How many of y’all have tried to make Homemade Hamburger Helper before? This Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet is my version of that favorite childhood dinner!
I haven’t bought it in a while but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying this comforting cheesy pasta and beef! We just make our own! This Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet is one of the newest recipes that I’ve added to my growing “Collection of Skillet Recipes” haha.
Skillet pasta recipes are heaven and this is the perfect cast iron skillet recipe.
Everything is better in a cast iron skillet right? But don’t worry, if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, any large skillet will work for this.
Oh and guess what. This Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet Homemade Hamburger Helper is totally a one pot or one skillet meal.
That’s right! You’re cooking everything in the same skillet! No need to dirty up a bunch of dishes for this meal.
You don’t even have to boil the pasta in another pot.
What? The Pasta cooks right in the skillet? It sure does.
I’ve been on the search for more easy skillet recipes like this and this one is perfect.
I just don’t have a lot of time to fix meals during the week. I feel like I’m at work all day, the evenings are packed with blog work while I’m squeezing in time for dinner and Thomas while I’m also getting pulled in 100 different directions.
I wish I could clone myself!
Speaking of places we’re going and things we’re going, we’ve got a packed couple of days coming up.
I’ve got a date with my future sister in law and the Farmers’ Market, my niece’s birthday party and my dad’s birthday celebration.
We’re going to be running around like crazy. But it’s going to be awesome.
Then at the beginning of next week we’re going back down to look at the apartments downtown and take some measurements. Don’t worry, we’re still planning on heading to Wilmington, but we’ve got to find somewhere to live between now and then.
The apartments downtown are awesome and I’m actually kinda excited about them! Fingers Crossed!!
Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet – Homemade Hamburger Helper
Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet - Homemade Hamburger Helper
How many of y'all have tried to make Homemade Hamburger Helper before? This Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet is my version of that favorite childhood dinner!
Ingredients
- 16 oz ground beef, 85% lean 15% fat
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic (or 2 cloves of garlic, minced)
- 1/2 tablespoon no salt seasoning salt (I use 7th Wonder, Salt Free Seasoning)
- 4 cups beef broth (or chicken broth)
- 16 ounces elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 1 cup milk
- 4 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese (or your favorite kind)
- *Garnished with fresh parsley in the photos*
Instructions
In a large skillet, season the beef with the garlic and seasoning salt, then brown the ground beef.
Once the beef is cooked, drain the excess grease.
Add in the beef broth and bring to a simmer. Add in the macaroni and stir. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender.
Add in the milk and stir. Add in the cheese and stir until melted.
Serve hot.
Going to make this recipe? Take a photo and hashtag it with #bigbearswife. I can’t wait to see it!
More Skillet Recipe Ideas……
Alison says
I’m not sure that I ever had Hamburger Helper, but I do make something very similar to this and I looooove it! haha I’ll have to give your version a try now too! 🙂
The Food Hunter says
I actually never had it growing up…funny. it looks good
Heather | girlichef.com says
Oh my gosh, this looks awesome! I totally grew up with Hamburger Helper, so this really sounds like something I have to make for the fam.
savoryexperiments says
I love that you use colby jack, I usually use a sharp cheddar, trying it you way next time!
Stephanie says
I have a ton of leftover macaroni and cheese from a family party. Could this recipe be modified to use leftover Mac and cheese? (It’s homemade with just noodles, velveeta and a little milk). Any suggestions?
Angie says
I haven’t tried making it with left over mac and cheese BUT if I were going to, I would cook the beef with the seasonings, Drain the grease. Add in the mac and cheese, a splash of milk and stir well. I would heat until hot and try it to see if it needs any seasoning.
Nina says
So this might sound crazy you say it’s made in 1 pot which it never did say if your supposed to drain the broth.
Angie says
Hey Nina, You don’t drain the broth out. The pasta cooks in the broth and then the both helps make the cheese sauce.
Emily Turk says
Made this today and it’s delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Angie says
YAY!! I’m so glad that you liked it!
Michelle says
I am making this as we speak. This looked very good so I thought I would try it. It looked very simple and I had all the ingredients. I used ground turkey instead of beef because that’s the meat that I had;which probably doesn’t make too much of a difference lol. I grew up eating hamburger helper,so I always look for recipes on pinterest that I can make from scratch. 🙂 Thank you for sharing it smells really good!mmmm.
Angie says
YAY! I hope that it tastes as good as it smells! <3
Michele says
Just made the cheeseburger skillet, it’s delicious!!!
Thanks,
Michele
Angie says
YAY! I’m so glad that you liked it!!
Andrea lawson says
Could I use a regular skillet rather than a cast iron skillet?
Angie says
Sure can! 🙂
Jen says
Mine isn’t quite the same color as yours. There’s no tomato anything in there??
Angie says
What color is yours??? I’m 100% positive that I don’t put tomato in mine.
Christina says
Could I do this in a pot instead of a skillet? I don’t have a skillet.
Angie says
Hey Christina! I’ve never made it on a pot but I’m sure it would be fine! (as long as it’s a pretty big pot) 🙂
Alex says
Angie…. Dude….??
Lindsey says
I swapped out 1 cup of water for 1 cup of tomato basil pasta sauce. So good!
Erika says
Making it now!!! Kids are outside building a castle in the snow! Smells delish…Hope they built up an appetite ?
Angie says
YAY!! I hope that y’all love it!
Sharlene says
Added diced peppers and onions. Very good!
Angie says
YAY! Glad you liked it!
Kathy Fuller says
Delicious and so easy! I added peppers and onions too. I might put a drained can of tomatoes in next time. Great recipe!
Caroline says
This recipe is delicious! I used to love the boxed stuff as a kid, but this is so much better. My hubby even enjoys it. Could you please make the lasagna kind…that was my other favorite hamburger helper flavor as a kid! ?
Angie says
ooo I’ll have to work on a recipe for that! So glad you like this one!
Judy says
I used to love the cheeseburger macaroni hamburger helper and I am sure your version is so much better! I am going to take another reader’s suggestion and add a can of drained diced tomatoes as well.
Angie says
Hope that you love it!
Sue Lau says
Looks just like the stuff I loved as a kid! (and I may not have grown up just yet so this looks like a plan!)
Sheree says
This is so easy and yummy! I made it with pepper jack cheese and gluten free pasta and it came out perfect! This was as easy dish to transition to gluten free! My teenage boys asked for it again ????
Shannon says
Made this for the first time tonight!???? it tasted so yummy. I grilled the garlic with sweet onion in butter first. I absolutely will add this to my monthly making meals. Thank you for sharing!
Sara says
I decided to make this recipe because I was looking for something different and I had all the ingredients. My kids both said how good it smelled while I was making it. My family devoured it. Like nothing left at all! This is a keeper and will be one we make regularly for workdays.
Angie says
I’m so glad that y’all liked it!!
Nicole says
Can I use velveeta cheese?
Angie says
I haven’t used Velveeta cheese with it but if I did I would leave out the 1 cup milk and 4 cups shredded cheese.
Regina says
How can you double the recipe?
Angie says
Hi Regina,
Just double the ingredients 🙂 You’ll probably need to simmer a little longer with the extra amounts.
Nicole says
My daughter made this last night and I tried some. I loved it so much that I’m making it at my house tonight.
Angie says
I’m so glad to hear that!!
Cindy says
Very Good! I made this for dinner this evening! I added a generous amount of black pepper because we like the flavor of extra pepper. Definitely will be a repeat meal! Thank you for sharing!
Liz says
I absolutely love this! Quick,tasty and filling!
I’ve made it exactly as written and added my own touches to it.
We had to give up red meat so now I make it with ground turkey and you can’t tell the difference. I also add some onions,Worcestershire sauce and/or mustard. Instead of garnishing with parsley I stir in some dried or fresh dill for a real cheeseburger taste! I suppose chopped pickles or relish would also work well.
Thanks so much for a great recipe!
Amber says
I made this tonight and mine definitely is a lighter color than yours as another poster has stated. It was a little blah to me so I’ll have to figure out some enhancements to add a little more flavor. ????
Lori says
I made the hamburger helper tonight. Only had marble cheddar so used that instead. Turned out very tasty. Lots of flavour. Will make again. I took a picture but no where to post it.
Angie says
I’m so glad that you liked it!!! You can post a photo on our Facebook if you’d like! https://www.facebook.com/bigbearswifeblog
Sandy says
This recipe is super easy, fast, and delicious! I did not have any colby jack, so I used monterey jack, cheddar and a Mexican cheese blend and it was yummy, so just use any cheese you have on hand and it will work. Thanks for the recipe!
Charlene Cope says
#BIGBEARWIFE I made this tonight and it was sooo good. I didn’t realize I follow the person that made this on facebook ❤️
Angie says
Hi Carlene! I’m so glad you liked it and I’m so glad you found me here and on Facebook!
Hayley says
Sooooo delicious! Made it exactly as listed with the addition of 1 Tbs tomato paste and chicken broth. Will def be making over and over…
Emily says
Mine looks nothing like yours and all I taste is cheese. Very bland. And I used the cheese you said it looks nothing like yours. I followed your recipe so I’m disappointed
Angie says
Hi Emily! Sorry that you didn’t like it. What did yours look like? I used the recipe as written to make the one I took photos of for the post.
Shelley says
Looks good. You mentioned your growing collection of skillet recipes. I would be interested in seeing all of those. You should add a subsection just for skillet meals so that they are easy to find.
Angie says
Hi Shelley! That is a great idea! I’ll see if I can pull something together soon.