DIY Taco Hamburger Helper

I stopped buying Hamburger Helper about a year ago. I used to think it was a really cheap meal. At least I thought so until I did an analysis of what I was getting. I could get a box of Hamburger Helper for about $.75 on sale and with a coupon. That seems great except I could buy a whole box of pasta for about the same price. I almost always add onions, corn and cheese to the box mix, and you already have to add meat, so there's no cost difference there either. So what was I really paying for with those boxes? Noodles, salt and spices. Yeah. I don't think so.

For the past year, I had every intention of making a non-boxed version of Hamburger Helper, but I just never seemed to get around to it. Then I saw the recipe for Taco Pasta from Plain Chicken. This was exactly what I was looking for!

I added fire roasted tomatoes and corn to the original recipe. I only had picante which is more liquid than veggies. I thought the fire roasted tomatoes would help balance out the picante, plus add some yummy fire roasted flavors. I added corn because, well, we like corn. I didn't have any cream cheese at the time so I just omitted it and added a bit more sour cream and grated cheese instead. I'm sure this made the dish less creamy, but no one seemed to care. It was still delicious.

Now, some people buy Hamburger Helper as a quick way to make a meal.  I didn't think this took any more or less time than the boxed version.  I was already chopping up garlic and onions for the boxed version though.  Some of those boxes take about 25 minutes to cook, and that's not including browning the meat. 

With the from scratch version, the onions get chopped and cooked along with the meat while the pasta is cooking.  By the time the noodles come to a boil, the meat is cooked and all the other ingredients have been added. At this point in the recipe, all that needs to be done is to add the noodles, and dinner is ready.  With the box, after you brown the meat, all the noodles and junk get added and you've gotta wait for it to cook.  Your time saving pre-packaged  Hamburger Helper actually takes longer! 

I will admit that this recipe does use an extra pan.  So there is a tiny bit more to clean up.  I have an old beat up pot that I use to boil noodles.  It is also dishwasher safe, so I do have that going for me.  However, I do have to wash the pan I use to cook the meat by hand.  If that is the case for you as well,  you've already got that dish water going, what is one more pot to clean? Pans used to boil noodles are always super easy to clean.  They maybe take 30 seconds, if that. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to put up with that additional 30 seconds of cleaning time to save 15-25 min of cooking time when I'm in a hurry.

One final thing.  This recipe, in addition to being faster and cheaper, makes more food.  This recipe fed the three of us for 2 whole meals, with a tiny half portion left over.  A box of Hamburger Helper feeds the three of us for 1 meal with a tiny half portion left over.


DIY Taco Hamburger Helper
1 pound ground beef
8 ounce small dry pasta shapes
2 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup salsa
1 can fire roasted tomatoes (optional)
1 can, drained or a heaping cup of frozen corn (optional)
3 T taco seasoning (or 1 package of taco seasoning)
heaping 1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded Cheese for topping

Cook noodles. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set aside. Cook ground meat and onion.  Drain fat.  Add garlic. Cook 30 seconds.  Mix in the salsa, tomatoes, corn and taco seasoning. Simmer over med heat for 5 min. Stir in pasta, sour cream and reserved pasta water. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Top with shredded cheese and more sour cream and salsa if desired.   I added some black olives to my portion because we had an open can in the fridge that needed to be used up.  Feel free to add any other taco toppings to your portion.