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This Homemade Hamburger Helper is just as easy as the boxed version, but it tastes so much better. It’s a family friendly meal that you can make as spicy as you like. There are directions below for making it in the Instant Pot or right on the stove–it’s definitely a quick dinner recipe for busy weeknights.
Once you begin thinking about healthy eating goals, one of the first things to do are store bought meals. I do understand craving those meals though, so I decided that a quick and easy homemade Hamburger Helper recipe was a necessity for my readers! This family favorite is truly an easy dinner recipe.
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 in the post below. Read that first for ingredient information, substitution tips, and other recipe tips.
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?
A total comfort food from my childhood, I remember how easy it was to pull out some hamburger meat and make dinner. There was aways leftover hamburger helper in my fridge at home, and boxes of this were pantry staples in my house.
Traditional Hamburger Helper is a boxed dinner, complete with white pasta and powdered sauce–both ingredients I don’t recommend if you’re waiting your weight or what you’re eating. 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 hamburger helper isn’t something I typically eat because of the processed ingredients and white pasta. This homemade recipe is an easy meal that picky eaters will love, but made with minimally processed real ingredients and extra protein. This version of the classic meal will keep you full for longer and because of the whole grains and extra protein.
Ingredients in Homemade Hamburger Helper
- 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 to remove the spice from this recipe. You can find canned green chilies in the grocery store next to the other Mexican-inspired items.
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Pasta: Whole wheat noodles are perfect for this recipe. I used elbow macaroni, but egg noodles would be a bit more traditional for Hamburger Helper. The type of pasta doesn’t matter much here.
- Low sodium beef broth: If you don’t have any, chicken broth or even water will do.
- Tomato sauce: Be sure to grab one with low-sodium and no added sugar.
Optional Ingredients and Toppings
- Want a creamier sauce for the Hamburger Helper? You’ll want to use the optional Greek yogurt and shredded cheese in this recipe. Any cheese works– cheddar cheese and colby jack are popular here.
- If you’re looking for a delicious topping, plain Greek yogurt (a perfect swap for sour cream!), diced green onions, fresh parsley, and sliced jalapeños are perfect.
- Need more spice? Add some hot sauce chili powder to the top of this recipe.
- Want to add extra veggies? I’d add diced tomatoes, diced green peppers, and even cooked cauliflower rice.
- Serve this recipe on its own or with some garlic bread.
How to make Instant Pot Hamburger Helper
This easy hamburger helper recipe is ready in less than 30 minutes.
- Press the Sauté button and spray the pot with cooking oil. Once hot, brown the ground beef until it’s no longer pink. Completely brown ground beef is fully cooked. If there is a lot of grease left over after browning, go ahead and drain that before moving to step 2.
- Add the diced onions, green chilis, paprika, and garlic powder. Give it a quick stir.
- Pour in the whole wheat pasta, low sodium broth, and tomato sauce.
- 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 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).
- Remove the lid and turn the Instant Pot off. Allow the food to cool for a few minutes, then mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese until the cheese is melted. Allowing the recipe to cool before adding Greek yogurt mixture helps to avoid curdling, which happens when dairy products are heated up too quickly.
The Healthy Eating Plans 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!
How to make Stovetop Hamburger Helper
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat.
- Once beef is cooked thoroughly, stir in the diced 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 allow the recipe to cool for a few minutes, then mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese (optional).
Recipe Tips
- If using Gluten Free pasta in the Instant Pot, cook this recipe for 1/2 the amount of time listed 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.
- Read this if you’re using frozen ground beef to make this recipe.
- 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!
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 Greek yogurt) 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 calculate containers if you change something.
- Per 1 cup serving on the 21 Day Fix/Portion 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:
- I prefer this recipe made without the dairy: WW 2022/2023 Plan Points: Using ground turkey (and without the greek yogurt/cheese), each serving is 3 points.
- For every one cup serving, this WW friendly recipe counts as 3 Blue Plan Points |5 Green Plan Points | 1 Purple Plan Point | 2023 points: 4 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 | 2023 points: 5
- 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, and tastes great even after reheating. Here are some other favorites:
- Starbucks Bacon Egg Bites
- Healthy Breakfast Tacos
- Healthy Green Chili Chicken
- Spaghetti Squash Taco Bowls
- Healthy Veggie Quesadillas
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Instant Pot Trivet
- Kitchen Knife
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef lean (can also use turkey)
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup fresh green chiles fresh or canned, diced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 cups whole wheat pasta I used elbows
- 1 cup beef broth low sodium
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¾ cup 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. 1 lb ground beef
- Add the onions, green chilis, paprika, and garlic powder. Give it a quick stir. 1 cup onion, 1 cup fresh green chiles, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder
- Next pour in the pasta and then cover with beef broth and tomato sauce. 1 cup beef broth, 1 cup beef broth, 1 cup 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. ¾ cup Greek yogurt, 1 ⅓ cup cheddar cheese
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 : 2023 Points: 3
- 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.
Nutrition
Make This Recipe?
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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!
If I double recipe will it still fit in 6 qt instapot?
It should fit, but it will take a long time to come to pressure.
I had to change it up due to not having some ingredients. I used ground chicken instead of the beef. A fresh chopped jalapeno instead of green chillies. Added a tablespoon of chili powder in addition to the garlic and paprika. I did not add the the yogurt and mixed half fat free cheddar with finely shredded regular cheddar and used vegetable better than bouillon. I also had no whole grain macaroni so I used whole grain egg noodles. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! AND MY PICKY AUTISTIC SON LOVED IT TOO WIN WIN!
Absolutely Wonderful!!!! I have made this twice in the Instant Pot and it is a super forgiving recipe. The first time, I made it per directions, except for substituting veggie beef crumbles (only 12 oz.per package though) for the lean turkey. The next time, last night actually, I had a bunch of stuff to use up….maybe 6 oz. if veggie crumbles, 4 mini bell peppers, 3/4 cup veggie broth, (added extra water), left over crushed ties from the Instant Pot lasagna recipe, but not a cup), spaghetti sauce, 1/2 onion and an indeterminate amount of Greek yogurt, probably a quarter cup, at the very most. I actually had penne whole wheat pasta, shredded cheddar, and a can of green chilis. It was fantastic! I highly recommend even a little Greek yogurt to mix in with the cheddar cheese; it makes it smooth and creamy and really gives it the comfort food taste you want. Becca, you are the BEST!!!😃 Thank you for another easy, great-tasting recipe!
Yay!! I’m so glad you like it!