This Healthier Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on your favourite childhood meal – it’s got extra veggies, too!
I love taking a classic childhood fave and giving it a healthy twist. This healthier homemade hamburger helper hits all the comfort-food vibes we grew up loving.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Childhood favourite, made healthier: All the nostalgia of classic hamburger helper with extra veggies packed in.
- One-pot convenience: Everything cooks together in a single pan for easy prep and cleanup
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – Any neutral oil like avocado or canola.
- Extra-lean ground beef – ground turkey or chicken work too.
- Yellow onion – red onion, sweet onion or shallots.
- Garlic – fresh or jarred minced garlic in a pinch.
- Celery – swap for bell peppers, zucchini, or carrots.
- Red pepper – Any bell pepper or poblano for some heat. I just add it to sneak extra veggies in there!
- Beef broth – chicken or vegetable broth.
- Diced tomatoes – freshly diced tomatoes.
- Dried basil – use dried thyme or Italian seasoning.
- Dried oregano – use dried thyme or Italian seasoning.
- Rotini pasta – any short pasta like penne or macaroni.
- Sour cream – Greek yogurt or add a bit of heavy cream.
- Cheddar cheese – use any shredded cheese of your choice.
- Parsley – basil would be another great garnish.
How to make homemade hamburger helper
Step 1: Sauté the base.
Add onions and garlic and sauté, then add the ground beef.
Step 2: Cook the beef and veg.
Cook until ground beef is browned then add celery, red pepper and seasoning.
Step 3: Add liquids and pasta.
Add broth, diced tomatoes, stir then add dry pasta. Bring to a boil and cook until pasta is done and liquid is absorbed.
Step 4: Finish with sour cream and cheese.
Stir in the sour cream and shredded cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Make This Meal Even Healthier
This homemade Hamburger Helper is packed with real meat, cheese, and a few sneaky veggies, making it a hearty and wholesome twist on the classic boxed version. Here’s how to make it even more nutritious:
- Use extra-lean ground meat – Swap in ground turkey or chicken for a leaner option.
- Add more veggies – Celery, red pepper, zucchini, carrots, spinach, boost nutrients and fibre.
- Choose real cheese – Provides protein without the preservatives found in boxed powder mixes.
- Go whole grain – Swap regular pasta for whole wheat or other high-fibre pasta.
- Use fresh herbs – Finishing with fresh herbs like parsley and basil add so much flavour.
Frequently asked questions
How healthy is hamburger helper?
Store-bought Hamburger Helper is convenient, but it’s full of preservatives and not much else nutritionally. This homemade version takes just as little effort, has extra veggies, and is way better for you. Plus, it tastes even better in my opinion!
How do I prevent the pasta from getting mushy?
Keep an eye on it as it cooks and stop once the pasta is tender so you don’t overdo it. I also recommend cooking it without the lid on, since covering the pot traps steam and adds extra liquid, which can make the pasta too soft.
How do I make this dairy free?
I haven’t tested this recipe with dairy-free swaps yet, but you could use a plain dairy-free yogurt in place of the sour cream and a plant-based shredded cheese instead of cheddar. It should still come out creamy and tasty!
Storing and reheating
Storing: This recipe is great for meal prep! Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Reheating: Sprinkle a little water over the portion and microwave for 2–3 minutes, or reheat on the stovetop until warmed through.
Freezing: Divide into individual or family-sized portions and store in airtight freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
Defrosting and reheating: Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat as usual, or reheat from frozen for 6–8 minutes, stirring halfway and adding a splash of water to prevent drying out.
More easy one pot recipes
Homemade Hamburger Helper
Equipment
- Glass meal prep bowls for storing leftovers
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
Comments & Reviews
Nicole says
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!
Taylor Stinson says
Aww thank you so much hahaha… I’m happy you enjoyed it overall 🙂
Kara Jay says
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!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Angelina says
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! 🙂
Carol K says
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.
Taylor Stinson says
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!
Natalie says
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.
Taylor Stinson says
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.
Dana says
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.
Taylor Stinson says
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.
Susan says
Hi any chance I could get a guess at the measurement of a serving? Cups wise? Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
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!
Jess says
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.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed Jess, and I’m glad it was such a hit!! 🙂
Kelly says
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!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed Kelly 🙂
Heidi F. says
So far, I’m disappointed. The pasta was still hard as a rock. Now I have to reseal and cook all over again.