This Instant Pot Hamburger Helper is just as easy as the boxed version, but it tastes better. It’s a family friendly meal that you can make as spicy as you like.
Where’s the recipe?
Here at My Crazy Good Life, I make sure that everyone can cook my recipes–whatever your skill level in the kitchen. This recipe can be cooked in the Instant Pot or right on the stove, and I walk you through both instructions below.
If you are a whiz in the kitchen, scroll straight down to the printable recipe for Homemade Hamburger Helper and you’ll be good to go!
What is Hamburger Helper?
Traditional Hamburger Helper is a boxed dinner, complete with white pasta and powdered sauce. If you loved Hamburger Helper as a kid, you’re going to love this recipe–I’ve been told it tastes like the cheeseburger macaroni dinner.
Boxed helpers aren’t something I typically eat because of the processed ingredients and white pasta. This homemade recipe is also an easy meal that kids love, but made with minimally processed ingredients and extra protein.
Ingredients:
- Ground Beef: Be sure and grab at least 95% lean beef, or substitute fat-free ground turkey if you prefer.
- Onions: Loaded with antioxidants, and studies show that onions can fight inflammation.
- Green chiles: These spicy peppers can actually balance your blood sugar levels and improve your immune system. You can absolutely substitute these for green bell peppers if you’d like!
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Pasta: Whole wheat noodles are perfect for this recipe. If you’re gluten free, just pick up a gluten free version!
- Low sodium Beef broth
- Tomato sauce: Be sure to grab low-sodium no added sugar.
Optional Ingredients:
Want a creamy Hamburger Helper? You’ll want to use the optional Greek yogurt and shredded cheese in this recipe.
Instant Pot Hamburger Helper Directions:
Time needed: 25 minutes.
This Instant Pot hamburger helper recipe is ready in less than 30 minutes, including time to come to pressure!
- Brown the meat
Brown the ground beef in the Instant Pot using the sauté function.
- Add your veggies and spices
Add the onions, green chilis, paprika, and garlic powder. Give it a quick stir.
- Add the pasta and liquid
Pour in the whole wheat pasta, low sodium broth, and tomato sauce.
- Start your pot
Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure using the manual setting (or pressure cook setting, depending on which model pressure cooker you’re using) for 3 minutes.
- Release the pressure
Release the pressure using the quick release method. This means that you’ll open that sealing valve as soon as your recipe is done cooking and the steam will come out (fast and loud).
- Make it creamy and cheesy (optional)
Remove the lid and turn the Instant Pot off. Mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese until the cheese is melted.
The nutrition facts are calculated without the Greek yogurt and cheese because it’s how we prefer to make it. I wanted to give you the option of the creamy version!
Recipe Tips:
- If using Gluten Free pasta in the Instant Pot, cook this recipe for 1/2 the amount of time on the box of noodles.
- You can easily control the spice of this recipe by adding more or less green chilis. Want it cooler? Replace all of the green chiles with green bell pepper. Hotter? Add a few jalapeños!
- This recipe is great with ground turkey as well, no changes are required when switching from ground beef to other ground meats.
- I rarely add salt to my recipes so you can add salt and pepper to your individual taste.
- To make this recipe dairy free, just skip the Greek yogurt and cheese–I often make this recipe dairy free at home!
Crock Pot Directions:
I seriously love how the slow cooker can work all day just to make you dinner. It’s perfect for those with little kids running around too! Here are the crock pot directions for this healthy hamburger helper recipe:
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on the stove.
- Transfer the cooked ground beef to your slow cooker.
- Add onions, green chiles, paprika, garlic powder, pasta, broth, and tomato sauce to the slow cooker.
- Cover the Crock Pot and cook on high heat for 2-3 hours or low heat for 4-5 hours. Keep an eye on the pasta to help you gauge the cook time for your Crock Pot.
- Remove the lid of your Crock Pot and mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese. You can leave these out if you want, it’s how we usually make it and the nutritional information is calculated without the dairy.
Stovetop Directions:
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on the stove.
- Once beef is cooked thoroughly, stir in the onions, green chiles, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Pour the pasta, beef broth, and tomato sauce into the skillet. Mix it up gently.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the pot for 10-12 minutes, cooking pasta until it’s tender.
- Remove the lid and mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese (optional).
Healthy Eating Plans
This homemade version of Hamburger Helper is perfect for your healthy lifestyle! It’s compatible with multiple diets and is filling and healthy.
21 Day Fix Hamburger Helper:
For the 21 Day Fix or Ultimate Portion Fix, the entire recipe (including optional ingredients) is calculated as: 5 red containers, 3 green containers, and 8 yellow containers. If you use cheese, add in 4 blue containers.
I give you the counts for the entire recipe so it’s easier for you to recalculate containers if you change something.
Per 1 cup serving on the 21 Day Fix (and including the optional cheese and Greek yogurt), your count is 3/4 red container, 1/2 green container, 1 1/3 yellow container, and 2/3 blue container per serving.
Without Greek yogurt and cheese, counts are 2/3 red container, 1/2 green container, 1 1/3 yellow container per serving.
Weight Watchers Hamburger Helper:
For every one cup serving, this WW friendly recipe counts as 3 Blue Plan Points |5 Green Plan Points | 1 Purple Plan Point when using 99% fat free ground turkey, fat free yogurt, and low fat cheese.
If you’d like to use 95% lean ground beef, your counts will be: 5 Blue Plan Points | 6 Green Plan Points | 3 Purple Plan Points
This is a perfect 2B Mindset lunch recipe when you fill half of your plate with vegetables from the 2B Mindset food list.
More healthy Meal Prep Recipes:
I consider this Homemade Hamburger Helper a delicious meal prep recipe because it’s easy to make, and it keeps well in the fridge or freezer. This Instant Pot Hamburger Helper also reheats very well.
- Starbucks Bacon Egg Bites
- Spaghetti Squash Taco Bowls
- Ninja Foodi Artichokes with Dipping Sauce
- Instant Pot Gyros
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Homemade Hamburger Helper with Green Chiles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef lean (can also use turkey)
- 1 cup green chiles fresh or canned, diced
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup beef broth low sodium
- 2 cups whole wheat pasta I used elbows
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt optional
- 1 ⅓ cup cheddar cheese shredded, optional
Instructions
Instant Pot
- Brown the ground beef in the Instant Pot using the sauté function.
- Add the onions, green chilis, paprika, and garlic powder. Give it a quick stir.
- Next pour in the pasta and then cover with beef broth and tomato sauce.
- Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure using the manual setting for 3 minutes. Release the pressure using the quick release method.
- Remove the lid and turn the Instant Pot off. Mix in the optional Greek yogurt and cheese until the cheese is melted.
Stove Top
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on the stove.
- Stir in the onions, green chiles, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Pour the pasta, beef broth, and tomato sauce into the skillet. Try to keep the pasta below the liquid.
- Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to medium low.
- Allow the meal to cook for 10-15 minutes until the pasta is tender. Stir occasionally as needed.
- Remove the lid and mix in the (optional) Greek yogurt and cheese. Mix until the cheese is all melted. Garnish and serve.
Crock Pot
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on the stove, then transfer the cooked ground beef to your slow cooker.
- Add onions, green chilies, paprika, garlic powder, noodles, beef broth, and tomato sauce.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on high heat for 2-3 hours, low heat for 4-5 hours, or until the pasta is tender.
- Remove the lid and mix in the (optional) Greek yogurt and cheese.
Video
Notes
- Weight Watchers Plan Points: For a 1 cup serving using 99% fat-free ground turkey and fat-free greek yogurt 3 Blue Plan Points : 5 Green Plan Points : 1 Purple Plan Point
- 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portions Fix: Per 1 cup serving with optional ingredients: ¾ Red Containers, ½ Green Containers, 1 ⅓ Yellow Containers, ⅔ Blue Containers. Without optional ingredients: 2/3 red container, 1/2 green container, 1 1/3 yellow container per serving.
- 2B Mindset: Fill your plate half full with veggies for a complete lunch.
Your tips were so helpful! Thanks for the delicious recipe, my family loved it!!
LOVE IT! Total cozy comfort food! I could curl up with a bowl of this at least once a week – thanks!
I love how simple this is! Hamburger Helper is rare in our house, but I must admit that sometimes it is made. I usually have some in the cabinets for just in case the day gets too insane and I am not prepared. This does sound like it is just as easy as going through the boxed and without all the added preservatives!
I do not have an Instant Pot, tho it will probably very soon be my newest addition (I probably don’t NEED it but well you know lol), but I have the Ninja Auto IQ which is a multi cooker. I can probably adapt the recipe to that.
Thank you :)
The recipe calls for lean ground beef but in the points you are using ground turkey.
What are points using the ground beef?
Yes, I calculated this with ground turkey for WW counts. Ground beef (90% lean) is 24 points per pound.
Loved it! Even picky husband liked it!
So good. A family favorite that I feel good about serving!
How would I adjust for an 8 quart instant pot? Thank you.
Just add a bit more water–maybe 1/2 cup–to the bottom of the pot :)
If I was to double the recipe in the instant pot, would that mean changing the cook time or anything like that?
Hi Meaghan! No change in cook time, but you’ll want to double the liquid so the extra pasta can cook :)
This was amazing! The only thing I changed was I added 1 TB Dale’s steak seasoning. I know it’s not on plan, but the bang in flavor is worth it. This recipe is a definite keeper.
I also reduced cheese to 1 cup.
This is delicious. Thank you for sharing. So if you add the optional cheese and yogurt and it’s 6 servings of 1 cup each, how does that equal for the Fix containers per serving?
And what is the blue counting for in the recipe if cheese is optional? Thanks ❤
Per 1 cup serving on the 21 Day Fix (and including the optional cheese and Greek yogurt), your count is 3/4 red container, 1/2 green container, 1 1/3 yellow container, and 2/3 blue container per serving.Without Greek yogurt and cheese, counts are 2/3 red container, 1/2 green container, 1 1/3 yellow container per serving.
I just made this today and I was pleasantly surprised how good this was. My kids (7 and 9) really enjoyed this and said to put it on our meal rotation. I cooked the recipe via stove top-which was very simple and easy clean up. Thank you for sharing this recipe and look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Making this now and it smells great. I used 99% ground turkey and put the ingredients into the WW calculator – it states that it’s actually 8 Blue points per serving (assuming 6 servings from the batch). Luckily I have the points for that today but that’s a pretty big difference. Just in case someone is down to the wire with points, this isn’t a point easy meal. Still looking forward to it!
Hi Ashley! I always recommend recalculating points like you did because different brands can have different points–especially the cheeses! I calculated this with 99% fat free ground turkey, fat free yogurt, and low fat cheese.
The pasta was 47 points for 16 ounces, and 3 points for 1 1/3 cups of Kraft Fat Free Cheddar Cheese. Those were the only points in the recipe. That comes out to 8 points per serving on the WW Blue Plan. What pasta did you use to get the points down to 5 points?
Whole grain elbows!
I too got wildly different points calculations based on using the nutrition information provided, not even the exact ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious, but I think it takes a much bigger hit out of my day than it seemed by the points provided
Hey Lora, I’m sorry your points didn’t match up. We’ve gone through all of my recipes this year and re-calculated points for each plan using the ingredients listed. Using nutritional information was something I was advised by WW reps not to do, so that’s why we use ingredients. :)
Is the calorie count with or without the Greek yogurt and cheese?
Hi there,
The nutritional info does not include the yogurt or cheese :)
How would I adjust for an 3 quart instant pot? Thank you.
Hi Diane, I’ve never done it, but I’d half the recipe (can be done easily by clicking the pink number of servings in the printable recipe and sliding to the number of servings you’d like) and try that!
Yummmmmmm. The whole family loved it.
I didn’t have green chiles so, I skipped those. I used smoked paprika (for the paprika). GREAT recipe. Thank YOU.
I got the food burn the first time, then the second time I made sure there were no burns from sautéing the meet and when done, the noodles were not cooked through. I’m thinking 1 cup of beef broth is not enough. With only 1 cup of broth, the noodles cannot be covered completely. We have the 6qt Duo Evo Plus. Suggestions?
Hi Jackie, this is one of our favorite recipes! The 1 cup works because there are other items in the pot that “count” as liquid. Definitely add more liquid if you need to and then close the lid and let the pot sit for a few minutes if your pasta isn’t done yet. Remember, each pot is different and when you figure elevation into the mix, some recipes need a little bit of adjustment in that Instant Pot :)
Do we drain the beef after browning? Thank you!
The lean ground beef doesn’t have too much liquid, but if there was a lot I’d drain it!