This homemade Hamburger Helper recipe is a savory one-pot meal that’s better than the original boxed version! Made with tender elbow pasta, savory ground beef, cheese, tomato sauce, and veggies, it’s ready in 30 minutes or less and impossible to resist!
Cozy up with more comfort food recipes like Three Cheese Gnocchi Bake, One Pot BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pasta and Sausage Tortellini Soup.
Table of Contents
- Why we love it:
- Homemade Hamburger Helper ingredients:
- How to make Hamburger Helper
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Store Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Can I freeze hamburger helper?
- Serving suggestions:
- More one pot pasta recipes!
- Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe – easy one pot pasta! Recipe
- More one pot pastas you’ll love!
Confession time: I can’t honestly remember the last time I purchased or prepared a box of Hamburger Helper.
It’s not that I never have—like most moms, I’m familiar with the beloved boxed pasta (it’s one of my childhood favorites!). But somewhere along the way, I discovered that it’s actually quite easy to make homemade hamburger helper.
My recipe for homemade Hamburger Helper is the only one you need for a number of reasons: it comes together in one pot, with real ingredients, in roughly the same amount of time. Since then, I haven’t looked back!
Why we love it:
- Healthier than store-bought: This homemade version is a one-pot meal made with healthy whole wheat pasta for added fiber, and wholesome veggies like red pepper and spinach.
- Kid-friendly: Everything all cooks down together in the cheesy sauce (hello, comfort food!), so picky eaters won’t even notice (it’s a family favorite here!).
- One pot: Those two magic words means that dinner will be easy to make and easy to clean up!
- Simple ingredients: This is a great clean-out-your-fridge recipe! It uses simple ingredients that you probably already have laying around.
Homemade Hamburger Helper ingredients:
- Lean Ground Beef: Since this is a one pot meal, I usually use lean ground beef. That helps keep the pasta from being greasy.
- Onion: Almost any beef dish is better with onion! You can dice up fresh onion, or if you’re short on time, sprinkle in about a tablespoon of onion powder.
- Red Pepper: Dice up a medium bell pepper. We use red, but any color is fine!
- Red Pepper Flakes: To add a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper flakes. You can put more in, if you want it to be spicier.
- Garlic or Garlic Powder: Again, you can use fresh minced garlic, or go with garlic powder if you prefer. Use about ⅓ teaspoon for each clove of garlic.
- Salt and Pepper: I prefer to use red pepper flakes as opposed to black pepper, but you can use both if you prefer.
- Italian Seasoning: Store-bought Italian seasoning blend adds lots of flavor to the dish!
- Spinach: For frozen spinach, thaw it and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. For fresh spinach, just chop it finely. You can omit if you want but I promise no one will know it’s there!
- Beef Broth: The dish will be cooked in a mixture of broth and milk; I use beef broth, but vegetable broth and chicken broth would both work, as well.
- Milk: any kind of dairy or non-dairy milk will work. Higher fat dairy will yield a richer flavor.
- Pasta: Our favorite pasta for this recipe is elbow pasta, but basically any small shape would be good. Penne, farfalle (bowties), and fusilli are all good hamburger-helper-style shapes — just keep in mind the cook time may vary.
- Tomato Sauce: You can use plain tomato sauce, strained tomatoes, or pasta sauce, whatever you have.
- Cheese: To make this a cheesy, comforting meal, you’ll need plenty of shredded cheese! Try mozzarella, colby, cheddar, or any other melting cheese that you like. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired
How to make Hamburger Helper
Let’s take a quick look at how to make homemade hamburger helper! Find the detailed recipe down in the recipe card.
- Cook the ground beef, red bell peppers and onions.
- Mix in the seasonings, garlic and spinach.
- Pour in the milk, broth, noodles and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for 12-15 minutes.
- Stir in the cheese.
Variations and Substitutions
- Change the veggies. Feel free to swap out the veggies for others your family enjoys, like mushrooms, shredded carrots, zucchini, or anything else you have taking up space in the fridge. Also, shredded vegetables cooked down in the ground beef are a great way to get more vegetables into your diet.
- Use your preferred pasta. I use high fiber whole wheat pasta, but really any variety of wheat pasta works fine. If you are using gluten-free or alternative pastas, you may want to reduce the amount of liquid, or add more, depending on the type of pasta.
- Make it dairy-free. Swap dairy-free milk and dairy-free cheese for the whole milk and shredded cheese. Or simply make the recipe with no milk, substituting additional broth, and leave out the cheese altogether!
- Make it vegetarian. Swap out the beef broth for vegetable broth, and vegetarian crumbles, chickpeas, or simply extra veggies instead of the meat.
- Use another meat. Ground turkey, ground chicken, or even ground sausage all work well.
- Make it creamy. Stir in some sour cream or plain yogurt for an extra creamy pasta.
- Spice it up! Splash in some hot sauce or sriracha.
How to Store Homemade Hamburger Helper
Leftover Hamburger Helper will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Make sure to store it in an airtight container.
Add a splash of milk, water or broth and reheat for 30 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring each time it stops, until warmed all the way through.
Can I freeze hamburger helper?
Yes! To freeze homemade hamburger helper, spread the cooked pasta into a foil or freezer-safe baking dish, and cover with a layer of plastic wrap and then a lid or a layer of tin foil. The plastic wrap helps prevent freezer burn (thanks Grandma, for that trick!).
To reheat frozen hamburger helper, uncover the dish, remove the layer of plastic wrap, and then replace the layer of foil. Bake the dish at 350°F for about one hour, removing the foil at about the 40 minute mark, to allow the cheese to brown somewhat.
Freezing Note: If you’re planning to freeze and reheat pasta, you can slightly undercook the pasta before freezing. That way, when you reheat it, it won’t turn out mushy.
Reheating Note: if you’re moving a glass dish from the freezer to the oven, it’s a good idea to let the dish sit out at room temperature for a couple hours beforehand to warm slightly. You may not have to cook it as long.
Serving suggestions:
You can serve this pasta all on its own! It truly is a meal all in one pot! However, if you’d like to add a few side dishes, these are some great, easy options:
- Broccoli Salad: If you don’t think you like broccoli, try this recipe—I promise it will change your mind! Classic Broccoli Salad is sweet, tangy, crunchy, and fresh, with bacon and cheddar for extra yumminess.
- Creamed Corn: Sweet, Homemade Creamed Corn is a side dish that my kids devour! It’s a fresh, crisp-tender veggie option that’s always a welcome addition to the meal.
- Glazed Carrots: My simple Honey Orange Glazed Carrots are another kid-friendly side dish, made from scratch and lightly sweet.
More one pot pasta recipes!
- Sun Dried Tomato and Spinach Orzo recipe — a fabulous side or meatless main dish.
- Three Cheese Gnocchi Bake — the cheesier, the better!
- Creamy Gemelli Pasta recipe — simple and satisfying.
- Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage — sausage adds so much flavor!
- Cajun Chicken Pasta — just the right amount of kick!
Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe – easy one pot pasta!
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- ½ medium onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, if you like it spicy!)
- ¼ cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (or 1 cup fresh, chopped fine) optional
- 1 ¾ cup milk
- 1 ½ cup beef broth (low sodium)
- 2 ¾ cups dry uncooked macaroni (1 375g box)
- 1 ½ cups tomato or pasta sauce
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar)
Instructions
- To a large pot add beef, onion, and peppers and cook until vegetables are softened. Cook over medium high heat until beef is browned.
- Add garlic, salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, mustard red pepper flakes, and spinach. Cook 1-2 minutes to wake up the flavors.
- Add in milk, broth, macaroni and tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook 12-15 minutes, stirring often.
- Stir in 1 cup of cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, cover and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Ground Beef: feel free to swap the beef for ground chicken, pork or turkey. I use lean ground beef so there is not much fat to drain, but if you are using regular ground beef you may want to drain the fat after browning.
- Vegetables: you can swap the peppers and spinach for other vegetables you have hanging around: finely chopped mushrooms, shredded carrots or zucchini, finely chopped kale — once it all cooks down the flavor melds together and you won’t really notice!
- Broth: I use low sodium beef broth so I can control the salt. If you have regular broth you may want to reduce the added salt and adjust as needed. Vegetable and chicken broth may also be substituted.
- Milk: I use low fat milk, but any will do here! Non-dairy milk works just as well.
- Macaroni: any short pasta will work here, but they may require different cook times or amounts of liquid. If you notice the liquid is mostly absorbed but the pasta is not cooked, just add a splash here and there and continue cooking until the pasta is al dente.
Nutrition Information
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Machel Long says
Hi:
This looks so good. My family are trying to cut out beef from our diet and how would you prepare this dish if you used ground turkey? Please advise
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Machel! You can prepare it just the same way with ground turkey 🙂
Karen says
Was a great meal, my hubby loved it.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so happy to hear that!
Jessica G. says
Making this tomorrow! What kind of cheese do you use? I see white cheese in the video, is it parmesan?
Ashley Fehr says
I used mozzarella, but you could also use cheddar
Alicia S. says
Hi! I plan on making this soon. I am wondering how much time you would recommend in the oven for rehearing with sharing or just making extra to freeze.
Ashley Fehr says
I would probably let thaw in the refrigerator overnight if you could, and then do a quick bake at 400 (covered) for 10-15 just until hot. Since the noodles are cooked, you don’t want them getting to the point of being mushy! The stove top or microwave works just as well too.
Krys says
Made this tonight and it was amazing! I’m very picky about what boxed HH I like and after i splurged and bought farm fresh ground beef from a local farmer, I felt it deserved more than a box! I didnt have any beef broth onhand but i had an onion soup package. so i made the soup and used 1 1/2c of that instead. I replaced the macaroni with fusilli. I added just over a cup of fresh spinnach, but I think next time I may double that for a single recipee. At 12 minutes it was still like soup for me, so I continued simmering at medium for another 3-4 minutes and it was perfectly thick saucy coating over the beef and noodles! I am currently posting this to my facebook page with picture (which I rarely do) because it was so incredible tasting and super easy first time recipee even with a screaming teething 5 month old baby! Thank you so much for posting this, so glad I found it!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Krys! It makes me so happy to hear you say that! This is one of our family’s favorite recipes and I’m so glad that you enjoyed it as well! I know what it’s like to try cooking with young kids around (I may have even posted this with a screaming teething 5 month old baby hanging off of me! Lol), so quick and easy is just how we like it these days 🙂 Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know!
Suzanne says
Way better than Hamburger Helper! Thank you for sharing!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so happy to hear you liked it!
Eliza says
I made this as written and it was a HUGE hit with my family of 6. Thanks for the healthy recipe. I haven’t purchased the box stuff in years and never will again. It was nice to have this recipe to make when my hubby wanted a hamburger casserole.
Ashley Fehr says
That is so nice to hear! I’m glad that everyone enjoyed it!
Sharleen says
Hi, I came across your blog post while looking for new homemade hamburger helper recipe’s, can’t wait to try out this one. I also have my own secret homemade helper recipe, feel free to try it out yourself – you can find it here https://asouthernmess.com/?p=93 I can’t wait to try out yours, it looks delicious!”
Hugs~
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Sharleen! I love trying new versions of my favorites! I’ll have to check it out! Thanks 🙂
jen says
Oh my, this was so good! I am making it again tonight.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks!
FERGUSSCOT says
I’m going to make it tonight with onion soup mix and canned tomato and peppers.
Should be good.
Ashley Fehr says
Sounds delicious!
Bobbie says
Perhaps I have the answer to why some people are getting “soup”!!!
I kind of rushed through making this, there was a hungry man waiting! And I cooked the noodles first because 1. I just wasn’t thinking and 2. the recipe doesn’t specify UNCOOKED noodles in the ingredients. I noticed later, after I made my wonderful SOUP that the ingredients list for the doubled recipe does specify uncooked macaroni. Perhaps you could either change that on the first ingredients list or in the recipe note to cook until the pasta is done as per instructions on the box, as many will substitute different noodles anyway.
Anyway, it was quite tasty, I used a can and a half of Hunt’s tomato sauce, and substituted chicken broth because that’s what I had. Now I will cook some more noodles in the broth that’s left over!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Bobby, that’s a great point. I will update the recipe! I would not, however, recommend adding any kind of cooked noodles to the pasta, unless you really are wanting Hamburger Helper soup 🙂
Michael says
Thank you for the recipe; I was looking for a healthier alternative to regular box hamburger helper. I made it today and probably botched it a bit, but it still turned out ok. I used the whole big pack of frozen spinach because I didn’t have anything to use the leftover in and it goes bad quickly. I also need to adjust the amount and type of cheese I put in. I used a 8 oz. block of medium cheddar (that I shredded myself). What type of cheese do you normally use? I had no problem with excess liquid. I used ground deer meat (very lean), 10-12min elbows, and I squeezed the water out of the spinach. Also by “½ red pepper”, I assume you mean red bell pepper?
Ashley Fehr says
I normally use regular cheddar (I mean full fat and not low fat) — I think it melts better and stays smoother. If you can tell me what you mean by “botched” then maybe I can help you figure out what went wrong 🙂
Lorena says
I made it last night, didn’t know what you meant by spinach cubes so I cut a frozen box in half and then cubed it so it would cook faster. I like a lot of spinach, so I might use the entire box next time. I used corkscrew white pasta which takes longer to cook than elbow, so the liquid was fine on medium and I didn’t drain the beef as there wasn’t anything to drain after it was cooked. I also used one can of roasted diced tomatoes instead of sauce. This was so good I will double it next time so I can have leftover to pack for lunch. If people have issues with too much liquid when cooking on medium heat uncovered (because your recipe didn’t say to cover it until after it’s cooked and you add the cheese) I think it’s because their pasta cooks faster. The package for my pasta said 11-12 minutes to cook, but I can see if you use pasta that cooks in 7-8 minutes you’d have liquid left. I’m also wondering if people cooked “covered” that wouldn’t evaporate the liquid as fast.
Carol says
It would be great to specify what type of tomato sauce you meant. I thought you where talking about plain tomato sauce in a can. Toward the end of the comments you said you liked Classico, which I would think of as a pasta sauce. I guess I will try this using pasta sauce. Thanks
Ashley Fehr says
Sorry for the confusion Carol — I’ll make a note in the recipe! It will work just as well with plain tomato sauce, you might just find you want to increase the spices to your tastes.
VanK says
I have a very happy hubby right now, this was delicious! I didn’t have excess water but I drained the spinach really well before adding it to the pan. I may try it with half Italian sausage next time!
Yum!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Neva says
Fantastic! Just the way the recipe reads
Ashley says
Thank you Neva!
tif says
I’ve made this 3xs now…with barilla elbows (standard) and it’s come out perfect each time. Thank you!!
John K says
Thank you! I just made this tonight and followed the recipe, and it was gud. No issues. I used (15% fat) ground beef if anyone wants to know
Ashley says
I’m glad to hear it John! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Andrea says
This worked perfectly for me. I can see this recipe making many a reappearance in this household… And it’s always a bonus when I know the person who made the recipe! I always check your blog first when searching childhood favourites. 🙂
Ashley says
Thanks Andrea! Glad you liked it! Guess I’m still a kid at heart 🙂
Jessica says
I wonder if everyone is having issues with liquid because they aren’t draining the beef? I was going off memory and wasn’t reading the recipe so I drained and didn’t cook the onion and garlic until after I drained. Also added spinach last and added diced tomatoes. I swear it would kill me to follow a recipe to the t lol
Ashley says
That could be Jessica! I always use lean beef so I never have any liquid left over after browning. Not draining frozen spinach adequately enough could also be a reason.
Jamie says
I’m so excited to try this tonight! One question – by 1 cube of frozen spinach, do you mean the whole block of frozen spinach that comes in a box (like Green Giant, ex)? That seems like an awful lot, so I figure I am missing something! 🙂
Ashley says
Oh sorry Jaimie — I should have been more clear! I’ll try to remember to update it later. I buy frozen spinach in a bag of small cubes, so thawed and drained it probably works out to 1/3 cup?
Melanie says
I just made this tonight and it was delicious! Adults and picky kids loved it. I had no issues with too much liquid. However, I was out of tomato sauce so I used about a cup of tomato paste instead, added a little water, and just watched the liquid as it cooked. Thank you for sharing.
Ashley says
I’m glad! Thanks for coming back and letting me know 🙂