German beef noodle soup is the perfect winter meal. Packed with vegetables, tender noodles, and hearty meat, it offers a comforting yet low-fat option for your dinner table. While the cooking time may extend to a few hours, the preparation can be completed in under 15 minutes.
Table of Contents
Recipe
Making beef noodle soup at home is rewarding and straightforward. You can create a rich, aromatic, and intensely flavorful dish perfect for a cosy meal with just a few simple steps.
- Preparation of ingredients – this involves peeling and cutting the ingredients.
- Cooking process – this involves frying and cooking beef and vegetables
- Serving – this involves assembling the soup plates with noodles, tender pieces of beef, and vegetables. At the end, pour a ladle or two of the hot broth over everything. In Germany, we would garnish the soup with chopped parsley or chives.
Traditional German Beef Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or lard
- 1 kg marbled beef cut beef shank, brisket or chuck roast
- 1 bay leave
- 2 peppercorns
- 500 g beef bones optional
- 500 g soup vegetables 4 medium carrots, 1/4 celery root, 1 small parsley root, 1 leek
- 2,5 l water
- 100 g Green Peas
- 200 g Fadennudeln or vermicelli
- salt
- 2 tbsp parsley or chives
Instructions
Prepare
- Cut the beef into 2x2cm (smaller then an inch) large cubes.
- Wasch all vegetables.
- Peel carrots, parsley and leek root.
- Slice one of the carrots and put it into an airtight container.
Frying & Cooking
- In a large pot preheat the oil into hight heat. Add beef cubes and fry them until they develop a crust. Stirr them occassionally.
- If you like, you can fry them in two batches. I couldn't bother this time;)
- Add vegetables, spices, beef bones (if using) and water. Bring it into a boil. Give it a stir, cover with a lid and trun the heat to medium-low.
- Let the soup simmer for 1 hour.
- After one hour remove the vegetables from the broth. They gave their best already!
- Cook the Soup for another 45 minutes. Add the sliced carrot.
- In a seperate pot cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. As soon as they are ready drain them and set them aside. (If you use short noodles like Fadennudeln you don't need to butter them. They will stick together but you can still scoop them with a spoon.)
- After 10 minutes add the peas and cook for 3-5 minutes
- Correct the seasoning, add salt.
- Assamble the soup plates with 2-3 large tablesspoons of noodles, few tender pieces of beef, and vegetables. At the end, pour a ladle or two of the hot broth over everything.
- Serve with parsley or chives on the top. The herbs balance the heaviness of the soup with a refreshing note.
- Guten Appetit!
German Beef Noodle Soup is a special dish. With significant roots in Asian cuisines, and a unique German twist, it’s a delicious way to connect with food traditions. While international variations are enjoyable, the German version holds a special place in my heart.
The German beef noodle soup leaves you full, satisfied, and hydrated. Eating warm broth, especially in cold weather, can be soothing. The beef provides high-quality protein that’s essential for muscle health. The noodles make it filly and add a bit of substance to the soup. Soup vegetables are high in important vitamins and minerals that support immune health and contain antioxidants, which help reduce inflammation.
You can tailor the soup to your preferences, adjusting the spice mix, the type of noodles, or the vegetables. This flexibility makes it versatile and easily suited to different diets, giving you the power to create a meal that’s uniquely yours.
What ingredients do I need to make German Beef Noodle Soup?
German Beef Noodle Soup is very straightforward, so you need a few ingredients: meat, soup noodles, soup vegetables (carrots, celery root, parsley root and leek) and spices.
Cuts of beef for German Beef Noodle Soup
In Germany, we use fatty, well-marbled cuts that become tender when slow-cooked. The most popular choices are beef shank, brisket, or chuck roast. For extra richness, you can also use beef bones.
Before cooking, the meat is cut into chunks and briefly fried on high heat. Frying creates a crust on the meat and those wonderful roast flavours. Then, you leave the meat to cook on low heat for at least 2 hours so the cubes are tender.
Spices for German Beef Noodle Soup
Here are a few common spices that contribute to the beef broth:
Black Pepper Corns: this earthy, aromatic, gentle spice enhances the broth throughout the cooking process
Bay Leave: adds a mildly floral and slightly peppery taste with hints of eucalyptus, clove, and mint to the broth. Theybring out savoury flavours, making any broth delicious.
For serving, use fresh parsley or chives. Parsley balances the heaviness of the soup with a refreshing note. Its bright colour gives a pop of contrast against the darker broth and noodles, making the dish look more visually appealing.
If you don’t like parsley, you can add chives. Chives will add another layer of flavour to this rich soup.
Noodles for German Beef Noodle Soup
In Germany, we like using Fadennudeln for soups. This thin, delicate noodle resembles fine strands or threads. They cook quickly and provide a light texture. Although the Fadennudeln is typically shorter, you can substitute it with vermicelli.
Cook noodles for Beef Noodle Soup separately
Are you considering cooking the noodles right in the soup because you don’t want to dirty another pot? Let me stop you right there.
Noodles cooked in the soup will make the broth starchy or absorb it completely.
If you would like to eat the soup the next day, the noodles may soak up the whole broth, so instead of a soup, you will end up with boiled noodles mixed with boiled beef and cooked vegetables.
The noodles complicate freezing, as they can become mushy when reheated.
I cook my noodles separately, draining them and leaving them in the pot. Fadennudeln doesn’t need to be buttered after cooking. They are so short that you can scoop them with a spoon, even when they start sticking together. You can refrigerate leftover noodles in an airtight container.
Add vegetables to the broth later
Simmered vegetables give the broth a richer flavour and enhance the taste of the soup. They also add texture and a bit of crispiness.
I add peeled soup vegetables one hour and 15 minutes before the soup finishes to cook. After this time, I take them out, as they lose their flavour and get mushy. If I want to serve my Noodles Soup with vegetables (which I usually do), I add fresh and sliced carrots and cook them for 15 minutes. I also like adding peas right at the end of the cooking process. This way, I have rich broth with fresh and crisp vegetables.
Tools that might come in handy
Storage & Reheating
You can store the German Beef Noodle Soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a maximum of 3 days orfreeze it for 3 months.
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