Description
A comforting and creamy Sour Cream Noodle Bake featuring ground beef simmered in tomato sauce layered with tender egg noodles, cottage cheese, sour cream, and melted Colby Jack cheese. This hearty casserole is perfect for a family dinner, easy to prepare, and packed with rich flavors.
Ingredients
Scale
Sauce Mixture
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion, small diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Noodle Mixture
- 12 ounces egg noodles
- 1 ½ cups small curd cottage cheese
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 8 ounces shredded Colby Jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook beef and onion: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and diced onion. Break up the beef into crumbles and cook until no pink remains and the onion has softened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add garlic: Stir in minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Simmer sauce: Stir in the tomato sauce, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cook noodles: While the sauce simmers, cook egg noodles according to package directions until al dente, then drain well.
- Mix creamy base: In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, sour cream, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir until well mixed.
- Combine noodles: Add the cooked egg noodles to the cottage cheese mixture and stir gently until noodles are fully coated.
- Assemble bake: Place half of the noodle mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top evenly with half of the meat sauce, then sprinkle half of the shredded cheese over the sauce. Repeat the layering with remaining noodles, sauce, and cheese.
- Bake: Place the assembled casserole into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes until warmed through and cheese is melted.
- Serve: Remove from oven and serve immediately while hot and bubbly.
Notes
- Use mozzarella, cheddar, swiss, gruyere, or pepper jack cheese instead of Colby Jack for variety or a spicy twist.
- Substitute ground sausage, ground chicken, ground turkey, or ground pork for the ground beef to change the flavor profile.
- For an Italian twist, use your favorite canned pasta sauce instead of plain tomato sauce; reduce added salt accordingly.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- If cottage cheese is not available or desired, ricotta cheese can be used instead, though the texture will be less creamy and moist.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg
