Beef Noodle Bake (Oven or Crock Pot)

This flavorful casserole is a winner for potlucks or just a family meal. I often assemble it earlier in the day and refrigerate. After a late afternoon dance class or basketball or soccer practice, I just pop it in the oven when I get home, make a salad or other veggie to go with it, and dinner's on the table in less than an hour. It's also good with a bit of Italian seasoning mixed in... I recently tried this in the crock pot and it worked quite well. To make it in the crock pot, cook the noodles just until they are ALMOST done so that they don't get too mushy before continuing with the recipe and instead of placing it in a baking dish, spoon the meat/noodle mixture in a 4 qt. crock pot - you can just mix the noodles and the meat sauce all together or layer them as in the recipe. Top with cheese and cook on low for 4 hours. The crock pot I used is one of the newer nesting crocks that come with 3 separate bowls and it tends to cook hotter than my older one, so I cooked it on low for approx. 4 hours on the 2 qt. setting (even though I was using the 4 qt. pot).

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground beef
• 1  small onion, chopped
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1  cup sour cream
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, cubed and softened
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄2-1  teaspoon  garlic salt
• 7  cups  uncooked  wide egg noodles, cooked and drained
• 1  cup  shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain.
2. Remove from the heat; stir in tomato sauce, sour cream, cream cheese,sugar and garlic salt; mix until blended. Place half of the noodles in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2" baking dish; top with half of the beef mixture.
3. Repeat layers.
4. Cover and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until heated through.
5. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
6. Yield: 6 servings.