The answer is… I always liked it when my Mom made it, but I haven’t eaten it in almost 40 years.
I put it into the category of “Is this stuff actually supposed to be food?” Much like fruit bread, circus peanuts, etc.
Can’t imagine anyone trying to eat it a second time short of a famine situation.
The Lasagna, Cheeseburger Macaroni (I actually remember when this variety was introduced!) and Beef Stroganoff were staples in my house growing up and I liked them all.
I like it enough to keep a few boxes in the pantry for those days when I just don’t feel like cooking for reals. I’ll jazz it up with veggies - onions, mushrooms, peas, who knows… It’s not part of the regular rotation, but we like it enough to enjoy it when the alternative is cereal or PB&J.
I kinda like Chicken Helper, too - the sweet-n-sour and the chicken fried rice are quite good. And the alfredo version isn’t bad either. Again, something quick and easily augmented with veggies.
Never had tuna helper, never wanted it. I prefer tuna steaks anyway.
No. Too salty and a processed tasting. There are plenty of shortcut foods I use (jarred pasta sauce for one), but in this case I really would rather make something similar more closely homemade.
Though I haven’t had it in years, it was always a guilty pleasure. Salty, fatty, creamy/cheesy goodness. I like just about anything with browned ground beef.
I’m not entirely sure if I’ve ever had Tuna Helper, although I probably have, but one of my favorite meals as a kid was when my dad would make Kraft Mac & Cheese and mix it with tuna and green peas. So, basically a “tuna helper” kind of thing. I grew up with both my parents making meals from scratch 95% of the time, so any processed foods or take out we’d get were a real treat to me. I find it somewhat amusing looking back, but I’d get so jealous when my friends would have pizza from the local pizzeria for dinner, and I’d be stuck with homemade pierogi or stuffed cabbage.
I used to like it, and then it was reformulated a few years ago, and I think it’s disgusting. This coincided with a similar change in Campbell’s cream soups, which I don’t use any more either.
I really like it. Cheeseburger macaroni (with added diced onion) is a comfort food for me.
I fed a lot of it to my kids, as it was cheap, fast and easy. But in reality, I think you can make the same thing from fresh ingredients for less. Maybe not. I’m not in touch with the boxed meal market any longer.
It used to be decent, but they’ve done something unfortunate to it and now it’s salty bland gloop.
I rarely buy it these days, especially since I figured out how to make my own Cheeseburger Pie and don’t need it. But, when I was a young wife and full time working mother with twins, Hamburger Helper helped me. Tuna Helper is nasty, though.
Blasphemy! Tuna Helper is the food of the gods!! I never buy it, though, because it has about a bazillion calories.
Here in New England, they make a dish called American Chop Suey, which is really not chop suey at all, more like beefaroni, with macaroni, ground beef, onions, green bell pepper and tomato sauce. It’s really homemade Hamburger Helper.
Too much sodium. No.
There was also Chicken Helper which my family also made form time to time when I was a kid. I recall it being like Shake & Bake.
Speaking of… Shake & Bake and Oven Fry were also staples of my childhood.
Would have voted “Never had it”
Overall, it’s more of a “no”.
I’m a passable cook, and it’s easier for me to whip up the same thing than to go to the store, buy Hamburger Helper, and store it until I want to use it. And I like leftovers. I get more leftovers when I cook from scratch.
So help out the non-American. Sometimes when Americans talk about hamburgers they seem to be referring to ground meat and not a meat patty between to slices of bread. Am I missing something? In what context do you refer to one and not the other? The box doesn’t have a picture of an hamburger on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_Helper
More of a no, mostly because I just never buy it. I think I probably did back in my 20’s, and I think I had it growing up but it wasn’t a staple, unless I didn’t notice since I was a kid. Considering Mom made Spam with mac 'n cheese, it would certainly be up her alley.