Create your own easy homemade hamburger help mix to have on hand for fast, last-minute dinners. Here’s how we use this one simple homemade copycat Hamburg help seasoning mix recipe to create four delicious, mouth-watering meals in minutes.
If you really want to save time, you can use this make ahead freezer beef mixture. We generally purchase ten to twenty pounds of ground beef or turkey and create packages of cooked meat in the freezer so we can whip up a quick meal during the busy weeknights when our schedules are crazy busy.
If you spread the meat thinly and evenly in the freezer bag they thaw really fast.
Homemade Hamburger Help Basic Mix
You’ll Need:
2 cups nonfat dry milk
1 cup corn starch
1/4 cup beef bouillon powder
2 T onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1Â teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 T dried parsley
1 T garlic powder
Measure all ingredients into a Ziploc Bag. Shake well, transfer to vacuum seal bag, seal and store up to a year. This can also be stored in a mason jar or any other closed container, but if it’s not airtight it should be used within a month.
To use, see recipes below, each recipe calls for 1/2 c. of mix – this refers to the Hamburger Help Mix listed Above.
Here are several meal ideas using the mix
Chili Mac:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned and drained
1 C. water
1/2 C. macaroni noodles (uncooked)
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 T. chili powder
1/2 C. mix
In a large skillet brown the ground meat, drain any excess grease, then add the remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes or until macaroni is cooked.
Stroganoff:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned and drained
2 C. water
1/2 C. mix
2 C. uncooked egg noodles
1/2 C. sour cream
In a large skillet brown the ground meat, drain any excess grease, then add the remaining ingredients except sour cream. Simmer 20 minutes or until noodles are tender. Stir in sour cream and serve.
(Alternatively, here’s how I prefer to make mine- Heat a Large skillet over medium heat, place ground meat in a pan to brown, when halfway cooked add 1/2 a small onion diced, 1/2 c diced bell pepper (red or green or both) until meat is no longer pink. Add Water & Mix, whisk to combine and break up any chunks. Add noodles. Cover & cook 15-20 minutes or until noodles are tender, Stir in Sour cream & Serve)
Potato Beef Casserole:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned and drained
3/4 C. water
6 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 C. frozen mixed veggies
1/2 C. mix
In a large skillet brown the ground meat, drain any excess grease, then add the remaining ingredients and simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and cook until excess water is evaporated.
Quick Lasagna:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned and drained
1/2 C. mix
1 onion, chopped
2 C. water
16 oz. tomato sauce
3 C. lasagna noodles, uncooked, broken in bits
1/4 C. parmesan cheese
2 C. mozzarella cheese, shredded
In a large skillet brown the ground meat, drain any excess grease, then add the remaining ingredients except mozzarella. Bring to a boil, let simmer for 15 minutes or until noodles are cooked. Top with mozzarella. Turn off the heat and allow the cheese to completely melt.
how much do you use per meal or per lb ?
I took a short cut and and the package of cillie powder
I tried the mix tonight , was good, but I added a little bit extra I like it spicey
Carolyn, use 1/2 c. of the mix per pound. thanks for letting us know that the recipes for use weren’t linked to the helper, we’ve fixed them to show! :bee:
thank you. made this last night and the family loved it. hard to tell the different between the myo and store brought.
just made the potato beef casserole, very tasty, but i did have to make some adjustments. 1 cup of frozen veggies was not nearly enough, maybe if it was peas and carrotts, it would have been, but I used stir fry mix, and they had big chunks of vegetables, so I used 3 cups, six potatoes would have been way too much, I wound up using only 2, and that was more than enough, and it needed 1 and 1/2 cups of water, starting sticking immediately with just the 3/4 cup.
i noticed the recipe does not add any salt except what is in the bouillon. this is good i think as the regular packaged hamburger helper has way more than a person needs in one meal. am i right on this?
i don’t have a vacuum freezer bag thing. could i freeze this mix to keep it fresh? maybe in serving size bags.
:money1:
I think all the mix ingredients are shelf-stable. You could probably store it at room temp, fridge, or freezer. (I keep my spice blends at room temp.) I have kept dry ingredients in the freezer; coffee grounds for over a year & cornmeal breading for a few days.(the cornmeal was only in the freezer because it had come into contact with raw fish, & I wanted to use the leftover cornmeal breading in meatballs a few nights later 🙂 )
However you store it, check for freshness & clumping before you use it. it should be fine
So could you store the mix in a mason jar?
i can’t wait to try this!
Can’t wait to try this.
would the basic mix be like the store bought beef pasta flavor? that’s our favorite and would love to make it from scratch.
Awesome! That will help with my picky eater!!!!
I made this mix and tried it with the Chili Mac variation. My family loved it. No vacuum bags here, storing my mix in a mason jar for now.
I will probably keep it in the freezer, if the mix lasts long enough. My family is already asking me to add it our rotation. Thanks for sharing!
This mix should be fine to store in any sort of airtight container for a pretty long time. The only thing I would have any sort of concern over would be the dried milk. Honestly, though, I would say it would be fine for several months at least. I’m planning on making the mix and leaving it in snack size ziplocs, 1/2 cup each to match the recipe.
🙂 One less thing to measure later! Keeping 3 or 4 bags of it around would make it quick in a pinch, but it’s not so much I’ll worry about it being forgotten about. Our pantry has some deep, dark corners where things hide, ha ha.