This Healthier Homemade Hamburger Helper is a delicious one-pot spin off on your favourite childhood meal – it's got extra veggies, too!
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.
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How to make homemade hamburger helper
Step 1: Sauté the onions and garlic.
In a large deep skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauteeing for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Step 2: Brown the ground beef.
Add ground beef and cook until browned, another 2 min. Add celery and red pepper, sauteeing for another 2-3 min.
Step 3: Add the veggies.
Add dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper, sauteeing another 30 seconds.
Step 4: Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cook for 15 minutes.
Add 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.
Step 5: Stir in sour cream and serve.
Stir in sour cream and cheese, then remove from heat.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Top with parsley (optional), then serve and enjoy!
How can I improve my hamburger helper?
This hamburger helper homemade healthy 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 to make this healthy 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Boxed Hamburger Helper is filled with preservatives and really has no nutritional benefits whatsoever. You 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 this healthier homemade hamburger helper takes the same amount of effort, is way better for you and in my opinion tastes better.
This healthy hamburger helper recipe has 589 calories per serving.
To make healthier homemade hamburger helper, you can use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef, and swap out the regular sour cream for low-fat sour cream. You can even use whole wheat pasta instead of regular pasta!
Storing and reheating
Store any leftovers of this healthy hamburger helper in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once stored, it will last in the fridge for up to 5 days, making it a great meal prep recipe.
To reheat, take a portion from the fridge and sprinkle some water over top, then microwave for 2 to 3 minutes or reheat it in a pot on the stovetop.
Freezing this recipe
Divide any leftovers of this healthier homemade hamburger helper 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 and freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to reheat, place the frozen hamburger helper into the refrigerator to thaw overnight and then reheat as normal. You can also reheat from frozen for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring halfway through. Just make sure to sprinkle some water over top first so it doesn’t dry out.
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More easy one pot 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!
- **Get my full list of tools here**
is the version I use in this recipe.
Homemade Hamburger Helper {One Pot}
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
Notes
Nutrition
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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.