Monday Night Recipes: Meal #1

When I was a kid (which feels like so long ago), my mom would often be solo-parenting my sister and I in the evening as my dad often worked the afternoons shift at his job. I often reminisce about those fun little after school routines because even though we didn’t have a lot, we always had a warm and comforting meal on the table (and a lot of Princess Diaries… like we watched it for a year straight).

To this day… one of my favourite meals is Hamburger Helper and over the years, I’ve been working on ways to make everything from scratch to reduce ingesting too much sodium, sugar, or just preservatives in general. So I’ve trial and error-ed this recipe a couple times and made it a couple different ways and I’m happy to say that it’s finally perfected and ready to share with y’all.

So without further adieu, here is my Homemade Hamburger Helper recipe;

Ingredients:

This recipe serves a family of four, so when I make it for my husband and I - we both get lunch the next day.

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil for cooking purposes

• 1 pound of ground turkey or beef (about 500 grams - could also be ground chicken or a faux ground meat)

• 1 medium sized onion, chopped (I find cooking onion works just fine)

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh or dried parsley (save a tad bit for the end so you can sprinkle it on top, makes it look fancier)

• 1-1/2 tablespoons of smoked paprika (smoked vs sweet gives it that smokey flavour which I personally prefer… sometimes I’ll add more in because I love the taste)

• A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional but if you like a bit of a “bite”, feel free to add a bit more than a pinch)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1-1/2 cups of milk (I usually use 1% milk but I’ve also made this with 2% or a combo of 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream)

• 1-1/3 cups of beef broth (or veggie broth)

• 2 cups of dried pasta (I like rotini because the sauce gets stuck in all the little noodle grooves… I also like making this with gluten-free pasta… this is my fav brand here)

• 1/2 jar of tomato/pasta sauce (I like the jars of Classico portabello mushroom sauce or the store-bought roasted garlic sauce, ALSO don’t throw away the rest of the sauce in the jar - freeze it in a Ziploc and use it next time you make this).

• 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (save a bit for the end to sprinkle on top as well)

  **Optional - I sometimes like to throw 1/2 can of diced tomatoes in, it just gives it a bit more flavour. Again, save the other half by freezing it in a Ziploc bag and use next time or for another recipe)

  **Optional - I’ve tossed 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms in as well when I didn’t quite have enough ground meat

This recipe can be made vegetarian very easily by swapping the ground meat out for a faux ground meat and swapping out the beef broth for a vegetable broth.

Instructions:

1. Heat a large skillet (deep enough to cook everything in all at once) with a tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground meat of your choosing, the chopped onion and minced garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne powder, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of parsley and combine together with the meat while cooking. Brown the meat until cooked and if you’re using meat that’s not as lean, drain the grease. If you decided to add in mushrooms to this, you would add them to the pan with everything else.

2. Once the meat is browned and combined with the ingredients above, stir in your milk, broth of choice, dried uncooked pasta and tomato sauce into the same pan. Stir everything together so that the pasta is submerged in the liquid so it can cook properly. If you want to add in that optional diced tomato, add it in with the rest of the ingredients just listed. Reduce to medium heat, you want things simmering but not boiling over. Cook as per the pasta’s instructions and I typically add on an extra 2 minutes to make sure the pasta is “al-dente”.
   Taste testing is encouraged but throwing pasta to the wall to see if it will stick (that indicates it’s cooked) is not encouraged.

3. Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, you will notice the liquid has somewhat evaporated and you’re left with more of a sauce like liquid which is what you want. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in about 1-1/4 cups of your shredded cheese until it’s melted. Let it rest and thicken up (and to be honest, cool off a bit) for about 3 mins and then serve. When serving onto your plates, you will want to sprinkle some remaining cheddar cheese on top and then a bit of the parsley on top of that. Looks nicer when serving.

   I typically serve this with steamed broccoli or a nice fresh salad so I can make sure I’m getting a good amount of veggie in. This recipe makes enough for a hungry family of four combined with the veggie side and reheats the next day perfectly for lunch (only keeps stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 4 days max).

And that’s it.. it’s super easy to make and is really yummy especially on those colder days. I often make this when we’re coming up to our grocery shopping day and we don’t have much else to make OR on a Monday night, so I can make us both a lunch for Tuesday.
It definitely is filling and brings me back to my childhood days but with a new fun “healthier” twist on it.

If you decide to make it, let me know how it is - I would love to hear if you’re a fan of it as well.

Cheers friends and happy cooking!

Markie.