Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe

I didn't grow up on Hamburger Helper, but I made this exactly as directed and thought it was a comforting, simple to make, delicious one pot meal! Thank you!!

Tasted so fresh and homemade.

Super small modifications--I mixed the ketchup and tomato paste into my beef broth, and added 1/2 tsp of Knorr tomato bouillon. Because of that swap, I only used a pinch of salt. You can adjust the salt while it's cooking. a few little shakes of msg do the trick. I do add more pasta--we like a lot of noodles. So a 7oz pack of La Moderna elbows or other short pasta is what I use. Even as is--this recipe is delicious. I just like to put a little more oomph in it!

Really tasty, and easy to adapt for a little variety. I even added mixed veggies. I used a little extra spice,low sodium broth and a bit less cheese, no salt, since I must do low sodium for my health. I made Hamburger Helper for my kids growing up. That was and this is very yummy!

I use 2 boxes of Mac and Cheese along with melted, shredded cheddar added as the final product. Cook pasta noodles before adding the cheese. I also use a package of MILD chili seasoning. 1 full can of tomato paste. No Ketchup. Add butter and milk as you would to just plain Mac and cheese. I also add one can of Stagg chili with beans (mild) to give it that extra chili "pop". Add extra water when cooking the pasta noodles. It will absorb much of the water. Plus, tomato paste has a tendency to thicken your food and you don't want it to be too dried out, or too thick. The beef broth is not necessary. That's what the package of Chili Seasoning is for, as well as, the can of Stagg. My roommates say that my version blows the Hamburger Helper Chili Mac out of the water. Definitely worth the extra effort.

This is a great recipe although I changed it up a bit to get a few xtra serving. 2 lbs ground beef, 4 cups broth, 1.25 cups macaroni, 8 oz shredded cheddar, 4 oz velveta. Doubled everything else. Perfect.

Made this today for super bowl '25. Very little grease to drain, had white onion. I felt not much flavor so double seasoning while low boil plus a shake of cayenne pwdr. Only had low sodium beef Stock and used 2% Velveta for creamiest. Kitchen smelled like HH! Will make this again!

I didn’t have beef broth so instead of draining the beef i just added water. I added 3 cups of hot water and half cup of milk. No tomato paste so i added the ketchup a bit more then called for and added two tablespoons of flour to the beef and onion mix to thicken it. . I didnt add cheese as it thickened nicely without it. After thought a pinch of worschesterhire sauce would be tasty. Other then that it’s an easy recipe anybody could make and budget friendly

Definately much better that the boxed version. Easy one pot preparation. The only change I made was to put the cheese into serving bowls and add the finished Hamburger Helper on top. I thought this might make for reheating leftovers easier. Oh, and I only had chicken broth on hand, but it was still fine. I'll try it with beef broth when I have some.

I used ground elk from this hunting season and chick pea pasta, came out great extra protein and super lean.

Great, I added a couple of spoons of sour cream and a cup of mild cheddar...

My very picky husband LOVED this. I also thought it was very good and better than HH. This is definitely going to be a regular meal here.

No changes

Everyone liked. Would add more noodles and use better cheese next time.

This was a really quick simple dinner and it was delicious. I took the advice of adding more of the spices and left the salt out until the end so I could control that. I also used ground turkey and chicken stock because that’s what I had. I also added a can of chopped tomatoes, juice and all. 100% yum!

I made this last night but doubled the spices as these recipes usually come out a bit bland, phenomenal! I also used 1 cube of chicken bouillon and a litre of water as I didn't have broth. Will definitely make it again soon. Very low effort and high reward.

Family loved it, will definitely be a staple. So easy to throw together.

My husband and I loved the concept, but it was way too salty. Next time I will not add the extra salt and try to find low sodium beef broth. I also plan to use half a pound of beef and more noodles to save money.

Great easy recipe. Delicious I will be making it again. Thank you.

Made as written. very tasty. The chili powder had a nice little bite. This is a great base recipe. Next time I want to try tossing in a handful of frozen veggies and increasing the chili powder. Thanks for the recipe.