You asked for my best hamburger recipe, and this is it! It’s lightening fast, can be on the table in minutes, and pleases even the pickiest palettes. Think of it as a homemade Hamburger Helper recipe, except it’s even yummier. I hope you love it! My family sure does.
It goes on the table in less than 30 minutes, start to finish. I double the recipe, since we’re a family of 6 with teens and big appetites, and it makes a HUGE pan and leaves me some lunch leftovers.
I like to serve it with a side salad, or raw veggies with ranch dip for a well rounded meal.
Trim Healthy Mama Tips
Another reason this is the best hamburger recipe, is that it can easily be made low carb, so it works on plan with the Trim Healthy Mama plan as an S recipe if you use Dreamfields pasta. Or you can make it with gluten free pasta if necessary- most gluten free pastas are not Trim Healthy Mama friendly, but you can use (Amazon affiliate links) black bean pasta or quinoa pastas to keep it on plan as a crossover.
This is also really easy to crossover for kids or people who don’t need to lose weight. Simply add some fruit or some garlic toast for those who need to gain or maintain.
Best Hamburger Recipe- EVEN Faster!
Some of you have asked for SUPER fast, easy recipes. For those busy nights where you’re running to soccer practice, or coming home late from work. Here are my best tips for making this recipe even faster.
- Pre-mix 4-5 extra batches of spices into little snack sized baggies when you make this the first time. Label the bags, and stash them in the pantry for the future.
- Pre-brown and drain ground beef, and spread out on a cookie sheet and freeze. Crumble frozen ground beef and freeze in a bag- this can be used in any type of recipe calling for ground beef: tacos, chili, hamburger beef soup, cheeseburger quesadillas, and even this delicious Cheeseburger Helper recipe. You can brown up several pounds of ground beef on a slower day, and freeze several pounds at once to use for later.
- Menu plan (like this!) So you know exactly what to take out to thaw ahead for every meal.
Following these quick steps can get this on the table in less than 15 minutes!
The Best Hamburger Recipe: Skillet Cheeseburger Helper Printable & Pin
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- spice packet (see below)
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 cup plain, unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup half & half (or sub with additional almond milk- but this is creamier)
- 4 oz. or 1½ cups pasta- Dreamfields keeps you low carb or THM compiant, but any pasta may be used in this recipe
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, plus more cheese for topping (topping is optional)
- 2½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, optional
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon glucomannan thickener or xanthan gum
- Brown ground beef in a skillet or dutch oven that has a lid.
- While beef is browning, mix together your spices. (This is a great time to go ahead and measure out a few extra snack sized baggies for the future!)
- When the beef is starting to get a deep brown and smell amazing, add in the spices, hot water, almond milk, and half & half.
- Stir, and bring to a simmer.
- Add pasta to the pot and stir. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 7-8 minutes.
- Remove lid & add cheese. Check pasta for doneness. If it's done, simply allow the cheese to melt into the sauce. If your pasta has a few more minutes, return the lid and simmer until the pasta is tender.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes, and serve.
Use Dreamfields Pasta to keep this in an S setting, and avoid reheating, as this breaks down the pasta and makes it higher carb.
If you're gluten free, you can use the black bean or quinoa pastas if you're comfortable with those, and consider it a crossover recipe.
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I would like to make it with Troodles instead of pasta. What do you recommend?
Hi Gwen! I’d recommend only using 3/4 to 1 cup of almond milk & 3/4 cups of half & half, and simmering until a nice consistency. Then add your troodles last and let them flash cook in the sauce so they don’t get too mushy. Let me know how it turns out!
What type meal would this beer if you used brown rice instead of pasta.
It would be a crossover if you used the half and half and cheese with brown rice. You’d also want to adjust the cooking time and amount of liquid for the rice.
If you wanted to bring it into E territory, sub in almond milk for the half and half, plus equal amount of almond milk to the rinsed amount of rice, and omit the cheese. Rinsing the ground beef is a great idea to keep it in E territory.
Hi! I want to make this today but my son is allergic to nuts and I only have heavy cream on hand. How could I adjust to accommodate? Thanks!
I’d use 1 1/2 cups of a nut free milk or water, and 1/2 cup of cream. 🙂
Think zucchini noodles could work??
I haven’t tried it. I’d probably cook the sauce, and then add them last to just get them warmed/barely cooked? Let me know if you try it! 🙂
Just double checking…you put the noodles in raw and the liquids cook them, or do you cook them before hand? Thanks!
Oops…just re-read it and saw to check for doneness, so I am assuming that you put it in uncooked and let the liquids cook it. Thank you!
Yep! They cook in the liquid, which makes them extra yummy! 🙂
Could this work with the lasagna noodles? Layer them uncooked in the lasagna sauce and meat and let the sauce cook them. This way I would avoid cooking and then baking the lasagna which might destroy the low carb matrix.
Possibly! You could definitely try it. 🙂
This was soooo wonderfully delicious! I have total hip replacement surgery coming up in September. I think this would be an easy meal to prepare ahead of time and put in baggies. I could pre-fry the hamburger then add in the rest (or my husband could) 🙂
I have been making something very similar for a few years now… the only thing different is I add just a very tiny hint of sweetness (stevia)…. most “box” mixes have sugar, so it gives it that same flavor. 🙂
Where you call for half and half, could I use heavy whipping cream instead? For instance, 1 and 1/2 cups almond milk and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream? Would it still be an S meal? Was there a particular reason you called for half and half?
You could definitely sub heavy cream. It would for sure be an S. I just had half and half on hand, and it’s less expensive than heavy cream and a little lighter.
Hey Briana!
I know this has nothing to do with the recipe, but I have a question. We have these Organic Tortilla Chips that I THINK are on plan, but I want to double check with you. The ingredients are: Organic Whole Corn, Organic Sunflower oil, Sea Salt, and Lime/Calcium Hydroxide (For processing aid). There is 18 carbs and 7 grams of fat in eleven chips…so it would be a crossover if it is on plan. Your thoughts?
Oh my! I did not mean to post that there! So sorry, but Gwen, if you have any thoughts on that, could you let me know?
I’d consider them a crossover type treat. 🙂 (This falls into what works for you personally, IMO. Even the baked chips on plan have non-ideal oil, and fat grams. I’d be more apt to choose a healthier oil, and just enjoy fewer chips, or call it a crossover)
Thank you!
Have you ever made this without any thickener? Don’t have any on hand and there are no stores around here that would sell xanthan gum. How soupy would this be without it?
I’d try it…I think it will work without the thickener, just dial back a little on the liquid. 🙂
Hi! What do you think of using cauliflower pieces instead of pasta? I tried a stroganoff recipe like that and didn’t miss the pasta at all….
It’s worth a try! 🙂 My kids would revolt, but I think I’d like it.
Thank your for posting this recipe! It was really good. I thought it taste BETTER than Hamburger Helper! Will add this recipe to my collection!
I want to make this tonight but I don’t have any plain yogurt on hand (only peach). IS there something I could use in place of the yogurt?
sour cream. 🙂
I’ve been making this for my family for the past year. My kids love it so much that I’ve chosen this dish to feed our church youth group of 60-70 kids. My plan is to precook meat and put in crock pots and add spices and liquids and cook 4 hours on low. I’m going to pre-cook the pasta and add about 30 minutes before serving so it doesn’t get mushy. Do you think this will work and still have a great end result?
Sounds like it will work great!
I put broccoli in with it killer!!!
Hello! Just wondering if you drain the fat from the ground beef or not? Thanks
Yes! You can rinse in hot water to remove even more fat if you are watching your fat intake.
Gwen, I just read that Dreamfields was taken to court this year for mislabeling their product line. When studies were actually done, it was found that Dreamfields pasta affected the blood sugar just like any other regular pasta. Could spaghetti squash be used in this recipe in place of pasta or would it break down?
Hi Audrey,
I looked into that, and wrote about it in the Facebook group. Do a search and you can read more about it. Bottom line is that Dreamfields (like any other food) affects people differently depending on their body chemistry. If you have concerns, you can do blood testing to see if it’s spiking your blood sugars after eating it. You can always use a pasta alternative, simply add it at the end subtracting the normal cooking time for your pasta sub from the total cooking time of the dish. (For example: if your pasta cooks in 2 minutes, add it 2 minutes before the dish is ready to serve).
The print button isn’t working
Thank you for letting me know! Sometimes the plug in glitches. Try it again…it’s working now on my end. 🙂
Something is wrong with the print option on this recipe, I’ve tried on several devices and it won’t work. I’ve had no problem printing other recipes.
I’m so sorry you’ve run into a glitch with the print feature. It may just be a temporary glitch with the software or WordPress. I’ve tested it and haven’t had an issue on my end. If it persists, please let me know!
Can you use deer/pork? And what about a can of rotel added? Just curious! This looks amazing! Cooking it tonight!
You absolutely can use any meat your family enjoys, and rotel sounds like an inspired add. 🙂
My family LOVES this recipe! Thank you!
So good to hear! I’m so happy that you enjoy it!