The Secret to Making Hamburger Helper Healthier (Without Losing the Comfort!)
Plus, try a delicious homemade version that’s ready in 30 minutes or less
Pasta, meat and savory spices—what’s not to love? Hamburger Helper, the boxed meal kit we all remember from childhood, is the ultimate marriage of convenience and comfort food. And while it never really went away, it’s making a major comeback: sales are up almost 15 percent this year. No surprise there—after all, it’s as time-saving as it is affordable. But is it possible to make Hamburger Helper healthy and, dare we dream, even waistline-friendly? Absolutely. We asked top nutrition mavens to share a few simple ways to whip up a healthier version without sacrificing any of the ease or flavor that made it a classic.
What makes Hamburger Helper so popular?
There are plenty of reasons the meal kit—which comes with dried pasta or rice and a seasoning packet to which you add meat—is flying off shelves, says Functional Health Coach Missy Chase Lapine, co-founder of Heal Thru Food wellness community. “Everyone is looking for a fast, simple way to get more protein,” she explains. “And Hamburger Helper checks all the boxes: cost-effective, time-efficient and protein-packed.”
That said, there’s often a tradeoff for convenience. “Though it’s a bit ‘cleaner’ than some other prepackaged foods—for example, they replaced monosodium glutamate [MSG], which can cause bloating and headaches, with other natural flavors like beef extract—Hamburger Helper is still considered an ultra-processed food,” she adds.
Woman's World Answers
3 easy ways to make Hamburger Helper healthy
“The biggest trouble lies in the seasoning packet, largely due to its high sodium content and flavor enhancers,” says Lapine. Here, she suggests a couple of easy (and flavorful!) swaps that help make Hamburger Helper healthier:
Nutritional yeast
No need to start from scratch to give the mix a healthy upgrade, Lapine promises. “Just replace about ⅓ to ½ of the seasoning mix with 2 Tbs. of nutritional yeast. It’s fortified with B vitamins, and it’s a nice source of plant-based protein.” In fact, she says there are five grams of protein in 2 Tbs. of nutritional yeast.
The best part: “Nutritional yeast will match the umami flavor [rich, meaty taste] that many of the flavor enhancers in that seasoning packet are aiming for.”
Tomato paste
The magic ingredient in so many of the healthy purees Lapine is famous for comes to the rescue again: “Tomato paste is a very simple, inexpensive way to add flavor to Hamburger Helper,” she says. “In one of the tests I did, using about ¼ cup of tomato paste and replacing ⅓ to a ½ of the seasoning packet with nutritional yeast, I reduced the sodium by up to 30 percent.”
Low-fat milk + olive oil
The traditional Hamburger Helper mix calls for adding water, milk and butter—along with the sauce packet—to the browned meat. “To keep the saturated fat content lower, opt for a low-fat milk,” adds dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDCES, CPT, author of 2-Day Diabetes Diet: Diet Just 2 Days a Week and Dodge Type 2 Diabetes. “You can also substitute olive oil for butter to further cut down on saturated fat.”
Make Hamburger Helper with half the fat: 3 swaps
An easy way to reduce the fat and sodium in the hamburger part of Hamburger Helper is by subbing in lean ground turkey for about half of the beef—a quick, healthy swap. But Lapine knows you already know that. “That’s a snore,” she says with a laugh, before adding a few more innovative and healthy alternatives to swap in for up to half the beef:
Frozen cauliflower rice
The best part of this healthy add-in is that all the work is already done. “It’s washed, chopped and ready for you to toss in,” says Lapine. “Not only is it rich in fiber and choline, it can also make up for some of the bulk lost when you use about half as much beef.”
Frozen mushrooms
“Since you’re only using half the beef called for, you’ll want to stretch that half pound so you still get the same number of servings and can feed the whole family without feeling like you’re eating less,” says Lapine, noting that her favorite way to accomplish this is with frozen mushrooms.
“They really mimic the meaty beef flavor and blend in beautifully,” she says, adding that you can also use fresh mushrooms, but chopping and dicing can be time-consuming.
Pre-cooked lentils
In one healthy Hamburger Helper “experiment” Lapine conducted, she was able to triple the fiber content just by swapping half the meat for plant-based ingredients like pre-cooked lentils. “They’re packed with protein,” she says. “You can find them in the refrigerator aisle of most supermarkets—just crack open the package and toss them right in. Plus, the brown color looks beautiful with the meat and blends right in.”
Another easy way to boost protein without adding saturated fat or sodium? “If the recipe calls for water or milk, try using a low-sodium bone broth instead,” she suggests. “Regular broth is mostly sodium and barely any protein—maybe two grams per cup—but bone broth contains 8 to 10 grams of protein per cup.”
Just one healthy Hamburger Helper ‘hack’ makes a big difference
No need to make all the changes Lapine recommends—small tweaks can lead to big rewards. “In one test I did, we reduced saturated fat by 55 percent and sodium by 34 percent, while fiber increased by 200 percent and the protein content was comparable to the original Hamburger Helper,” she says of the healthy tweaks.
Homemade Hamburger Helper recipe
If you’d rather skip the box altogether and whip up your own healthy “Hamburger Helper,” Palinski-Wade has you covered with this budget-friendly and nutrient-dense DIY recipe. The best part? It’s ready in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. whole grain or chickpea pasta, shells or elbows
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 cup chopped vegetables of your choice (such as onions, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, etc.)
- ½ lb. 90 percent lean ground beef
- 1 cup cooked black beans, mashed
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese, part-skim
Instructions:
- Prepare pasta in a separate pot. While pasta boils, add olive oil to a skillet over medium heat; add chopped veggies and cook until tender (around 5 minutes).
- Add ground beef, breaking apart and browning. Mix in black beans and garlic.
- Once the beef is browned, add in tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
- Add in pasta, mix well and sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Serve warm and enjoy.
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