This tasty homemade bacon cheeseburger Hamburger Helper™ dinner is a delicious combination of ground beef, bacon, cheese, and pasta! It's an incredibly easy-to-make family favorite dinner that tastes so much better than the boxed version!
Crazy delicious skillet dinner that the whole family loves!!
We love making copycat dishes, and while we usually work on restaurant recipes, sometimes we crave something like Hamburger Helper. This leads to this cheesy deliciousness dish for dinner, our Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper!
Now that the kids are back in school and summer is officially over (we had our first freeze last night) - it's the perfect time for the best of quick and easy comfort food meals!!
One of the things that I am a stickler about when it comes to making something that I claim is a Hamburger Helper 'copycat' recipe, is that my homemade version should truly be a one-skillet meal. Our Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper copycat is made from scratch and is a quick dinner that your kids will love!
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🥘 Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 6 strips Bacon (cut into ½" pieces)
- 1 pound Ground Beef (lean or extra lean)
- Salt & Pepper (to taste)
- Seasoning : 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Water (lukewarm or hot)
- 2 cups Milk (room temperature works best)
- 2 cups Elbow Noodles (dry, uncooked)
- 2 cups Cheddar Cheese (grated)
- 2 tablespoons Parsley (fresh, chopped - optional)
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🧂 Substitutions & Additions
If you're like me, you already know what you may have added to the boxed version from Betty Crocker in the past. You can just as easily make additions to our homemade version!
Veggies - Toss in some cauliflower or broccoli to make this skillet dinner a full meal - the kids will love it!
Cream Cheese- Add some cream cheese instead of milk for a rich, velvety texture.
Heavy Cream - Using heavy cream not only adds richness, but the thick consistency also means that you can typically omit the all-purpose flour! This makes your Hamburger Helper dish gluten-free!
🔪 Instructions
So Easy! We're going to make this all in one pan without pre-cooking any component of our Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper!
Browned ground beef before adding the spices to make our homemade Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper. The pasta is simmering in our ground beef, bacon and sauce mixture for our Hamburger Helper made from scratch.
- Start out with browning your ground beef and sliced bacon, drain off the grease then add all of the spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and paprika).
- Melt a couple tablespoons of butter then add the same amount of flour and mix it into your seasoned browned ground beef.
- We'll add the liquids next, using one cup of water and two cups of milk to cook our pasta in.
- Bring everything to a rolling boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer...just like the boxed version of the classic Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper!
- Once your bacon cheeseburger pasta is completely cooked to your desired level of firmness (we like ours al dente, about 8 minutes on a low simmer). Remove from heat, add the grated cheese and chopped fresh parsley. Stir everything in until the cheese is melted, then serve it up while nice and hot!
I like to pair my Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper skillet dinner with some pan-fried fresh green beans to complete a wonderful meal that your family will request now all the time! Enjoy! 🙂
🍳 More Great Pasta Meals!
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📖 Recipe Card
Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin - for frying the bacon and hamburger if you are not using non-stick pans)
- 6 strips bacon (cut into ½" pieces)
- 1 lb ground beef (lean or extra lean)
- 1 teaspoon each, salt & pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water (lukewarm or hot)
- 2 cups milk (room temperature works best)
- 2 cups elbow noodles (dry, uncooked)
- 2 cups cheddar cheese (grated)
- 2 tablespoon parsley (fresh, chopped - optional)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- In a large skillet or frying pan, cook the sliced bacon and brown the ground beef at medium high heat. Drain off the grease.
- Add seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and paprika) and stir into the browned ground beef and bacon. Melt the butter in the center of the skillet or frying pan, then add the flour on top of the mixture and stir everything together.
- Add the water and milk, stir, then add the pasta and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Once it has reached a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 7-9 minutes or until the pasta has reached your desired level of tenderness.
- Remove from heat, add the grated cheese and chopped parsley. Stir until the cheese is melted, cover and allow to finish cooking for 1-2 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve immediately.
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