This hearty beef noodle soup is a flavorful, delicious, meal in a bowl. Filled with tender meat and just the right amount of egg noodles, this soup warms and fills you up without feeling heavy.
Let me start by saying, I love soup. I could pretty happily survive on soup. The issue I run into most frequently is that my husband sees soup as a snack or an appetizer at best. That's the beauty of this Hearty Beef Noodle Soup. A serving of this soup is mostly tender shreds of beef, and fine egg noodles, so there is plenty of substance and just enough vegetables to complement it. The next best thing about this soup recipe is how easy it is.
Believe it or not, this is a one pot recipe. The meat is not browned separately, and the soup is made with common pantry and refrigerator items. The most basic seasonings pack so much flavor and you can essentially throw everything in the pot and walk away from it. This recipe originated in my mom's kitchen and I'm so happy to finally have it documented. It's an easy, go-to recipe that tastes so much more complex than the ingredients actually are.
The Easiest Way to Make This Hearty Beef Noodle Soup
Here are a few quick tips to guarantee success with this homemade soup recipe.
- First, use beef shanks that have the smallest bones possible so that there is plenty of meat in the soup.
- Measure soup base into a small bowl, open cans of diced tomatoes and tomato paste, clean the celery, and dice the onions. Prep everything ahead of adding it to the stock pot.
- Don't skip the celery. This soup doesn't have a true mirepoix, but the onion and celery combination is essential to the flavor of the soup base. Slice the stalks in half before adding them to the stock pot.
- Set the egg noodles off to the side. Add the noodles at the end of the recipe.
- Season the beef shanks with salt and granulated garlic before placing the beef shanks in the stock pot.
- Don't drain the diced tomatoes. Pour all the contents of the can into the pot.
Start Adding Ingredients to the Stock Pot For the Hearty Beef Noodle Soup
- Sautée the diced onions in olive oil.
- Place the seasoned beef shanks on top of the onions when the onions are soft and transluscent.
- Pour water over the beef shanks. Add the halved celery stalks to the water.
- Stir in beef soup base, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes.
- Bring contents of the stock pot to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat, but most importantly, make sure it is maintaining a simmer/visible light boil, and then cover the pot. Allow it to continue simmering for 3 hours. Stir occasionally during the 3 hours and check occasionally to make sure it's still simmering.
Removing Beef Shanks and Celery from the Soup
The last part of the making this soup is removing the beef shanks from the stock pot to shred the meat off the bone. To clarify, we remove the shanks to shred the meat to ensure that the bone doesn't fragment into the soup. To shred the meat, remove the beef shanks from the stock pot and place them on a plate. Using two forks, pull at the meat in opposite directions to gently shred it. After simmering for 3 hours, the meat is so tender it falls away from the bone. An easy test to see if the meat is ready is pressing a fork into the meat of the beef shank and if the meat easily pulls away, it's done. If it is difficult to separate the meat from the bone, allow it to simmer a while longer. Also remove the celery stalks and discard them.
Add the Fine Egg Noodles
Meanwhile, add the fine egg noodles to the stock pot. During the time that the noodles cook (about 3 minutes), finish shredding the beef shanks. During the 3 hours of simmering, the bone marrow dissolves into the soup, which adds even more flavor. If there is some marrow left in the bone when the shanks are removed, it can be discarded.
After the meat has all been shredded, it must be added (without the bone) back to the stock pot. Stir the meat in so that it is well distributed. Remove from heat when the noodles are soft. Serve warm/hot and I highly recommend a warm slice of garlic bread on the side.
These baked & seasoned crispy tortilla strips(click for recipe) go great with the soup!
Beef Noodle Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3½ lbs beef shanks
- 20 cups water
- 7 tablespoon beef soup base
- 28 oz diced tomatoes (petite diced or regular)
- 8 oz tomato paste
- 4 stalks celery
- 12 oz fine egg noodles
- sea salt flakes
- granulated garlic
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pot, add in diced onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent.
- Season the beef shanks on all sides with sea salt flakes and granulated garlic.
- Add the beef shanks to pot on top of the sautéed onions and add water.
- Cut celery stalks in half and add them to the pot with petite diced tomatoes, and tomato paste.
- Add beef soup base and stir over medium-high heat. Once contents of the pot begin to boil, turn the heat down to keep it at a low simmer for 3 hours. Stir occasionally. A light boil should be noticeable.
- Simmer all the ingredients until meat is tender enough to cut with a fork/fall off the bone tender (it should be ready at the 3 hour mark). Remove celery and beef shanks (and the bones).
- Shred the beef shanks into bite size pieces on a separate plate, using 2 forks then stir it back into the soup.
- Pour in bag of fine egg noodles and stir. Simmer for about 3 minutes and remove from heat (noodles will continue to cook because the soup is hot).
- Serve and enjoy once egg noodles are cooked! Top with some homemade tortilla strips for a little crunch!
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