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Home » Recipes » Homemade Hamburger Helper {One Pot}

Homemade Hamburger Helper {One Pot}

1/12/22

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This Healthier Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on your favourite childhood meal – it's got extra veggies, too!

This Healthier Instant Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on one of your favourite childhood meals. Make it in the pressure cooker or the stovetop, there are instructions listed for both methods! #instantpot #hamburgerhelper

Homemade Hamburger Helper

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How to make homemade hamburger helper

Stovetop directions

  1. In a large pot, heat oil. Add ground beef or chicken, onions and garlic, and cook until browned.
  2. Once browned, add in carrots, celery and red pepper, then continue to saute ingredients.
  3. Add broth and tomatoes, along with basil, oregano and salt. Then add dry pasta and cover with a lid, occasionally stirring until pasta is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
  4. Stir in cheese and remove from heat.
  5. Top with parsley (optional) and serve!

Instant Pot directions

  1. Add olive oil and ground beef to bottom of Instant Pot and break up meat with a slotted spoon.
  2. Add in remaining ingredients in order that they are listed above (except for red pepper, cheese and parsley) adding in pasta last.
  3. Pressure cook for 3 minutes.
  4. Carefully open lid after releasing pressure and then stir in red pepper, cheese and parsley.
  5. Let sit for 3-5 minutes for red pepper to steam.
  6. Serve and enjoy!

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Ingredients and substitutions

  • Olive oil – any neutral oil will work in place of olive oil. Neutral oils can be grapeseed oil, canola oil, avocado oil, etc. 
  • Extra-lean ground beef – ground turkey or ground chicken can also be used in this recipe.
  • Yellow onion – red onion, sweet onion or shallots can substitute yellow onion. 
  • Garlic – use fresh or jarred minced garlic in this recipe.
  • Celery – use any vegetables of choice (like red or orange bell peppers, zucchini and carrots) for this recipe.
  • Red pepper – use any bell pepper of your choice or substitute with a poblano pepper for additional heat; you can also leave it out, I just add it to sneak extra veggies in there!
  • Beef broth – chicken or vegetable broth can also be used 
  • Diced tomatoes – freshly diced tomatoes can be used as a substitution 
  • Dried basil – use dried thyme or Italian seasoning.
  • Dried oregano – use dried thyme or Italian seasoning.
  • Rotini pasta – any short pasta (like penne, scoobi doo, macaroni, etc.) can be used in this recipe as a substitute for rotini. 
  • Sour cream – Greek yogurt will work instead; or you can add 2 tbsp of heavy cream
  • Cheddar cheese – use any shredded cheese blend of your choice.
  • Parsley – use any fresh herbs you'd like. Basil would be another great garnish

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Why is hamburger helper so bad for you?

Boxed Hamburger Helper is filled with preservatives and really has no nutritional benefits whatsoever. You buy buy a box with dried seasoning and pasta, add ground beef and call it a day.

Don't get me wrong, indulging a craving for it every once in a while is perfectly fine but personally, I feel like you can make a homemade version with the same amount of effort, and it'll not only be way healthier but it will actually taste better.

Here's where this recipe comes in!

How do you make good Hamburger Helper?

This Hamburger Helper recipe is filled with real meat, cheese and even sneaks a couple veggies in there so this is a hearty, wholesome and nutritious version of the boxed meal.

Here's how we make this hamburger helper better for you:

  • Using extra-lean ground beef – even better if you use ground chicken or turkey
  • Adding celery, red pepper and parsley – veggies will round out the meal to make it healthier. You could also add in some carrots and spinach to make it even more nutritious
  • Using real cheese instead of the powdered stuff – you'll add more protein and won't be adding any preservatives
  • BONUS – use whole wheat pasta to add even more nutrients and fibre

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Storing and reheating

For leftover hamburger helper, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once stored, it will last in the fridge for up to five days, making it a great meal prep recipe.

To reheat, take a portion from the fridge and sprinkle some water overtop, then microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Freezing this recipe

To freeze the leftover hamburger helper, divide the leftover food into individual-sized or family-sized portions. Separate it into portions to make for easier reheating. Place the portion into airtight freezer-safe containers or in freezer bags. Once in the freezer, the hamburger helper will keep in the freezer for up to three months.

When ready to reheat, place the frozen hamburger helper into the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Reheat the hamburger helper in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or in a large saucepan, stirring often.

If you forgot to thaw the serving or are looking for a last minute dinner, reheat from frozen for 6-8 minutes in the microwave. Be sure to sprinkle some water overtop to avoid drying out the pasta. Make sure to pause the microwave at the halfway mark to stir.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

More one pot recipes

  • Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff
  • Lasagna Soup
  • One Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta
  • Kid-friendly recipes

Meal prep tools

  • The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60 is the version I use in this recipe.
  • This is the pasta I use for the Instant Pot version.
  • Grab some Glass meal prep bowls for your leftovers.
  • And of course I get all my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box!

 

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Homemade Hamburger Helper {One Pot}

This Healthier Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on your favourite childhood meal - it's got extra veggies, too!
4.77 from 38 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Casserole
Cuisine: Comfort Food
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 589kcal
Author: Taylor Stinson

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb extra-lean ground beef or ground chicken
  • 2 small yellow onions, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 6 cups beef or chicken broth
  • 1 796mL can Finely diced tomatoes if you can't find finely diced, use an immersion blender to roughly blend them for a second or twice - you still want some chunks but you want it to be in between a dice and puree
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 lb dry rotini pasta (4 cups of dry pasta)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Stovetop instructions

  • In a large deep skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauteeing for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add ground beef and cook until browned, another 2 min. Add celery and red pepper, sauteeing for another 2-3 min.
  • Add dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper, sauteeing another 30 seconds before adding broth and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine, then add dry pasta and bring to a boil, cooking on medium heat and stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes until pasta is completely cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
  • Stir in sour cream and cheese, then remove from heat. Top with parsley (optional), then serve and enjoy!

Instant Pot instructions

  • Add olive oil to Instant Pot and turn to saute mode. When oil is hot, add onions, garlic and ground beef, breaking up with a spoon and sauteeing for 4-5 minutes until browned.
  • Add in remaining ingredients in order that they are listed except for sour cream, cheese and parsley, adding in pasta last.
  • Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes (Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to preheat then cook the 3 minutes). Do a quick release of the pressure, then stir in sour cream and cheese, garnishing with parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 589kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 1491mg | Potassium: 961mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1117IU | Vitamin C: 40mg | Calcium: 248mg | Iron: 5mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @GirlonBloor or tag #girlonbloor!

This Healthier Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on your favourite childhood meal - it's got extra veggies, too! This Healthier Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on your favourite childhood meal - it's got extra veggies, too!

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About Taylor Stinson

Hey there, my name's Taylor! I’m the founder of The Girl on Bloor, a food blog where I share healthy meal prep recipes for busy people. I'm a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto on (you guessed it!) Bloor Street. I've got 10 years experience meal prepping, along with a Master's degree in journalism, and you can find my work across the internet featured on publications such as Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Women's Health, Reader's Digest and more. I also run the awesome 5-Day Meal Prep Challenge, which is a free email course and Facebook group where I share my meal planning strategies and easy meal prep tips and recipes. Be sure to check out my free beginner’s guide to meal prep and follow me on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to get my latest recipes and meal prep tips!

Comments

  1. Nicole says

    December 5, 2021 at 18:50

    5 stars
    This is delish!!! I highly recommend you make as described- I got nervous and did 4 minutes instead of 3 and the pasta is slightly overdone. Trust Taylor, she knows what she’s doing!

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      December 6, 2021 at 07:22

      Aww thank you so much hahaha… I’m happy you enjoyed it overall 🙂

      Reply
  2. Kara Jay says

    May 5, 2021 at 09:32

    5 stars
    We had this last night. So delicious and simple!
    We used vegetarian crumbles instead of hamburger and it worked great. We also did the stove top version.
    I can’t wait to play with different veggies and cheeses!

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      May 5, 2021 at 11:37

      So happy you enjoyed 🙂

      Reply
  3. Angelina says

    November 2, 2020 at 12:39

    4 stars
    Very Tasty. Since I’m half Italian & half Greek, I didn’t grow up eating Hamburger Helper. I first experienced it at a friend’s sleepover as a teenager, but your recipe is a whole lot tastier. I made this in my Dutch oven on the stovetop, but I never add pasta (or rice) into one pot meals, because I don’t want the extra starch, and the pasta gets gummy & nasty if there are leftovers to store. I do however, cut down on the liquid ingredients in any recipe when cooking the starch separately. We all enjoyed this dish, but I have yet to serve it to my Greek mother! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Carol K says

    September 7, 2020 at 22:54

    4 stars
    I made this recipe for the first time a couple of days ago. I used ground chicken instead of ground beef. I followed the recipe as it was written and the pasta was all on the top. I got a food burn error after cooking for about a minute. I opened my Instantpot and stirred it up and tried to get the burned bits off the bottom, closed it up again and restarted it. The burn error came up again. I opened it up, added the cheese & peppers. It tasted great but the carrots were a little firm. I’m new to the Instantpot community but was wondering if I put the pasta, meat & liquid in the bottom & added the rest of the stuff on top it may work better.

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      September 8, 2020 at 08:05

      Hi Carol – anytime you stir you risk getting the burn message. Ground chicken may have impacted this too as it’s a leaner meat and releases less fat. I’m sorry you had trouble!

      Reply
  5. Natalie says

    July 8, 2020 at 20:15

    Love this recipe and family approves as well! (Including my 4 year old!) Have made it many times but always have to figure out the canned tomato amount, why do you list it as mL instead of oz? Always takes me awhile to figure out how much I actually need.

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      July 9, 2020 at 08:52

      Hey Natalie – so happy you like this recipe! Here in Canada where I purchase ingredients, that’s how most cans are labelled. A quick Google search can often help translate the values over. For instance, most 796mL cans are 26oz.

      Reply
  6. Dana says

    May 16, 2020 at 21:11

    This gave me the burn error on my instant pot repeatedly. I ended up throwing the whole thing in a pot with a lot more water and cooking it that way.

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      May 18, 2020 at 08:11

      Sorry you had trouble Dana – wondering if you added anything out of order or stirred before you cooked? Usually that’s the culprit for the burn message.

      Reply
  7. Susan says

    April 23, 2020 at 11:38

    Hi any chance I could get a guess at the measurement of a serving? Cups wise? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      April 24, 2020 at 08:10

      Hey Susan – I don’t provide servings by weight/cup unfortunately! You will need to take the number of servings listed and divide into portions. If I had to absolutely guess, I’d say a serving is about 1 to 1.5 cups. If you’re looking for accuracy I would suggest dividing it up though!

      Reply
  8. Jess says

    February 22, 2020 at 02:38

    I made this when I had a bunch of friends coming over for a game night and it was a HUGE hit! I used ground turkey instead of beef/chicken and elbows instead of rotini; I also found my pasta hard after the 3 minute timer, so I cooked it for an extra 3 minutes. I’m sure after sitting the pasta would reach a perfect al dente, but the super soft pasta actually worked perfectly. Thank you so much for this recipe! Will definitely make again.

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      February 22, 2020 at 09:16

      I’m so happy you enjoyed Jess, and I’m glad it was such a hit!! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Kelly says

    January 19, 2020 at 20:45

    I found this recipe wonderful and had no problems with it.. I added a extra cup of cheese to make it a little thicker, but over all, it is a fantastic addition to my weekly meals. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      January 20, 2020 at 07:39

      So happy you enjoyed Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  10. Heidi F. says

    January 9, 2020 at 17:56

    So far, I’m disappointed. The pasta was still hard as a rock. Now I have to reseal and cook all over again.

    Reply
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Taylor Stinson

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I'm Taylor Stinson, a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto. Looking to switch up your weekly meal prep routine? I've got you covered with healthy recipes and meal planning resources. Join 1.5 million other monthly readers and dive in! MORE ABOUT ME..

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