Pioneer Woman’s Sour Cream Noodle Bake
A quick and easy dinner for busy weeknight meals! This sour cream noodle bake is rich with flavor from the ground beef, sour cream, cottage cheese, noodles and more! This is the perfect family friendly meal!
This recipe for Pioneer Woman’s sour cream noodle bake is always a hit with my family, especially on busy weeknights when we were all running around in different directions. It is the perfect meal for us because it is quick and easy to make, but tastes great! We all love it!

As many of you know, I love Pioneer Woman. Food Network picked her up and is now going to be hosting a cooking show straight from her ranch…now I just need cable! Recently on PW Cooks she featured a recipe called Sour Cream Noodle Bake. Since noodles are Little Finch’s all-time FAVORITE food I knew I had to try this! LF and I made it and were in love! After making it I had leftover cottage cheese so we made a varied version the next day!
Check out these 25 Ground Beef Dinner Ideas!
Sour Cream Noodle Bake Ingredients
- Egg noodles – egg noodles are a type of pasta that is made from flour, water and eggs. They are typically sold in bags in the pasta section of the grocery store.
- Ground beef – brown the ground beef and drain any excess fat. I prefer to use 93% lean ground beef, while the more fat options have better flavor, I prefer to use the leaner options.
- Tomato sauce – store-bought canned tomato sauce is perfectly fine to use in this recipe. I just make sure that there are no extra seasonings {like Italian, basil, etc} added. Plain is where it’s at!
- Black pepper – freshly ground black pepper is the best way to ensure a great pepper taste. However if you do not have a pepper mill with whole peppercorns in it, regular ground black pepper will do.
- Crushed red pepper flakes – crushed red pepper flakes are found in the spice section of the grocery store. They have a strong flavor and are often used to add heat to dishes.
- Sour cream – it may seem strange to bake with sour cream, but actually it is very common. Sour cream adds moisture to your baked good without thinning the batter. Sour cream yields very tender baked goods!
- Cottage cheese – I prefer to use full-fat, small curd cottage cheese for this recipe.
- Green onions – green onions are different from traditional onions because of their shape and flavor. Green onions are green, thin, long tubular onions that have a mild flavor to them.
- Cheddar cheese – cheddar cheese is a type of cheese that is made from cow’s milk and is typically orange in color. It has a strong flavor and is often used in dishes like macaroni and cheese or as a topping on burgers. It comes in bricks or in shredded options. For this recipe, use the shredded cheese.
Super Easy Recipe!
This is really a simple recipe to make. Start by boiling water and cooking your egg noodles to al dente. Be sure to salt your water for your noodles!
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and draining any excess fat/grease.
Next you add in a can of store-bought tomato sauce, freshly ground black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.
In a separate bowl, stir together sour cream, cottage cheese, green onions, and cooked egg noodles.
Alternating with the meat mixture and the cottage cheese mixture, layer both ingredients in a Pyrex baking dish or an oven safe dish, adding a handful of shredded cheddar cheese between each layer.
Bake in the oven at 350°F degrees until all of the cheese is melted and enjoy!
Let’s Make It Together!
Here is the process of us making it, but feel free to stop by here to see way better pictures and the detailed recipe.
Step 1: Heat oven to 350°F degrees
Step 2: Boil water and cook egg noodles to al dente
Step 3: Brown ground beef in a skillet

Step 4: Add canned tomato sauce

Step 5: Add black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes


Step 6: In a medium sized bowl combine sour cream and small curd cottage cheese

Step 7: Stir in chopped green onions

Step 8: Pour in egg noodles and coat with cottage cheese mixture

Step 9: Add 1/2 of the noodle mixture into a baking dish

Step 10: Add in half of the meat mixture

Step 11: Layer with shredded cheddar cheese

Step 12: Repeat each layer again until you have used all of the meat and cottage cheese mixture

Step 13: Bake in the oven at 350°F degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melted

Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving
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This easy noodle bake is delicious and is kid approved! That’s the best kind of recipe in my opinion!!…a dish that my kids will eat! Every mom can appreciate that!

Next time I host a dinner party this is definitely what’s on the menu! It’s such a quick and easy meal to make. You can make it ahead of time and just throw in the oven when your guests arrive…that way you’re not stuck in the kitchen preparing food and missing out on the fun!

The Pioneer Woman’s Sour Cream Noodle Bake was the perfect meal for our busy family. The rich flavor from the ground beef, sour cream, cottage cheese, and noodles was amazing. My kids loved it and I loved that it was such an easy dinner to make. Serve this along side some crusty French bread and Strawberry Walnut Salad, and you have a delicious meal!
Pioneer Woman’s Sour Cream Noodle Bake Recipe

Pioneer Woman Sour Cream Noodle Bake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 15oz can tomato sauce
- fresh ground black pepper
- 8 oz egg noodles
- 1/2 c sour cream
- 1 1/4 c small curd cottage cheese
- 1/2 c green onion, diced
- 1 c shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F degrees
- Boil water and cook egg noodles to al dente. Drain and set aside
- Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain any excess fat
- Add canned tomato sauce to beef and stir
- Add black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes
- In a medium sized bowl combine sour cream and small curd cottage cheese
- Stir in chopped green onions
- Pour in egg noodles and coat with cottage cheese mixture
- Add 1/2 of the noodle mixture into a baking dish
- Add in half of the meat mixture
- Layer with shredded cheddar cheese
- Repeat each layer again until you have used all of the meat and cottage cheese mixture
- Bake in the oven at 350°F degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melted
Nutrition
Hope you guys give this a try…let me know if you do!
More Pioneer Woman Copycat Recipes
- Pioneer Woman’s Potato Soup
- The Pioneer Woman’s Classic Hummus Recipe
- Pioneer Woman’s Sour Cream Noodle Bake
- Pasta with Homemade Pesto Cream Sauce
- Restaurant-Style Salsa
- Homemade Pesto
p.s. Here are lots more quick and easy dinners and some great appetizers for parties!
Lots of cheesy love,
*Little Sparrow



I substitute ricotta for cottage cheese. I really like the flavor better
This is the worst recipe I’ve ever read. There is no salt which means it will be tasteless. I don’t see cheddar cheese going in the direction of Italian. I made it my own. Please everyone make it your own or you will be eating a pile of yuck!!!
I love this go to recipe mine are always very good. Easy to make w/o alot of time involved
I rarely follow a recipe without modifying it. I used 8oz of cream cheese instead of cottage cheese. I added salt, garlic powder, onion powder & sugar to the beef & sauce mixture in addition to the pepper & pepper flakes. Added more cheese, mixed it all together with added cheese & crushed potato chips on top. Amazing!
Thanks so much for sharing, Laurie! Glad you liked it!