Homemade Hamburger Helper
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After posting the honey-baked chicken legs recipe, I received a couple of requests for my mother’s hamburger helper recipe, a favorite of mine and my siblings as children, a favorite of our growing families today.
There is not much more to say about this dish except that it is true comfort food, completely satisfying and easy to prepare to boot. I hope you and your families enjoy it, too.
Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 1 cup elbow macaroni
- 1 lb. ground beef or lamb
- extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups diced onion
- pinch oregano
- 1 15-oz. can of tomato sauce, your favorite brand
- squirt ketchup
- squirt tomato paste
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Bring a pot of a water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and cook the macaroni till al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, brown the ground meat in about a tablespoon of olive oil (if your meat is on the lean side) or less (if your meat is on the fattier side). I always start this browning process over high heat and then turn the heat down to medium when the meat starts browning. With a wooden spoon, stir the meat around so that it browns evenly — don’t get too fussed here…you just want the meat to be almost cooked through with a few browned bits here and there.
- Scoop the meat out of the pan with a slotted spoon into a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the pan you cooked the meat in, add another tablespoon (or more or less depending on how much onion you are using) of olive oil, and sauté the onion until slightly soft, about five minutes. Again, don’t get too fussed here — if the onions begin to brown, that’s ok; if they don’t, that’s also ok. You can’t mess this up.
- Add the ground beef back to the pan. Season with a pinch of oregano. Add the tomato sauce to the pan and stir to coat evenly. Squirt in some ketchup (about a tablespoon) and tomato paste (a couple of teaspoons) and season with pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Add the cooked pasta and stir to incorporate.
- Sprinkle in the cheese and stir until melted and combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. This gets better the longer it sits, so don’t be afraid to make it early in the day and reheat it come dinner time. It also reheats in the microwave very nicely.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
22 Comments on “Homemade Hamburger Helper”
Looks delicious!!!!!! Gonna try this one tonight!!! ❤
Denise — hope it turned out well for you!
Thank you! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Kathleen — hope you like it!
I just made this and it is delicious!! Thank you for a simple recipe that will become part of my rotation as a perfect no-fail base when I’m making pastas now. Delish!
yay! So happy to hear this, Tammee!
Love this! We don’t usually eat packaged food like hamburger helper so this is our quick meal that we love!
wonderful to hear this!
I made this last night after a week of being sick and not wanting to eat a thing, and it was the best comfort food ever. My husband highly approved, too! Thanks for sharing.
(And don’t mind me as I cook through your entire archive… Everything of yours I’ve made has been fantastic. Honey soy chicken for dinner tonight!)
Yay! So wonderful to hear this. There is nothing like comfort food, especially this time of year, especially when you are getting over a cold. Hope you are feeling better!
i just made this again tonight for dinner. it is so good. and so quick.
So happy to hear this Batesy. xoxo
I made this last night and it was delicious. My son who doesn’t even like onion asked me to make it again. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
You are so welcome, Danielle! I’m so happy to hear this! This is a staple in our house as well.
Oh man, this hit the spot! I made this with ground venison and served with your buttermilk pull aparts! So delicious! Perfect pantry meal during these crazy times!
Oh yay! So happy to hear this, Monica! Ground venison is soooo good 💕💕💕
It’s really a no brainer, but there is no mention in this recipe of adding in the macaroni. Just so you know. But I made it last night as a quick meal, and the husband loved it.
Oops! Just edited. Thanks for letting me know.
This was so good. I didn’t grow up eating hamburger helper but always jealous of the kids at school who did. My husband was one of those kids and he said this was so delicious and reminded him of his childhood.
I’m so happy to hear this! This one reminds me of my childhood as well 🙂
My family loved it!
Great to hear, Christian! Thanks for writing 🙂