classic: egg noodles covered in a meaty red sauce with parmesan and mozzarella. Old-fashioned beef noodle casserole is one of my favorite easy dinner recipes because it’s a complete meal all in one.

If you like simple pasta recipes, try

Ingredients

• Egg noodles: Wide or extra-wide egg noodles are ribbon-shaped pasta made from egg and flour
• Ground beef: Your preferred ground beef such as regular ground beef, lean ground beef, ground chuck, ground round, and ground sirloin
• Onion: White onion, yellow onion, sweet onion, or red onion, based on preference and availability
• Diced tomatoes: To add some chunky tomatoes to the sauce (do not drain)
• Tomato sauce: The base of the pasta sauce
• Beef broth: Enhances the beefy flavor of the dish
• Basil, oregano, garlic salt, black pepper: To season the pasta and enhance the overall flavor
• Grated Parmesan: Shaker cheese adds a salty and cheesy element
• Shredded mozzarella: Melts into a gooey, stretchy topping

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish and set aside.

Cook the egg noodles according to the package directions, minus 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion over medium heat until the beef is cooked and the onion is translucent. Drain any excess fat.

Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic salt, and pepper to the skillet and bring to a low boil over medium-high heat​. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Add the cooked noodles to the skillet with the beef and tomato mixture. Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese until everything is well combined.

Transfer the mixture to the greased baking dish, spreading it evenly. Top with the mozzarella cheese.

Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Remove the casserole from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Substitutions

• Egg noodles: Medium egg noodles, extra-wide egg noodles, and whole wheat egg noodles will also work! Other pasta like ziti or fettuccine also work (cook until al dente).
• Ground beef: Any ground meat will do the trick: ground Italian sausage, ground turkey, ground chicken, plant-based ground meat.
• Chopped onion: White onion, yellow onion, sweet onion, red onion, or shallots.
• Diced tomatoes: Petite diced tomatoes, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, or canned crushed tomatoes. If you do not want a chunky pasta sauce, you can replace this with a second can of tomato sauce.
• Tomato sauce: Jarred marinara sauce will also work, but you may choose to skip the additional seasonings.
• Beef broth: Chicken broth, vegetable broth, mushroom broth.
• Oregano and basil: You can replace one or both of these seasonings with dried Italian seasoning.
• Garlic salt: Substitute with your own blend of garlic powder and salt. Try a little more salt than garlic powder.
• Grated Parmesan cheese: Use shredded parmesan if that’s what you have on hand. You can also use Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano, and Asiago.
• Shredded mozzarella cheese: Provolone is my top substitution recommendation, but you can also try Monterey Jack, cheddar cheese, or Gouda.