Growing up, one of my comfort foods was a simple one-box hamburger helper. It’s not exactly glamorous, or healthy, or even really presentable — my partner calls it a “glorp” meal — but it’s a fine meal when you want to throw things together and have something tasty come out the other side.
And really, it’s hard to go wrong with ground beef, cheese, and spices, right?
I’ve spent a while refining this recipe to suit my tastes. As such, it’s not an exact match with any of the specific Hamburger Helpers the way a lot of my copycat recipes are. It’s more of a thematic copycat.
I used macaroni for this particular version, but I’ve found it works quite well with shells or rotini as well. In fact, I actually use rotini for most of the purposes I would use macaroni for these days. It’s just better at holding sauce, I think.
The spice mix I chose is also a fairly standard mix I use for a lot of dishes, but it’s also easy to mix up. Add a dash of cayenne or two for a spicier version, or use smoked paprika to add a smokey flavor.
As for cheeses, the simplest version uses shredded cheddar and cream cheese, but you can use nearly any cheese mix you want. A white cheddar version is pretty good, for example, and you can make something closer to alfredo by using cheese more like these.
Enough preamble; how do you make this easy one-pot copycat hamburger helper?
Copycat Recipes: Cheeseburger Helper
Equipment
- Large Skillet with a lid
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Ground Beef
- 1 Tbsp Corn Starch
- 1 Tbsp Paprika
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Parsley
- 1 Tsp Seasoned Salt
- ½ Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp Sugar
- 1½ Cups Beef Broth Chicken Broth or Hot Water also work.
- 2 Cups Milk
- 2 Cups Macaroni
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar
- ¼ Cup Cream Cheese Softened
Instructions
- Mix all of the spices together and set aside.
- In your skillet, cook the beef until mostly done. Drain excess fat.
- Add the milk, water or broth, and macaroni, and mix well. Mix in the spices and corn starch, and bring it all to a boil.
- Once the liquid boils, reduce it to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 10 or so minutes until the pasta is done. Stir every couple of minutes.
- Once the pasta is done, remove from the heat and stir in the cream cheese. Once it has been melted and mixed, add in the cheddar and mix together until fully cheesed up. Enjoy!