Episode 1

One of my goals for the year is to get back into cooking, and what better way to hold myself accountable and try new recipes than to share them with you, and this homemade hamburger helper is the perfect way to start. I’ve gone through the craziest stages with cooking. From I only make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup to only frozen or prepackaged foods to spending all day on Sunday meal prepping and following the Clean Eating guides to eating a lot of take out to turkey sandwiches…..Once the twins were born, it was straight survival mode – pizza, fast food, leftovers, or just whatever I could get my hands on. Then, at the beginning of 2019, I got into healthy eating, which meant I ate pretty much the same things over and over and over again. I’m not knocking it because they were good, easy, and quick meals that I always keep in my arsenal of recipes.

When I came across this homemade hamburger helper recipe a few weeks ago, I knew this was going to be my first recipe to prepare for the year and to share with you. I got the GreenPan fry pan for Christmas and prepared this entire dish in it. If you ever ate Hamburger Helper as a kid, think of this as the grown up version. Bacon, ground beef, cheese, hot sauce – OMG it’s delicious!

As a side note, there is a lot of time in between the steps – 20 minutes here, 9 minutes there, 15 minutes here and so on. You do not have to sit and babysit this while it is cooking. I did things like fold clothes, work in my calendar, run in the garage and do a quick clean of the inside of my car, etc.

This was the PERFECT recipe to start off the year with. One more piece of advice would be to limit the amount of hot sauce if you are giving this to children. The twins are not eating this with me, so I used 1/4 cup of Frank’s hot sauce. You can modify it to meet your hotness needs.

This recipe comes from Mark Rosati, the culinary director of Shake Shack.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 strips uncooked smoked bacon, finely chopped (turkey bacon is a good substitute)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock or water
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s)
• 2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika
• 1 bay leaf (I skipped this….)
• 8 ounces elbow pasta
• 5 slices American cheese, torn into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped chives

Preparation

1. Heat a large (12-inch) sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat, and add oil and onion; season lightly with salt and pepper. (The hot sauce added in Step 6 will add a lot of flavor, so be careful not to overseason here.) Let cook until the onions turn light beige in color and begin to caramelize, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant and starting to brown ever so slightly, about 2 minutes.
3. Increase heat to medium-high and add bacon and ground beef, using THIS to break up the meat into smaller pieces – I promise, in the world of kitchen gadgets, this one is amazing. Continue to cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the meat starts to sear and develop a crust on the bottom of the pan, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Remove pan from the heat and carefully drain off most of the fat, leaving a little in the pan to keep the meat moist.
5. Return pan to the medium-high heat and add white wine, allowing it to reduce until the mixture is almost dry, about 10 minutes. My tip: if you are using a nonstick skillet, I think you can skip this step. The wine is for deglazing the pan, and if you are using a nonstick like the one I shared above, there won’t be anything to deglaze because it’s already not sticking.
6. Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, hot sauce, paprika and bay leaf to the pan. Mix until combined and bring to a boil over medium-high.
7. Once the mixture is boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente, stirring often, about 9 minutes.
8. Reduce the heat to low and stir in both types of cheese, stirring until completely melted and sauce is thickened.
9. Remove the pan from heat, stir in chives and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Leave a comment below if you try this! It’s so so so good!

Cheers – MP