BEST Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni
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This homemade cheeseburger macaroni recipe is made with whole, clean ingredients, tastes better than the boxed stuff and is ready in 20 minutes! It’s both a family favorite and a favorite among our readers. We’re confident you’ll love it as much as we do!
Sometimes it’s those simple comforts that hit the spot best.
I grew up in health-conscious home where things like Hamburger Helper were only served on very rare occasions. And I’m grateful for a mom who took the time to cook healthy, wholesome meals for her family. I now do the same. But on those rare occasions we certainly enjoyed those quick, less-than-healthy meals. Let’s face it, they taste pretty good. I specifically recollect those moments of eating Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni and Tuna Casserole. Probably because it was so infrequent.
So here is a version of it you can eat and enjoy without any worry about of the nasty ingredients that typically accompany pre-prepared foods.
Like this ingredient list below from Hamburger Helper’s Cheeseburger Macaroni – you don’t have to worry about any of those items I’ve emphasized in bold:
“Enriched Macaroni (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Corn Starch, Salt, Enriched Flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Sugar, Ricotta Cheese* (whey, milkfat, lactic acid, salt), Tomato*, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Paprika, Spice, Color (yellow lakes 5 & 6, yellows 5 & 6), Mono and Diglycerides, Cheddar Cheese* (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), Yeast Extract, Enzyme Modified Blue Cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), Cream, Whey, Enzyme Modified Cheddar Cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), Butter Oil, Nonfat Milk, Blue Cheese* (milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes), Sodium Caseinate, Silicon Dioxide (anticaking agent), Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Calcium Caseinate, Enzymes.*Dried”
Now compare that with our ingredient list:
“Macaroni, beef, onions, tomatoes, avocado oil, spices, sugar, flour, milk, beef broth, cheddar cheese”
And that’s including the out-of-box ingredients of beef, milk and broth.
With a clean list of ingredients you can feel good about what you’re feeding your family. Our kids love this cheeseburger macaroni and I don’t have to worry about what’s in it.
Ready for the table in 20 minutes, there simply is NO good reason to every buy the packaged stuff again!
Cheeseburger Macaroni Recipe
Let’s get started!
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef until no pink remains.
Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and add the seasonings and flour.
Add the milk and beef broth and stir.
Stir in the macaroni.
Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low.
Cover and simmer 10-12 minutes or until the macaroni is done. I prefer mine a little al dente and check after 9 minutes.
Add the cheese.
Stir until the cheese is melted.
For serving you can garnish it with a little chopped fresh parsley if you like.
Enjoy!
For a fun and tasty variation for autumn, try our Pumpkin Mac and Cheese!
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BEST Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 small onion , finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour (Gluten Free: dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in the beef broth)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 3/4 cup quality beef broth
- 2 cups dried whole wheat elbow macaroni pasta
- (Gluten Free: Use GF Macaroni)
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef until no pink remains. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, seasonings and flour. Pour in the milk and broth and stir. Stir in the macaroni. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the macaroni is done. For al dente check after 9 minutes. Stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted.Serve immediately garnished with some chopped fresh parsley if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet February 19, 2016
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Pretty good. I could have done without the sugar I think. It was a little curdled. My husband loved it!
Thanks, Rachel!
I have made this recipe twice and it’s delicious. However, both times, I have found that I need to add about a cup of water toward the end to get the macaroni to cook all the way. The first time, I even went back to see if I had missed some liquid component of the recipe.
Hi Jaime, I’m not sure why that would be. Are you using whole wheat or some other kind of pasta? That may need more liquid.
No… regular white elbow macaroni
Hmmm, yeah, I’m not sure what went wrong then.
I have an induction cooktop and I have found that water boils very fast in the pot. This is because the entire pot heats up not just the bottom. If you are using induction and/or good quality cookware you may find that you will need to add a bit more liquid to your recipes to compensate for the more aggressive heating.
It’s likely the pot used letting out too much steam or your stove doesnt maintain temp accurately. Took me a long time to figure this out but I used to have the same problem with the boxed pasta dishes. New stove and better cookware fixed it.
I’m really excited to try this. I was mad at myself today because I forgot to get a box of it at the store and now I found this! I’ll be trying it this weekend and I’ll report back the results!
Awesome, Scott, I’m looking forward to hear what you think – happy cooking!
It was really good!!! Thank you!!!!
Fantastic, Scott, thank you!
It was chilly, a couple days ago, so I made your recipe. The only thing I did, was to add some Worcestershire sauce. Wow! This was super duper easy to make, and my husband loved it. It brought back childhood memories for both of us. It was even better, then next day, as my work lunch. Thank you for such a great recipe.
I’m so sorry for the delayed response, your comment somehow ended up in spam. I’m thrilled that you both enjoyed this, thanks you!
I started making homemade hamburger helper a while ago and I will never go back! I love your recipe! I added diced red and yellow peppers, some smoked paprika, and cumin. I also omitted the sugar. It was so delicious and provides so much more food than the box. Thanks for the great recipe!
Fantastic, Meagan, thank you!
Had to thank you as I make this at least once a month. The recipe doubles very well to feed my five growing boys and my hamburger helper loving husband. It’s fast and easy to make which helps this busy mom out a lot. I try to always have these staples on hand so I can whip this up on nights that are hectic. The meal goes a long way for the cost. That it is healthier as well is icing on the cake!
Fantastic, Sara! I’m happy to hear this has become a family favorite, thanks so much for the feedback!
Thanks so much for a great home made recipe of a childhood favorite! We’ve made a few small changes and it was oh so tasty and very filling! We didn’t have avocado oil and omitted oil entirely (we never brown our ground beef with oil as it always produces enough while cooking). I always like to add more veggies in a recipe wherever I can so we added some finely chopped celery and yellow pepper to the meat at the same time as the onion, and also added some baby spinach that we had left in the fridge when it was time to add the cheese (we used old cheddar). Our onion powder was beyond expired so we simply didn’t add any but just used a larger fresh onion instead.
Love the flavours of the seasoning, and loved that we were able to control the salt and sugar in this recipe (as opposed to the boxed Hamburger Helper). Thanks again! This is now bookmarked in our favorites! :)
Wonderful, Valerie, thanks so much for the feedback!
I made this:) it was great. The seasoning blend was perfect. I’ve never had hamburger helper but so I can’t compare however, this is a great comfort food that kids will like. I didn’t have a whole pound of ground beef so I used half crimini mushrooms put through a processor. I omitted the sugar and a tablespoon flour and it was still great and flavorful. I also used a cup of mozzarella and a cup cheddar. Just because that’s what I had. With the variations it was awesome so you can still make this without having to run to the store for certain ingredients
That’s awesome, Lisa, thanks so much for the feedback! Agreed, this recipe is very conducive to substitutions and the ground mushrooms were a nice call.