This easy Homemade Hamburger Helper is made with run-of-the-mill ingredients, ALL OF WHICH you can probably pronounce, unlike the boxed magic it is named after. Which I also love, but don’t buy very often because let’s be honest. If we can avoid processed foods, we probably should now and then.
Homemade Hamburger Helper
In our house, this meal is affectionately known as Beefy Noodles. Beefy noodles have become kind of a staple here. It is stick-to-your-ribs, guaranteed that my kids will eat it, FAST, easy-cooking dinner.
Nothing fancy here, just home cooking with real ingredients. What it really is, is my homemade Hamburger Helper, only with ingredients that we don’t have to Google to know what they actually are. It takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, including popping a vegetable in the microwave or oven to round out the meal.
Try our Cheesy Italian Shells Hamburger Helper Dupe!
Homemade Hamburger Helper Shopping List
One of the great things about this dish is that 95% of the time, I have all of these ingredients readily available in my fridge and cupboards. That means if I’m out of most everything, I still can make this. Or at least some variation of it.
Sure, sometimes I’m short an ingredient or two, but the magic of this easy skillet dinner is that it doesn’t even matter. Substitute, omit, or alter to your heart’s content. I bet it’ll still be delicious.
The standard ingredients in homemade hamburger helper are:
- Ground beef (I’ve used ground pork too, and it was great)
- Onion (can totally skip this if you don’t have a fresh one, use dried, or just add in extra onion powder)
- Mushrooms (optional)
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Seasoned salt
- Flour (or cornstarch, in a pinch)
- Cooking sherry (or marsala, or dry white wine)
- Beef bouillion (any kind will do. Beef stock also works!)
- Egg noodles (or whatever noodles you have handy)
- Sour cream (or cream, or even milk)
You need more PASTA in your life.
How to make Homemade Hamburger Helper
This is just the overview so you can see what you’re actually getting into here. When you are cooking, you’ll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
1
Water + Sauté
Start out by putting a large pot of water on to boil. SALT THE WATER. It should taste like the ocean, but not so salty that you make a weird face. But way more than you think you’ll need.
Cut up your onions and mushrooms and sauté them over medium heat with oil or butter in the pan. Cook until the onions start to soften and the mushrooms start to brown.
Remove from the pan and set aside.
2
Ground Beef
Next add about a pound of ground beef to the pan. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and seasoned salt.
3
Roux time
When the beef is fully cooked, tilt the pan up and let the grease run to one side of the pan.
For this size batch, there was just enough to make a decent roux to thicken the sauce. If you want to reduce the fat content of this dish, feel free to drain the fat and use a cold water/flour thickener at the end.
Add enough flour to the fat to make a thick roux.
4
Booze it up
Cook that for a few minutes, stirring frequently, then mix it together with the beef and add the cooking sherry to the pan.
Next, quickly start adding cups of the hot water from your boiling pot of noodles. I added about 4 cups. Just add water, stirring frequently, until you get the thickness you like.
BEWARE – if you got too heavy handed with the salt in the pasta water here, you’ll want to add tap water instead.
Add the mushrooms and onions back to the pan.
5
Finish it off
Next, add some beef bouillon. (I prefer the Better Than Bouillon brand, but have recently used some other brand successfully. I would not recommend using the little cubes or granules. I don’t know if they would dissolve properly.)
Depending on the kind you use, you’ll need about 2 tsp or so. Taste it as you go until it reaches the level of beefiness that YOU prefer.
If you opted to thicken with a water/flour thickener, thicken after the beef base is fully combined and incorporated. If you’ve already thickened with a beef-fat roux, skip this part.
Mix your noodles in with your sauce, throw in and mix up with a dollop of sour cream, and you are done!
We prefer egg noodles for this dish, but any kind of noodles would work. We’ve used macaroni many times. Rotini, a lot. Shells even, when we were desperate.
Serve this with your favorite vegetable, and dinner is done.
Try our Pizza Pasta Hotdish!
Serve this with…
I usually opt for something simple like frozen corn or green beans, but if you want to get a little fancy some of these milk rolls would be amazing.
- A fresh salad with my homemade Greek Freak dressing would be perfect to cut through the rich pasta sauce here.
- Our Grilled Asparagus would also be a great side, and easy too!
More great recipes to try!
- Traeger Ham and Cheese Scalloped Potato Casserole
- A5 Wagyu vs American Wagyu
- Smoked Chuck Tender Roast
- Smoked Pulled Wild Hog Sandwiches
- Traeger Stuffed Pork Chops
- Grilled Peaches
- Crispy Blackstone Chicken Wings
- Smoked Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
- Smoked Beef Bacon Jalapeno Poppers
- Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
- Smoked Pickled Jalapeños
- Rockfish and Spot Prawn Ceviche
- Traeger Smoked Cream Cheese Pasta
Homemade Hamburger Helper
Simple but tasty meal that you can have on the table in 30 minutes! Great substitue for the boxed dinners with the mystery ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1/2 onion
- 3 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil or butter
- Salt & Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/3 cup fat from browned beef
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons cooking sherry
- 3-6 cups of water from pasta pot
- 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon - Beef
- 1 - 1 1/2 pounds egg noodles
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut up 1/2 an onion and saute along with the mushrooms in a large pan with 2 tablespoons cooking oil over medium heat until the onions are softened and the mushrooms are browned. Remove from the pan set aside.
- Add ground beef, turn heat up to medium-high, and season with salt, pepper, onion & garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Brown.
- Once the beef is cooked, tilt pan, push beef to one side, and let fat from beef collect on the other. Leave about 1/3 cup of the fat in the pan and remove the rest. Add enough flour to make a thick roux. Cook over low heat, keeping the pan tilted, for 2 minutes.
- Set the pan back down and combine flour roux with beef. Add sherry & enough pasta water to make a sauce. Stir frequently.
- Add your Better Than Bouillon and stir to combine. Taste the sauce and add additional salt if necessary.
- Add cooked egg noodles to the pan and toss to cover the pasta. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 463Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 528mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 33g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate. If you are tracking these things for medical purposes please consult an outside, trusted source. Thanks!
Nicole Johnson
Nicole Johnson, a self-taught expert in grilling and outdoor cooking, launched Or Whatever You Do in 2010. Her blog, renowned for its comprehensive and creative outdoor cooking recipes, has garnered a vast audience of millions. Nicole's hands-on experience and passion for grilling shine through her work. Her husband, Jeremiah Johnson, also plays a pivotal role in recipe development, adding his culinary flair to the mix. Together, they form a dynamic duo, offering a rich and varied outdoor cooking experience to their followers.
Amy
Tuesday 7th of November 2023
So weird the picture has mushrooms but the recipe doesn't lol
Nicole Johnson
Tuesday 7th of November 2023
That IS weird, and unintentional. Fixing now! Thanks!
Cassandra behm
Thursday 4th of November 2021
when do you add the mushrooms
Nicole Johnson
Thursday 4th of November 2021
We actually skip the mushrooms most of the time, just to save the argument from the children in the house. When I do use them, I brown them separately with some butter and mix them in again at the end.
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elizastclair
Thursday 7th of February 2013
This does remind me of the Hamburger helper recipe! Looks like the perfect rainy day meal :) xoxo