This homemade gluten free hamburger helper tastes even better than the original and uses only real food ingredients! In under 30 minutes, you can have a totally gluten free and dairy free meal the whole family will love! Cheeseburger macaroni at its best!
And if you love using your Instant Pot, I also have a way for you to make Instant Pot Hamburger Helper too!
As a mom, I absolutely ADORE one pot (or skillet) meals! They are convenient and super easy to clean up. And let’s be honest…we could all use a little more easy in our lives….am I right?! Kind of like this family friendly loaded tots recipe!
As a child, I loved all the variations of Hamburger Helper...but today the frightening ingredient list means even withOUT allergies, I would not choose to feed those boxes of processed nastiness to my family.
So to the kitchen to experiment with ingredients I can actually read and know where they came from.
One skillet meals are a super time saver, and in this case, it’s a meal both mom and kids can get excited about!
Hamburger Helper Ingredients and Why You Should Avoid It Too!!
- INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED PASTA (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID),CORN STARCH, MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), HYDROLIZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (SOY, CORN, WHEAT), ONION POWER, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, COLORS (CARAMEL COLOR, YELLOW 5 LAKE, YELLOW 5),PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND COTTONSEED OIL,SPICE, NATURAL FLAVOR,MONOGLYCERIDES,SUGAR, BEEF STOCK, YEAST EXTRACT,DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, SULFITING AGENTS,
I mean, where even to begin with this list of garbage ingredients?!
- The wheat, corn, soy, and sugar ingredients are undoubtedly GMO, meaning plenty of Round Up residue to go with your hamburger. No thanks!
- MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a chemical added to food to ‘enhance’ its flavor. Lots of people have adverse reactions to it….steer clear of things made in a lab!
- Food dyes?!! I am hard pressed to figure out why any sort of additional chemical coloring is necessary in ANY food. Gross.
- Sulfites – another one that acts as a preservative so the food can last for ions on the store shelves. A lot of people have sensitivities to it, PASS.
So how to make this a REAL FOOD meal? Come with me, and I will show you an easy way to make every kiddo happy with a yummy 30 minute dinner!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni Directions
To own an Instant Pot is to love it…at least in my world. I lovingly pack mine on almost every family trip…there are SO many meals I make my family from it! My kalua pork, homemade rice-a-roni chicken, and easy chili are probably the top family favorites.
Even my three kids are versed in all the lingo and pressure cooker sounds to be familiar with!
So I had to see if could tweak this favorite recipe to work in my Instant Pot too!! Success!
- Press ‘sauté’ on Sauté the onion and ground beef until cooked through. Hit ‘cancel’ button to turn off heat.
- Stir in the spices.
- Stir in the tomato paste (if using), Worchestire sauce (if using), and the broth and milk, ensure there are no stuck bits on the bottom of the pot (we don’t want a burn notice!)
- Stir in 12 ounces preferred small noodles. (NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE IN AMOUNT OF NOODLES CALLED FOR IN THE INSTANT POT VERSION).
- Lock on the lid, hit ‘pressure cook’ or ‘manual’ and set time to 5 minutes high pressure. Remember that it will take some time for the liquids inside to heat up and bring it to full pressure before the time starts counting down.
- When the time beeps, hit ‘cancel,’ and do a quick release.
- Remove lid, stir in cheese, and serve!
You may also want to check out a couple other of my gluten free one skillet meals:
- Another boxed favorite recreated: Chili Mac
- A Cajun special, this Jambalaya has rice, shrimp, and sausage all in one skillet!
- One Skillet Lazy Lasagna looks quick and easy!
Serving suggestions:
Since this one skillet meal has the noodles and the protein, serve it up with any favorite veggie side for a balanced meal!
My fresh green beans are delish!
A crunchy cabbage slaw is always quick and easy.
Any green salad, or pick YOUR kid’s favorite!
Gluten Free Hamburger Helper – Homemade & Dairy Free Recipe:
If you try this, I want to know! What did you think? Please leave a comment below and let me know!
Homemade Hamburger Helper - Gluten & Dairy Free
This cheeseburger macaroni will quickly become a family favorite! Ground beef and noodles in a savory, cheesy sauce: comfort food at its best!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste for extra umami = flavor, optional, my husband and I added hot chili sauce as well.
- 1 1/2 cup milk (Use unsweetened; coconut or almond are my favorites.
- 1 1/2 cup beef broth (I use my own homemade beef bone broth for added nutrition benefits
- 2 1/3 cups gluten free noodles I use Trader Joes Brown Rice Spirals, or Tinkiyada.
- 1 cup cheddar cheese I used Daiya Cheddar Shreds
- 1-2 teaspoons gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
-
Preheat a large skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium heat (my cast iron pan is my absolute favorite and what I use 99% of the time for all my stove top cooking!).
-
Add in your ground beef and diced onion, brown.
-
Add in all the spices.
-
Stir in the liquids and noodles.
-
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and turn the heat to low.
-
Simmer about 10-15 minutes until the noodles are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
-
Remove from the heat, vent the lid, and let rest to absorb the remaining liquid for about 5 minutes.
-
Stir in the cheese and Worcestershire, taste, add more salt if necessary, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Instant Pot directions provided in the post above!
Any of the links in my posts may be affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I might make a commission. Your support is much appreciated and pays for the cost of running this free resource!
Hello! Would it turn out ok without the tomato paste? I have a kiddo with a tomato allergy and I’m meal planning for later this week. Thanks!
Yes Joy!
I used ground chicken breast and coconut milk, and instead of Daiya cheese, I stirred in a big dollop of Kite Hill vegan cream cheese in the chive flavor. It was delicious!!
Great tweaks Jill! Glad you enjoyed it!!!
I LOVE that you have “real foodified” this recipe! I’m sure this will be a favorite in so many homes, especially for those of us who grew up in the 80’s when the boxed stuff was so popular. Super yummy!
Tessa way to go!! your recipes are amazing!! my kids are PICKY eaters and this recipe was nutritious and eliciuos!
Thanks Jennifer! So glad even the picky kiddos went for it, huge mom win!
Made this tonight and it was so good! It made enough for two meals for myself and my husband. I used rice noodles, coconut milk, organic beef and omitted the Worcestershire sauce, cheese and paprika due to allergies. It was still awesome. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your tweaks! So appreciate the feedback!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe. I’m lactose intolerant and enjoy healthy foods; finding this dairy-free gem made my day! I used organic beef and brown rice noodles, but I opted to skip the cheese (cheeze) as I wasn’t in the mood for a dish that rich. I did add a little nutritional yeast when the food was on my plate though to give it that salty, cheesy flavour. Thanks again – 5-star recipe and very simple to make.
It’s pure comfort food Leanne! Thank you so much for letting me know how it worked out for you!
My good friend brought over this for a dinner after my daughter was born, and everybody loved it. I making it regularly ever since.
thanks Zsofia!
Hamburger helper gone all-natural? Sign me up! This brings back memories of childhood with five hungry kids racing to the table. Thanks for such a delicious-looking recipe!
Yum! This looks amazing! My mom use to make a homemade version of hamburger helper as well, and now I’m craving it! 🙂
Thanks for sharing with waste Not Want Not wednesday!
Oh wow. Now I’m drooling. LOL
Tried this out on the weekend. Perfect Sunday meal and now I have leftovers for the week (which I’m excited about)! Great flavour, very easy to make. My noodles suggested 7-10 minutes of cooking time but some how the 15 minute cooking time worked out in the recipe. Thank you!
I love one-pot meals too, they are a life-saver for moms! Thanks for sharing this at Savoring Saturdays, Tessa – it looks and sounds delicious!
Hi Tessa,
Your Homemade Hamburger Helper Beef noodle Skillet looks delicious,(and so much better than the box). Hope you had a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Have a good week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Heading over there…
I love your other skillet meals – I make your chili mac several times a month!!! I can’t wait to head over to Whole Food Mom to get the recipe 🙂
Thanks Cassidy, hope you love this one too!