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This easy homemade Hamburger Helper recipe has ground beef, macaroni, and a flavorful cheesy cheddar sauce! It’s total comfort food that’s inexpensive and ready in about 30 minutes.
Try my Simple Ground Beef Casserole or One Pot Cheesy Beef and Shells next.
Why you’ll love it
When I was little, my mom made everything from scratch. I do fondly remember a few boxed meals from visiting friends’ houses in the ’90s, though. One was Hamburger Helper, and that brings up all the nostalgia. Naturally, I had to recreate an even better Hamburger Helper from scratch! I like mine because you have total control over the seasonings and know exactly what goes into it.
This ground beef recipe is super simple to make with affordable pantry ingredients, doesn’t take much longer than the packaged kind, and it’s cooked all in one pot for fewer dishes. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with eating packaged foods every now and then, but a LOT of people crave homemade Hamburger Helper, so I am here to bring you the best version.
What you’ll need
- Ground beef – I like to use extra lean ground beef, at least 90%
- Onion – our kitchen prefers Vidalia (sweet) onions
- Tomato paste – it’s an easy, economical way to get concentrated tomato flavor
- Garlic powder and chili powder – our simple seasoning blend to infuse savory flavor, and they’re ingredients I always keep in my pantry
- Elbow macaroni – the classic pasta shape for this
- Beef broth – for a deeper, richer flavor to the sauce
- Sharp cheddar cheese – my version of Hamburger Helper has no milk to make it that much easier, and the cheddar makes the dish creamy enough all on its own!
Pro tip
One pot recipes can vary depending on your particular stove and ingredients, so if you seem to be running out of liquid with a lot of time still left, feel free to add in a bit more. Try 1/2 cup at a time.
How to make Hamburger Helper
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Start by browning the beef and onion in a large pot and draining any excess fat, then stir in the tomato paste, garlic powder, and chili powder. Add in the beef broth, and bring the mixture to a boil. Once it’s boiling, stir in the uncooked macaroni.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is soaked up. Grate the cheddar while it’s simmering away. Stir in the cheese, and season to taste with salt & pepper.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Always grate your cheese own for best taste and texture. I use this cheese grater.
- I like this Dutch oven for my one pot meals.
- These are the angled measuring cups I use.
Substitutions and variations
- Feel free to tweak seasonings to your tastes. You can always increase the chili powder, add some hot sauce or crushed red pepper flakes, more garlic, and so on to make it perfect for your taste buds!
- Some readers like to sneak in a bit of spinach. Just add it in near the end of the cooking time until it wilts. Finely chopped bell peppers would work great as well.
- If you want to jazz it up, change up the cheese variety. Monterey Jack, smoked cheddar, etc. make some fun variations.
- You can use ground turkey or ground chicken instead if that’s more your thing.
- If you want to use another pasta shape (e.g. shells), you may need to adjust liquid measurements and/or cooking time (this has only been tested with macaroni).
What to serve with Hamburger Helper
- It’s definitely a meal in and of itself, but it would go great with a salad on the side. Try one with my Simple Homemade Ranch Dressing or Copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing.
- Making Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread at home is another fantastic pairing everyone will devour.
- Want to serve it with some veggies? These Easy Roasted Green Beans are a cinch to make and caramelized to perfection.
Leftovers and storage
- Leftovers of this Hamburger Helper will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container, but keep in mind that the pasta will continue to absorb the broth over time. It’ll still be tasty, though.
- Reheat in a small saucepan over a low heat for best results, giving it the occasional stir, and warm it through. Add in a splash of beef broth to thin it if desired.
- I don’t recommend freezing leftovers. Cooked pasta doesn’t have the same texture once thawed.
More family friendly recipes
Let me know if you give this cheesy Hamburger Helper recipe a go! Questions? Made it? As always, I love it when you leave me comments.
Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
- 2 cups freshly grated cheddar cheese
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the beef and onions to a soup pot. Cook over medium-high heat until the beef has browned (about 7-10 minutes), breaking the meat up with your spoon as you go along. If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
- Stir in the tomato paste, garlic powder, and chili powder.
- Add in the beef broth and increase the heat to high. Once it starts boiling, add in the macaroni.
- Reduce the heat so it's not furiously boiling (a rapid simmer is good). I ended up cooking mine over medium heat. Let it cook uncovered until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed (about 13-15 minutes). I stir it every couple of minutes.
- While it's cooking, grate the cheese (this saves prep time at the start of the recipe).
- Take the pot off the heat and stir in the cheese. Season with salt & pepper as needed. I let it sit for a couple minutes prior to serving (soaks up the sauce and flavors more), but you can serve it right away.
Notes
- Serves 4-6 depending on the portion size.
- As with any one pot meal, ingredients and stoves vary. If you’re running out of liquid (like it’s in danger of sticking and burning) when you still have a while to go before the pasta is done, feel free to add in more liquid, 1/2 cup at a time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on January 17, 2020. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
I made this as a double batch. I like to added some chopped up *cold* tomato on top of mine. Maybe some sour cream if I feel like it. But I loved this!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Love those toppings!
Ooh, and I also added about a teaspoon of paprika. I kind of freehanded that to taste!
Has anyone tried this recipe with Gluten free macaroni? Thoughts? Comments?
Yes! I used Barilla gf elbows. I made a double batch of the recipe and it was delicious. The only thing I would do differently next time is add another half cup of elbows to the liquid. I think maybe the gf noodles didn’t soak up the broth quite like regular noodles would (partly because gf noodles don’t require as much cooking time). It came out a little bit soupy this first time but it was so tasty that no one seemed to notice. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Best “homemade hamburger helper” recipe out there!
Thank you!
I made this tonight and I’m in love. It tastes so much like the Hamburger Helper from my childhood. I doubled the proportions, but ended up adding 5 tsp. of chilli powder and 3 tsp. of garlic power instead of 1 tsp. of each, and I used 4 cups of uncooked macaroni instead of 2 cups.
Don’t skip out on the cheese. It really makes the dish creamy like the Hamburger Helper out of the box.
I’m thrilled it was a hit!
Delicious! Definitely will be adding this to the recipe box.
Thrilled to hear that, Michele!
This is the best hamburger helper I’ve made ever. So yummy
I’m so glad to hear it, Hannah!!
I have some already cooked elbow macaroni left over, how much broth would you suggest adding if the pasta doesn’t need to boil/cook? Thank you!
Hi! It’s impossible for me to guess that without testing, unfortunately. I would definitely add a lot less, but the sauce also thickens due to the starch released while the pasta cooks. You may want to just make my ground beef pasta recipe separately and add some of the cheddar and seasonings in if desired to get the HH flavors, then toss with the cooked pasta at the end: https://bit.ly/4692LnO
This was so delicious and so simple to throw together! I cooked the onion in a bit of olive oil along with some garlic before adding the meat. I added salt and pepper to the meat while it browned. I also tossed in .5 lb of veal/pork/beef I had left in the freezer along with the 1 lb of ground beef. Added a bay leaf, as recommended by someone below and and used a mix of cheddar and smoked black peppercorn cheddar. Lastly I threw in some thawed out frozen peas along with the cheese at the end it was amazing!!! I used a little more tomato paste, chilli powder and garlic powder than recommended here because I used extra meat and a bit more pasta than just one cup. Will be keeping this in my back pocket for quick delicious dinner, thank you so much !!
You’re very welcome!
Great easy dish, I used two cups of pasta, and 2 Table spoons of sour cream and splash of half and half for extra creaminess
Fab!
It tastes good and I added green peas bc I love veggies in every meal but I messed up and accidentally added 1lb of pasta. The taste is still good but the ratio def sucks.
Hi! Yeah that’s definitely too much pasta. Oh well.. I guess there’s always next time haha.