Homemade Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet
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One of our go-to dinner recipes when we are in the throes of busy school schedules and extracurricular activities and I haven’t planned ahead is this easy Homemade Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet made with browned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and cavatappi or macaroni noodles. It’s may not be fancy, but it’s always easy, satisfying, and a hit with my family!
Homemade Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet
I didn’t grow up eating Hamburger Helper. It’s not something my mom ever made, so the first time I tried it was at college when a roommate made it for our apartment one night.
Did anyone else trade nights to make dinner for roommates? I loved taking turns cooking for my roommates or enjoying what they cooked when it was their turn. It made life easier and it was fun to taste the staple recipes they grew up with.
I know hamburger helper is probably less than impressive to anyone who grew up with it, but for me, I was embarrassingly delighted by the meaty, cheesy, carb-fest of pasta noodles in a savory, cheesy sauce with browned ground beef in it. It just tasted so good and comforting!
So I was super delighted when I learned you could easily make the cheeseburger pasta skillet recipe from scratch!
It’s essentially the same ol’ hamburger helper that you grew up with, but so much better homemade! And it is a TOTAL lifesaver on busy nights when I don’t really want to cook or haven’t planned ahead. I always have a pound or two of ground beef in the freezer, along with cheese in the fridge and pasta in the pantry, so that solves the first question of whether I have all the ingredients I need to get dinner on the table.
And homemade hamburger helper actually solves the other impediment to a homecooked meal (for me) which is the inevitable clean-up afterwards. Dishes are the worst.
But an easy one pot skillet meal means much less to clean, which means I’m more likely to cook, even when I might otherwise cave and say it’s an eating out night. And really, since I can make this from start to finish in about 15 minutes, it’s a lot faster than even fast food!
If you LOVE one-pot meals, you should also try this one pot bruschetta chicken pasta that is amazing and full of flavor.
How to make homemade hamburger helper
Making homemade hamburger helper is super easy. You start by browning ground beef in a large skillet. Just break up the meat so it cooks evenly and drain any extra fat that cooks off.
Next, sprinkle the cornstarch and spices over the browned meat and stir them in before adding the milk, hot water, and pasta.
I prefer using cavatappi pasta, which is one of my favorite noodle cuts ever, but you could use macaroni noodles too. If you haven’t tried cavatappi before, it’s basically macaroni, except longer spirals instead of elbows and it’s the same pasta that I use when I make my copycat costco mac & cheese.
Once the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid and cooked to al dente perfection, sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese on top and stir it in.
I love Tillamook Farmstyle Cut medium cheddar cheese for this because it tastes amazing and melts beautifully, unlike most other prepackaged grated cheeses I have tried.
This isn’t sponsored, I just really, really love this product and find it super convenient to have on hand, especially on nights when I’m short on time, trying to get a meal on the table, and not feeling like grating cheese with the cheese grater.
After just a couple of minutes the sauce will have thickened slightly and dinner is ready to be served with a nice salad or maybe some green beans and fresh fruit. The leftovers heat up great the next day as well.
If you are looking to add some new easy weeknight dinner ideas to your meal rotation this school season, definitely consider adding this homemade hamburger helper to the mix.
Or try one of my other easy dinner recipes like sheet pan shrimp fajitas, one pan green bean, chicken & potatoes, or ground beef stroganoff.
Here’s a video to show you how I make this easy weeknight dish!
Looking for more easy weeknight dinner recipes? Try these family favorites!
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs
- Meatloaf Hamburger Patties
- Creamy Apricot Pork Chops
- Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
- Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Casserole
- The BEST Stuffed Peppers
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
- Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas
- Tex-Mex Doritos Taco Salad
You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and TWITTER for more great recipes!
Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet
One of our go-to dinner recipes when we are in the throes of busy school schedules and extracurricular activities and I haven't planned ahead is this Homemade Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet made with browned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and cavatappi or macaroni noodles. It's may not be fancy, but it's always easy, satisfying, and a hit with my family!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 cups dry cavatappi pasta or macaroni noodles
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, then add the ground beef and break it up, cooking and stirring until the meat is no longer pink. Drain any remaining fat in the pan.
- Sprinkle the cornstarch, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, and pepper over the browned meat and stir well to evenly distribute the spices. Add the hot water, milk, and pasta, then bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, reduce heat and simmer for 8-11 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.
- Sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese over the cooked pasta and stir until melted into the sauce. Remove from the heat, and let stand for a few minutes until the sauce thickens a bit. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley, if desired, then serve.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 470 Saturated Fat: 14g Cholesterol: 99mg Sodium: 899mg Carbohydrates: 21g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 4g Protein: 27g
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience. Getting feedback from you helps me and other readers too! Also, if you share on INSTAGRAM, use the hashtag #houseofnasheats and tag me (@houseofnasheats) so I can stop by and give your post some love. Thank you!
So yummy! I love finding homemade recipes for boxed foods. This was easy, quick and delicious, I swapped ground beef for ground turkey. Will be making this again!
I’m glad you liked this recipe! Great idea to swap in ground turkey!
My family loves this recipe! We leave ous the sugar and use smoked paprika instead of regular and its delicious!
Hello. Do you know if you can make this ahead of time and reheat, covered in the oven, without it becoming too dry? I want to leave this in the refrigerator for a friend who is out of town for a family emergency.
I haven’t tried it this exact way, but yes, it should work just fine. Leftovers are always delicious the next day reheated in the microwave, so I’m sure the oven approach would work as well.
I’m about to make this tonight, but if it is anything like the boxed one, it’ll taste even better the next day.
Quick to make, and very cheesy and tasty. thanks!
Thank you!! It snowed here today with higher than expected accumulation so we were sort of stuck inside. This dish was PERFECT for a warm & comforting dinner with ingredients I already had in my pantry! Brilliant!
Wonderful! I’m on a low carb diet so I swapped out regular pasta for lentil based noodles, and only used half the liquid. Came out perfect. Such a comfort food. Thank you! 🙂
DELICIOUS!!!!!
L.James
And today this Italian learned that macaroni is supposed to be a certain cut of pasta. In italian-American households, macaroni is used to describe all pasta (the word pasta is almost never used, especially by the older generations). Can’t wait to try this tonight!
We made this with fusilli instead of cavatappi and chili powder instead of paprika bc we didn’t have those ingredients called for. At the end I dumped in a 3/4 bag of frozen peas to add some texture and veggies. It came out great! My 5 year old son helped me. The only thing we didn’t add was sugar, just bc of personal choice. Nice and easy and filling! He’s eating it as I type. Thanks!
Any idea how this would taste if I used beef broth instead of water?
I’m sure it would work, but you might want to cut back on the salt a bit since the broth would already have salt in it.
I used 1 cup water and 1 cup beef broth and it turned out wonderful!
So tasty and creamy! I was surprised how fast this dish came together and my family was stoked at the results. Will definitely make again. Next time will add an onion and jalapeno for kicks. Thanks for sharing:)
My 11 year old grandson made this for the family tonight. It was delicious and filling. I would have added some diced tomatoes but the recipe was yummy just as is. Paired with a bountiful salad and we were all satisfied.
I never tried this recipe before and
after reading this amazing post I think I must give it a try.
My husband could not tell this wasn’t boxed hamburger helper. Winner!
Thanks! I am making it again tonight and have stopped buying the boxed brands in an effort to quit buying processed food. We normally don’t do a meal like that a lot, but when Mom doesn’t know what is for dinner, that is what it is!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! It’s one of our favorite comfort food meals as well!
Can you use noodles that are already cooked?
No, if you use precooked noodles they won’t absorb all of the liquid and this would turn out soupy.
This is the best homemade “Hamburger Helper” recipe I’ve tried. So yummy! I chose it because I had all of the ingredients on hand. The flavors and consistency were perfect and my family enjoyed it.
Made this for dinner!! Added my own flare with half and half, beef stock, mushrooms, diced onions, fresh garlic!! It turned out great!!
I did not have everything in the items list so of course I improvised and the only complaint my wife had was I put to much cheese in thanks for the idea it turned out great
Really good! My toddler went through my spices and dumped all my paprika so I found a BBQ spice that has most of the spices you included and subbed that. It worked great, I also added grated carrot, green onions and some mixed frozen veggies to make it healthier for the family. Will definiteley make again, thank you si much for the recipe!
Sorry. This dish was bland, bland, bland. Did you leave out chili powder? Cayenne? And in the beginning of the article you said flour, then in the ingredients listed corn starch. For me, this recipe was a miss.
Whoops – that was a typo – it is just cornstarch, not flour. Sorry this wasn’t a homerun for you!
This is a winner! It is massively better than the box mix we know about and it’s just as easy to make. I crave this dish and thus I keep it in my favorites recioe rotation. Additionally it is a fairly frugal dish!
I was pretty surprised that this was as good as it was. It is right up my husband’s alley and he loved it. Used fresh onion and garlic instead of the powders. I’ll make it again. ****
What can I sub for cornstarch? Don’t want to have to go to the store!
The closest substitute is arrowroot powder, but I’m guessing you don’t have that on hand either! I would try subbing flour next, although I would worry about that making the sauce gummy instead of silky. Cornstarch is really the way to go with this one.
I am so happy to see all of the positive comments. I grew up on HB Helper and LOVED it as a kid. We tried it recently, and they changed the noodle in a way where it just isn’t great. I would also rather make it homemade. I have come up with ways to make some of the other ones homemade and much better. This is the only one that alluded me. Now, I can’t wait to make this for the nostalgia! Thank you so much!
Would I use the same amount of liquid with gluten free noodles?
I’ve never used gluten-free noodles, so I can’t say.
Turned out great ! Added a chopped onion and used stock instead of water!!
Hi! Unfortunately, this was not a winner for me. I found the taste a bit flat and overall just ok. I wouldn’t make it again.
Not as cheesy looking as picture lol but kids are it up ! Much cheaper and better then box !
OMG!!!! This was amazing. I thought I was making it for dinner and going to let it sit on the stove for later but that is so not what happened. This is the best copycat recipe I have tasted. Everyone who tasted it agreed. Just like hamburger helper but so much healthier because you know exactly what is in it. Thanks for such an easy and delicious recipe.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Have tried this recipe a couple of times. It is easy to make and tastes great. If you are on a low sodium diet, you need to make a few tweaks to make this dish a little more diet friendly. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
This didn’t taste like HB Helper, but it was better. The only thing I had an issue with is the pasta cooking. I had to add more water and keep cooking the pasta. It took about 15 minutes to get it al dente. At the end, I did add a touch of cream and a dab of mustard, as both really bring out the flavor of cheddar cheese. I also added 4 pieces of white American cheese, b/c of the sodium citrate. That keeps everything fluid, so it won’t get grainy and seize up. This is a fantastic recipe. I am a seasoned cook, and could tell by looking at it, that it was the best recipe. The cornstarch is the key. A lot of recipes used a roux or nothing. That just won’t work.
This was so good!! My husband and I swear it tastes like hamburger helper cheeseburger but better and healthier. I will definitely make this again!
I loved this recipe but it needed more sauce to be juicier and creamy. Will be making again with twice the amount of sauce.
Can leftovers be frozen in individual portions.?
That’s a great question but I’ve never tried it! I think it would work out okay though.
I’ve made this recipe more than once. It’s very good and easy….followed recipe as posted. Thank you!
Delicious! My husband made this exactly as the recipe says! It’s amazing how easy it is to make and we can avoid all the weird artificial stuff & sodium of the boxed stuff.