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This healthy homemade hamburger helper takes us back to our childhood in the 90s. We made a healthy version of our favorite comfort food, and we think it tastes even better than the boxed version.
Growing up, hamburger helper was a staple in our house. Every night our mom would make this for us, we would quite literally sprint to the dinner table. It was our ultimate comfort food.
If you’ve never had it before, it’s basically like a cheesy, creamy and deconstructed version of a lasagna. It was always such an easy, quick and delicious meal to make on weeknights when my mom got home from work and didn’t have much time to cook.
Over the years, we just stopped eating it…probably because my mom found out it wasn’t the healthiest thing to be eating ever week.
We thought we would get really nostalgic and create a homemade hamburger helper recipe that was super healthy, delicious and easy to make. After making a couple of different versions of this, we realized the missing ingredient that made this hamburger helper taste like the one we had when we were little.
Believe it or not, the missing ingredient was tomato sauce! It added the perfect acidity and flavor to the dish!
Made with grass fed beef, beef bone broth, tomato sauce, spices, chickpea pasta, almond milk and cheddar cheese, this healthy homemade hamburger helper is the comfort food we all need every now and then. It’s SO simple to make—making it perfect for week days when you need a quick and nutritious meal!
This post is all about healthy homemade hamburger helper.
Healthy Homemade Hamburger Helper
What’s in this recipe?
Grass-fed Beef: We LOVE the taste of grass-fed beef. It’s actually super easy to find in the store now, and is a healthier option.
Yellow Onion: Yellow onion adds a sweet onion flavor to this dish.
Garlic: We are a little bit obsessed with garlic and always use more than called for. We think that the garlic adds a beautiful flavor to the healthy hamburger helper.
Flour: Just a couple of tablespoons of flour is used to make a rue to thicken the hamburger helper.
Beef Bone Broth: If you’re looking for a healthier alternative for beef broth, beef bone broth is the way to go without sacrificing any of the flavor.
Tomato Sauce: The tomato sauce was the key ingredient to make this recipe taste just like the boxed hamburger helper.
Italian Seasoning: Since this is an Italian-inspired meal, Italian seasoning is a must!
Salt: Add a generous amount of salt to this dish to really accentuate the flavors.
Paprika: Paprika adds a milk, sweet spice to the dish.
Cayenne Pepper: The cayenne adds the perfect amount of heat to this dish. Traditionally, hamburger helper is pretty bland, but this is such a delicious addition!
Banza Chickpea Pasta: We are OBSESSED with Banza Pasta and use it for every pasta recipe now. It’s made of amazing ingredients and is so delicious.
Almond Milk: Traditionally homemade hamburger helper is made with heavy cream, but we substituted that with almond milk for a lighter dish.
Cheddar Cheese: Cheddar cheese is essential to this dish, so we had to add a bit to get that rich cheesy flavor.
How to Make the Healthy Homemade Hamburger Helper
Like we mentioned above, this recipe is seriously so simple and you only have to use one pot! We love one pot meals, because they make clean up so much easier!
To start, you’ll need a dutch oven (this is the one we love and use all the time). Cook the grass fed beef over medium high heat until all the way cooked through. Once the meat is fully cooked, remove it from the pot and set aside for later. We like to use a large spoon for this to keep as much of the grease at the bottom of the pan.
With the leftover grease at the bottom of the pan, add the chopped yellow onion and sauté over medium heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Then, add the flour and stir to coat the onion and garlic. Let it sit for about 30 seconds and then add the beef bone broth. Bring the broth to a boil.
Once the broth is bubbling, add the chickpea pasta, tomato sauce, and seasonings. Stir all the ingredients together and cover the dutch oven with a lid. Cook on medium that for 10-12 minutes.
Lastly, remove the lid from the pot and stir in the almond milk, cheddar cheese and cooked beef from earlier. Heat the ingredients for about 3 more minutes. Serve hot on beautiful dinner ware and top with fresh thyme.
We seriously can’t get over how good this recipe is! It is truly the ultimate comfort food!
Healthy Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 people 1x
Description
This healthy homemade hamburger helper takes us back to our childhood in the 90s. We made a healthy version of our favorite comfort food, and we think it tastes even better than the boxed version.
Ingredients
- 1 lb grass-fed beef
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 1/2 cups bone broth
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 2 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 box banza chickpea pasta
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven or pot, cook ground beef over medium high heat. Once the meat is cooked though, remove from pot and set aside for later.
- Leaving the grease on the bottom of the pan add the chopped onion over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes or until slightly translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add flour to the pot and stir. Allow this to sit for about 30 seconds and then add the beef broth. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Pour in the chickpea pasta, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Stir all the ingredients once and then cover the pot with a lid. Cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until the pasta is cooked.
- Remove the lid from the pot and stir in the almond milk, cheddar cheese and cooked ground beef. Cook for 3 more minutes to reheat the meat.
- Top with fresh thyme and salt and pepper for taste! Enjoy hot!
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: dinner, Lunch, Main Course
- Cuisine: American
This post is all about healthy homemade hamburger helper.
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