Here’s a fantastic recipe that will turn everyday, leftover meat and vegetables into powerful comfort food: Tasty Noodle Casserole.
Tasty Noodle Casserole
6
servings1
hour30
minutesIngredients
3 Tbs butter, plus more for baking dish
1 bag (12 oz.) medium egg noodles
3/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cups chopped fresh vegetables, chopped (see notes)
4 cups leftover vegetables, chopped (see notes)
3 cups cubed cooked meat or poultry (see notes)
1 tsp chicken stock reduction (see notes)
2 (10.5 oz.) cans condensed cream of bacon soup
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp salt (optional, but recommended)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 oz. shredded cheddar
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
Directions
- Butter a 9.5 x 13.5 x 2-in. (3 Qt.) glass baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rapid boil. Cook egg noodles until barely al dente, two minutes less than the miminum recommended time according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid, and return the noodles to pot.
- Meanwhile, melt the remaining 3 Tbs butter in a 10-12-in., deep-sided skillet over medium heat. Add cumin and red pepper; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in fresh vegetables; cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the veg from the skillet to the noodle pot and stir. Stir in leftover vegetables and meat. Combine the stock reduction with the reserved liquid. Combine that mixture with the condensed soup, yogurt, (salt), and pepper. Stir the soup mixture into the noodle pot. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
- Bake until browned and bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes.
Notes
- Substitutions: homemade bacon bechamel for the cream of bacon, or use another flavor, such as asparagus or chicken. Sour cream for the yogurt, another stock flavor for the chicken.
- Fresh vegetable recommendations: red onion, celery, red bell pepper, mushrooms. Maybe carrots. Some fresh vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, may need a longer sauté time than what I’ve recommended.
- Leftover cooked (especially roasted) vegetables recommendations: carrots, onion, green beans, Brussles sprouts, tomatoes.
- You can substitute frozen vegetables for either the fresh or leftover: some may need to be thawed in the microwave before being chopped and added to the sauté, but others (like peas and corn) can go into the casserole along with the leftovers, straight from the freezer without having been thawed.
- Meat or poultry: leftover pork roast is excellent. So is chicken, and so would be turkey.
- If the stock reduction is salty, you may not need the optional teaspoon of salt.
This may be the mother of all of comfort foods. Well … maybe mac and cheese is the mother. This may be the mother-in-law of all comfort foods.
The Backstory
This casserole is all about leftovers. I wanted to call it “Leftovers Casserole,” but I just don’t think that’s an appetizing enough name for that is the very definition of homemade deliciousness. It will bring back warm, fuzzy memories of meals your mom used to make, except that it’s probably a couple of notches better than that. (No need to tell your mom about that part, though.)
And I’m telling you, it really is so good that I sometimes don’t wait around to have leftovers to make it: I’ll go out to the store and get the “leftovers.” Get them from the hot bar, for instance. Get a bunch, eat what you will, et voila, you have leftovers.
Social Learning
Really interesting vegetables will really make this casserole great: roasted carrots, roasted broccoli, roasted anything. (See the “notes” section of the recipe card for a complete list.) Ordinary veg – frozen peas and carrots, for instance – will give it a vibe that’s like a noodle version of a store-bought, national-brand pot pie – which is still OK in my book.
Reheats nicely in the microwave, and if you use panko for the crumbs, they’ll maintain some crunch in the leftovers.
Condensed Soup
The cream of bacon soup does not give this casserole a pronounced bacon flavor. I know: that’s odd. Even if you add chopped, crispy bacon it still won’t seem obviously bacony – which is even odder.
Yes, this is a casserole that uses a canned, condensed soup as its base. (Did you miss the part where I’m a Midwesterner?) And so yes, it’s just a couple tater tots away from being a “hot dish,” I guess. (Chicago isn’t quite close enough to Minnesota for hot dish to be a thing here, but we know of it. And we like what we know.)
Anyway, if you’d rather make the soup from scratch, I’ve put a link in the “notes” section of the recipe card.
Tasty Noodle Casserole
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. References: All Recipes. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #13 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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