Ground Beef and Egg Noodle Casserole

hamburgercasseroleeggnoodles This hamburger casserole is a classic comfort food, Featuring ground beef, noodles and a creamy cheese sauce, this simple recipe dates back to the 1940's. You can tweak the amount of cheese and sour cream depending on what you've got in the fridge - it'll still turn out great.

1 lb ground beef
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 tsp. white sugar
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. sea salt
1 (8 oz) pkg egg noodles
1 cup sour cream
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 large white onion, finely diced
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5-7 minutes; drain and discard grease.

Mix tomato sauce, sugar, garlic salt, and salt into the ground beef; simmer until flavours blend, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover the skillet.

While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook egg noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 7-9 minutes. Drain.

While the egg noodles are cooking, preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Grease a 9x13" casserole dish.

Mix sour cream, cream cheese and onion together in a bowl.

Layer ½ of the egg noodles into the prepared casserole dish. Top with ½ of the sour cream mixture, then ½ of the ground beef mixture. Repeat layers once more. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over top.

Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is melted and golden brown, 25-30 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Cook’s Note: I like to add the diced onion with the cheese before baking but you can sauté it with the beef if you prefer.