CLEANED UP HAMBURGER HELPER

Posted on by eefulton

Raise your hand if hamburger helper was your favorite meal as a child? For reference both of my hands are raised. 

I was an only child until I was 8 & my amazing nurse mom had to work a lot of weekends. So it was just me & my dad. I have so many sweet memories of that time. Lucky for me, I ended up with a brother & sister, but I’ll always cherish that one on one time with both of my parents. 

One thing my dad & I loved to do was to drive down the road to this little store. Now that I’m thinking about it, this place was a little crazy. It was a gas station, a bait shop, a small grocery store & a movie rental place. I’m sorry, what? Anyway, we would run by there, get everything we needed for hamburger helper & each rent a movie. We’d come home, my dad would make dinner & we’d each retreat to our own tv to watch the movie we picked for the weekend. 

This meal holds so many special memories for me, so naturally I had to make my own little cleaned up version so that I could enjoy it for the rest of my dang life. 

I really have to toot my own horn on this one. It is that stinkin’ good. 

Happy cooking! xx 

ellyn 

SERVINGS: 4 

TIME: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1 lb ground beef *
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons worcestershire 
  • 2 cups pasta
  • 1 cup half & half *
  • 1 cup vegetable stock *
  • 4 oz cheddar cheese – optional

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a large skillet brown beef. I like to leave it in big chunks to help ensure browned, crispy bits before I break it up into bite size pieces. 
  2. After the beef has cooked through, add in chopped onion over medium heat & cook for another 3-4 minutes. 
  3. Add in all of the seasonings, tomato paste & worcestershire. Cook for another two minutes to let the spices toast & tomato paste to lose it’s raw flavor. 
  4. Add in dry pasta, half & half & vegetable stock. Lower heat to medium low, cover & simmer for 12-15 minutes. Depending on your pasta shape you may need to had in a ½ cup more of vegetable stock.
  5. Remove from heat & add in shredded cheddar. I like to top with a few green onions too!
  6. Enjoy!

NOTES:

* GROUND BEEF: you can use any ground meat you prefer!

* HALF & HALF/STOCK: you can sub in regular milk, almond milk, all stock or all water!