One-pot Hamburger Helper
I didn't grow up in the US, I grew up in the UK, which means I only discovered Hamburger Helper when I hit 20. However, it's quickly become one of my favourite comfort foods to make, and it comes together quick and easy in about 25 minutes, all in one pot.
Prep
00:05
Cook
00:20
Total
00:25
Yield
scale to your needs
Ingredients
- Main Ingredients
- Pasta shapes (I recommend fusilli, conglichi, or cavatappi because they cling to sauce best)
- Ground beef/beef mince (enough to make you happy) (also feel free to sub out for vegetarian mince if needed)
- Heavy cream (you'll be eyeballing it, vegans... i'm sorry)
- Cornstarch (normal, plain ol' white flour will do if you can't get cornstarch)
- Chicken stock (feel free to use stock mix for this, you don't need ready-made stock for it) (vegetarians can use veggie stock if needed!)
- Strong, concentrated tomato paste
- Grated cheeses (I recommend this includes some sharp cheddar, but also some melting cheeses like mozzarella)
- Spices
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Fine salt
- Paprika (smoked is better, but it doesn't matter _too_ much)
- Prep:
- 00:05
- Cook:
- 00:20
- Total:
- 00:25
- Yield:
- scale to your needs
Instructions
-
1Prep
-
2Mix together your spices and 1tbsp of flour (depending on how much meat you're using). Remember, this is an easy meal. Season to taste, not to strict amount.
-
3Meat
-
4In a large pot, fry and brown your beef mince.
-
5Once browned, add your spice mix and stir until the meat is adequately coated.
-
6Once combined, add in some of the tomato paste, stirring until the meat looks a deep angry orangey-red. If you didn't put enough in, add more. If you added too much, don't sweat it, it's about to be drowned anyway.
-
7Bringing it all together
-
8Add as much pasta as you need to the pot, then pour enough chicken stock to cover it comfortably.
-
9Add... _an_ amount of heavy cream (I used ~150ml in a batch of this that went on to serve 6 people, so exercise your judgement on how much, but don't worry about adding too little as you can always add more later)
-
10Stir the pot for a moment before covering with a lid and simmering for as long as your pasta takes to get just shy of al dente.
-
11Once your pasta is just shy of al dente, take the lid off and start adding your grated cheese. Add it in medium batches, then stir until it gets combined.
-
12Once you've added all your cheese, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
-
13If the sauce is too loose/watery, add more cream _or_ add some flour and stir. (Cream won't always save you here, but flour will usually do the trick)
-
14That's all! Serve up into bowls, and keep any leftovers in the fridge, it should keep for up to two days before spoiling if you seal it correctly.
- Category
- Dinner
- Method
- Frying
- Cuisine
- American
Recipe Attribution
Licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Printed from recipe.exchange
https://recipe.exchange/recipes/01JGVQ96MXX6NHE54WDGSM158N
Printed on February 05, 2025