Homemade hamburger helper?

[giggler]

I know this is very broad, and a bit crude. But I need a sort of go to quick recipe for this.

I'm thinking small amount of meat, browned with onions or others.

Then like a handful each of frozen veggies of choice.

and small macaronie with suace of choice.

I made this last week after a long day at work, but the sauce was too weak.

I guess just more everything, but this is a dish where I don't really want any leftovers! ha ha

Eric, Austin Tx.

 

[Kayelle]

Eric, what was your "sauce of choice"?

A packet of Lipton dried onion soup mixed with either a can of tomatoes or a can of cream soup would make a good sauce with this. A splash of wine couldn't hurt.

 

[Cheryl J]

Hi Eric. I'm wondering - what kind of sauce did you use for your casserole dish that you weren't happy with?

I haven't had Hamburger Helper in decades, but canned cream of ______(fill in the blank) can make a nice sauce for a casserole. Stock up on some of that, pasta, cooked ground beef or chicken, canned or frozen veggies, and just throw a one pot dish together. You could top it with cheese. Visit the http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f57/chicken-and-biscuits-93633.html#post1433803 thread - you could use canned biscuits for a topping.

Canned or bottled marinara sauce is good to keep on hand if you want an Italian spin on your one dish meal.

Googling 'Hamburger Helper recipes' will get you a ton of results!

Most freeze well, if you decide you want to double up and have something ready to defrost.

 

[Cheryl J]

Kay....haha...started posting the same time as you and had to break for a phone call...great minds and all...!

 

[Dawgluver]

Agree with Kay and Cheryl. Some cream of something soup, maybe a shake or two of worchestershire or soy sauce, and/or the Lipton onion soup mix would all make for decent HH.

Another thought would be some gravy mix and sour cream or Greek yogurt. And as Kay mentioned, a splash of wine or sherry would take it up a notch or two.

 

[Kayelle]

Haa Haa girls, we're all on the same page. In my world, there's room to be easy and quick.

 

[Cheryl J]

Haa Haa girls, we're all on the same page. In my world, there's room to be easy and quick.

Agreed!

 

[Andy M.]

Haa Haa girls, we're all on the same page. In my world, there's room to be easy and quick.

Agreed!

Sitting here biting my tongue.

 

[Kayelle]

ANDY!!!

 

[Dawgluver]

Bad Andy!

 

[Zhizara]

One of the first things I tried when I was starting to cook at 14 y/o was to make a hamburger helper style dinner.

I used hamburger and onion, cream of something soup and pasta to match. We called it Goop! It was easy and always tasted good.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

FAst, easy, in one port and yummy, that's the category, right?
1/4 lb. ground chuck, 1/2 cup already sliced mushrooms, 2 tbs. dried onion bits, 1 carrot, peeled and sliced thin, a handful of frozen hash brown potatoes, the diced style, a can of cream of celery soup.

brown the ground beef and mushrooms together. Season with salt and pepper to tasted. Add the carrots and cook covered for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the hash browns are hot and the soup is bubbling. You could even drain and add canned corn, or green beans.

Easy and tasty. Enough food for two servings.

Easier yet - 1 can Wolf brand chili (or whichever is your favorite brand), with beans. 1/4 lb. ground beef. Brown the ground beef, add the chili. Again makes 2 servings.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Aunt Bea]

One of the first things I tried when I was starting to cook at 14 y/o was to make a hamburger helper style dinner.

I used hamburger and onion, cream of something soup and pasta to match. We called it Goop! It was easy and always tasted good.

That was a standard in our house growing up.

We used ground beef or venison, chopped onion, cream of mushroom soup, water and uncooked egg noodles. We let the whole thing bubble away until the noodles were tender and the sauce had thickened. Sometimes we added a handful of frozen mixed vegetables, peas or canned mushrooms. To add an Italian "flair" we used cream of tomato soup!

This also works for a hurry up version of tuna noodle casserole.

Comfort food for a cold winter night.

 

[RPCookin]

Saute ground beef, diced onion, maybe some diced bell pepper and/or a fine diced cored jalapeno (or don't core it if you like it spicy). Then stir in a can of Hunt's Fire Roasted diced tomatoes, (plain or any flavor), small can of tomato sauce, couple of teaspoons of tomato paste, maybe a can of sliced mushrooms (or saute raw mushrooms in butter and garlic for more flavor). Season with garlic and Italian herb seasoning blend, salt and pepper to taste. Add pasta and some additional water, but not a lot as you can add more if it gets too dry before the pasta is done and there is already a lot of liquid in the sauce. Simmer until the pasta is cooked to your preference.

This is one of those things that you just experiment with. The only part that's even a little bit tricky is being careful that you don't add so much water to cook the pasta that you end up with soup instead of a stew or casserole. How much water you use depends on how big a batch you are making and how much pasta you are using. That's why I would start with no more than a quarter to a half cup and add more if needed. The other option is to cook the pasta separately - it's easier to get the pasta right, but it won't pick up the flavors of the rest of the sauce as readily.

 

[puffin3]

Fry ground beef and add a can or two of cream of mushroom soup and a cup of assorted frozen vegetables and a splash of white wine.S&P.
Tasty but it looks on the plate like it was already eaten once IYKWIM.

 

[FoodieFanatic]

I don't use soup, but if I want to cut corners, I use a pack of Brown gravy mix (French's or Knorr). I use half water and half cup of red wine. Really easy and great flavor. Those dry packs are wonderful for coming up with interesting recipes. BTW, if making chicken use one pack of Roasted Chicken gravy with half cup of water and half cup of white wine. Again, delicious!

 

[CraigC]

Our go to "Hamburger Helper" type meal is hamburger "stroganoff" served over wide egg noodles. We use crimini mushrooms, condensed cream of mushroom soup and enhance the mushroom flavor with porcini powder, made by running dried porcini through the spice grinder.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

We have this one-pot dish that we call Ralph. It was named in DW's household when she was a child, by the children. Let me assure you that in spite of it's name, this stuff is wonderful.

Here's the recipe and cooking instructions:

Full Batch, Original Recipe Ingredients:
4 ½ cups water
2 pkg. Lipton’s Chicken Soup
1 cup Long Grain Rice
1 cup Chopped Celery
¼ cup Slivered Almonds (optional)
1 Onion, diced
2 lbs. Ground beef

In a large covered skillet, but without the cover, brown the ground beef and chop into bite-sized chunks, as you would for a casserole. Place all ingredients into the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes. Test to make sure the rice is done. Serve.

Modified for a family of 4 to 5
Ingredients:
2 ¾ cup water
1 pkg. Lipton’s Chicken Soup
1 ½ lbs. Ground beef, browned
1 stalk Celery, sliced
¾ cup diced Onion
2 tbs. butter.

Use the same cooking technique as above, serve hot with butter on top.

For a little different flavor, and I love this but DW doesn't, add 1/2 tsp. ground thyme, and a quarter tsp. black pepper to the Ralph.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[msmofet]

Ms. Mofet's Homemade Cheezburger Mac Helper (click)

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Just in time for back to school hot lunch. The lunch ladies made something like this, then another week it was chili-mac and another day it was hamburger goulash. All, I think the same recipe. All, good, to me anyway. And if we didn't get enough at school, you could be sure Mom made it for dinner. This was before boxed "hamburger helper" was invented.

We used to make a hamburger helper using

Cooked elbows
burger
onion
(celery?)
1 can cream style corn
1 can corn
1 can cream soup.

Seems like there was something else that I am missing. Maybe it was a can of kidney beans? I forget. Anyway we liked that for dinner and it lasted about half a week for two on our student budget.