This 30-minute meal for a quick and easy recipe for Homemade Hamburger Helper will be a dish that the whole family will love. Easy to pull together, delicious and comforting for any busy weeknight meal. I have even stowed away a little vegetable in the mix too. Your kids will never know!!
Want other great 30-minute one-pot meals? Try our 30 Minute Cheesy Chicken Potato Soup, Sheet Pan Greek Pita Pizza, Teriyaki Skillet Burgers, or Easy Skillet Lasagna.
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What is in Homemade Hamburger Helper?
This comfort food recipe for an easy homemade hamburger helper doesn’t use unusual ingredients. Many of the ingredients you will have at home for this family favorite.
Get all your ingredients together (mise en place) so that your meal can be pulled off in no time flat. This is one of the fundamental rules of getting 30-minute meals. This recipe also only uses one pan, so it is an easy clean up too.
Ingredients
Small onion, chopped
Lean ground beef
Olive oil
Ketchup
Dijon mustard
Garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley (you can use 1 Tbsp fresh too), and chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Elbow macaroni (uncooked)
Zucchini
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Beef broth, reduced-sodium
3% milk
Shredded cheddar cheese
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
How to Make Hamburger Helper
Okay, let’s get started in making this recipe.
In a large skillet with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the chopped onions. Sauté for 1-2 minutes.
In the same pan with the onions, cook the ground beef until no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Drain any excess fat if needed. I do like using lean beef, so there isn’t much fat to drain, if any; this saves time also.
Add the ketchup, Dijon mustard, all the spices, salt and pepper, the herbs, the macaroni, grated zucchini, beef broth, and milk. Stir to make sure that everything is well mixed. Reduce the heat to low.
Cover and gently simmer for 12-15 minutes, until the macaroni is cooked but still al dente. Dishes that cook the pasta right in the same pan are also a huge time saver, and you have fewer pots to clean in the end.
Turn the heat off, stir well, then add the shredded cheese and mix until melted.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve! I know you want to make this ASAP; a great nostalgic recipe too. A recipe to share with your children from when you were growing up.
Is Hamburger Helper Healthy?
I Hamburger Helper healthy? Packaged hamburger helper is high in sodium, but making your own at home, you can reduce that sodium by using less salt than our recipe asks for. Also, using sodium-reduced beef broth or no sodium beef broth will help too. Don’t forget that the cheese has sodium in it also.
Another nice healthy touch is adding in zucchini. When I was making and testing the recipe, I just couldn’t get it as creamy as I wanted it without it feeling too heavy. My girlfriend just happened to be making a recipe that she had, and her recipe had added shredded zucchini in it. I added that and viola the perfect creaminess without being too heavy, and it adds a vegetable which is what I love to do anyway.
You would never know it had the zucchini in the recipe, but it sure adds what was needed, in my opinion.
Using a lighter dairy product like 3% milk gives you a great outcome without the addition of heavy cream and still gives you a delightful cheesy sauce.
Why is it called Hamburger Helper?
General Mills brand Betty Crocker invented this meal kit in late 1970 and launched it on the west coast. This product was in response to soaring meat prices at the time and allowed a family of 4-5 to stretch a pound of ground beef to feed everyone in one complete meal.
Hamburger Helper is still popular today and has about 41 different varieties. It started with using ground beef but broadened its approach to other proteins like chicken and tuna. Think of that great tuna casserole from years gone by.
What to Serve With Hamburger Helper?
Hamburger Helper was made as a complete meal, but you can add a side to it also if you like. Here are some of our favorites to add to this classic dish. Keep it simple though, as you don’t want to add a bunch of work to a fast meal.
Simple Green Salad
Simple Side Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower or peas and carrots (frozen veggies are fast and easy)
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Pin it HERE!!
Homemade Hamburger Helper
Ingredients
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley or 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
- 2 cups macaroni uncooked
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- 1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper or to taste
- 1 1/2 cups sodium reduced beef broth
- 1 1/2 cups 3% milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a large skillet with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the chopped onions. Sauté for a minute or two.
- In the same pan with the onions, cook the ground beef until no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Drain any excess fat if needed.
- Add the ketchup, Dijon mustard, all the spices, salt and pepper, and the herbs, the macaroni, grated zucchini, beef broth, and milk. Stir to make sure that everything is well mixed. Reduce the heat to low.
- Cover and gently simmer for 12-15 minutes, until the macaroni is cooked but still al dente.
- Turn the heat off, stir well, then add the shredded cheese and mix until melted.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve!
Comments & Reviews
Cheryl says
Love this recipe! I made it for our Grandson Max (18 months) last night and he ate it up. A great recipe to sneak some vegetables into our littles! Adults love it too. Comfort food!
Next time I’ll grate a carrot into it as well
Thanks Tara!
Tara Noland says
We are so glad everyone enjoyed this recipe, one of our favorites.