Who remembers those cheesy, creamy, boxed dinners from your childhood? This Homemade Hamburger Helper recipe is about to become your new weekly staple. This hamburger helper homemade rendition is made in one pan and it’s so simple to make – you’ll be asking yourself why you even bothered with the box stuff.
🍔 Why You’ll Love This Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe
Perfect weeknight meal: a great go-to recipe for those busy weeknights.
Packed with flavour: loaded with ground beef, shallot, garlic and sharp cheddar, the flavours in this one are so delicious.
Simple ingredients: this recipe uses common pantry and fridge staples you likely already have on hand.
🗒 Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe
Olive oil: used to fry the ground beef.
Lean ground beef: forms the base of the homemade hamburger helper recipe.
Macaroni: is the traditional pasta for this recipe, specifically for its quick cook time and size.
Beef stock: creates a savoury base while helps cook the pasta.
Garlic cloves: adds flavour.
Shallot: offers a milder, sweeter onion flavour compared to other onion varieties.
Tomato paste: adds an intense tomato flavour which is also used to help thicken the homemade hamburger helper recipe.
Can of chopped tomatoes: adds more tomato flavour and texture.
Sharp cheddar cheese: gives it a cheesy flavour, and helps to slightly thicken the dish.
Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, chili powder and smoked paprika
👀 How To Make Homemade Hamburger Helper
Cook the meat: first, start by browning your meat in a large saucepan.
Add the seasonings & tomatoes: secondly, add the seasonings, garlic, tomato paste and can of tomatoes.
Add the broth & pasta: then, add the broth and macaroni. Next, let it simmer until the pasta is al dente.
Add the cheese: then, add the cheese and stir to combine.
Serve: Finally, garnish with green onions and sour cream.
🗒️ Variations & Substitutions
Lean ground beef: swap for ground turkey, ground chicken or plant based ground.
Macaroni: try rotini, ditalini or baby shells instead.
Beef stock: substitute with chicken or vegetable stock if desired.
🍝 More Pasta Recipes
- Caramelized Onion Pasta
- Lemon Herb Pasta Salad
- Blackened Chicken Alfredo
- Orecchiette with Asparagus and Peas
🤔 FAQ’s
What exactly is homemade hamburger helper?
Basically, homemade hamburger helper is a deconstructed version of a popular boxed meal, which was really popular in the 90’s. Instead of relying on having a box of this in your pantry, you can whip up my homemade version in less than 20 minutes.
How do I make homemade hamburger helper?
First, fry the beef. Secondly, add the tomatoes, seasonings and broth. Then, add pasta and allow it to cook in the broth. Next, stir in the cheese and mix. Finally, garnish with green onions.
Can I freeze the leftovers?
Generally speaking – yes. However, the texture of the pasta does change after it’s been frozen so keep that in mind.
🍴 Leftovers? Lucky you.
Store this homemade hamburger helper recipe in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat simply microwave for 30-45 seconds. Instead, add a splash of beef stock into a frying pan and your hamburger helper leftovers. Then, cover with a lid and let steam until warm throughout.
👩🏻🍳 Hungry For More?
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Potatoes
- Homemade Tomato Sauce
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Lemon Dill & Chive Dressing
- Caesar Pasta Salad
💌 Let’s Stay Connected
Keep in touch with me on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest! If you do make this recipe (or any recipe of mine) don’t forget to leave a review.
Homemade Hamburger Helper
Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil, to fry the ground beef
- 500 grams lean ground beef
- 400 grams macaroni, uncooked
- 3¾ cup beef stock, salted or low sodium
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can chopped tomatoes , 398mL can
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Garnish:
- green onions
- sour cream
Instructions
- Cook the meat: begin by grabbing a large frying pan, add the olive oil and set to medium/high heat. Add the ground beef and shallot and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the meat has been cooked through. If there's lots of excess fat, drain most of it.
- Add the seasonings: reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic and seasonings. Let cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes: next, add the tomato paste and let cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns and deeper red color. Then, add your can of tomatoes and stir to combine.
- Add the broth & pasta: add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the macaroni. Cover and let simmer over medium heat for 12-15 minutes, or until the macaroni is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed. I stir it every few minutes just to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the cheese: while your pasta is cooking, shred the cheese. Once the macaroni is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed turn off the heat and add the cheese. Stir to combine.Taste and adjust for salt as needed, especially if you're using unsalted stock.
- Serve: garnish with green onions and a dollop of sour cream if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
This recipe was completely nostalgic for my husband. I knew I had to make it for him. And the best surprise…I absolutely loved it too! This will be on rotation in our home!
Loved how quickly this came together. Perfect for a busy weeknight! The entire family loved this! Even my two sons (3 and 4 year old). I’ll definitely add this to our roation
Delicious! Loved by the whole family (including a 5 year old and a 1 year old). Easy to put together. I forgot to grab more beef stock and a shallot, so I had to sub in 3/4 chicken stock and 1/4 of red onion and it was still dope.
This was definitely an elevated Hamburger Helper. The recipe was easy to follow and it came together beautifully… My husband said it was a Keeper and put it in the rotation. Which is a win for me because I don’t like guessing what everyone wants to eat.😉 I enjoyed it too.
Loved how quickly this came together. Perfect for a busy weeknight!
I’ve wanted to make this since I first saw it! Finally did tonight, and while it was really good I have a couple changes I’d make (but just for me, and only because I didn’t have all/exact ingredients.) My tomatoes were supposedly diced, but were pretty big chunks – I’d do crushed. They were also fire roasted, so along with the smoked paprika it was a little “smokey” – not necessarily a bad thing, but to keep that theme going I might have used smoked Gouda (which I had!) in lieu of cheddar. Only other change I’d make (again, just for my taste and because I only had penne, no elbow or other small pasta) would be to reduce the amount of pasta or increase ground beef. Sour cream and green onions should not be skipped!! 🥰 Will definitely ba making it again!
My family loved this!
It’s the best of the what I remember but with delicious ingredients. This is on rotation now. Thank you!
If I substitute high protein pasta and decrease cheddar cheese to 1 cup and use nutritional yeast will that decrease total calories per serving? Love the recipe as it brings back nostalgia.