# I've never eaten Hamburger Helper... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531 "2011-07-10T18:43:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/41 "2011-07-10T23:27:38Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > But I am curious about the test kitchen skillet meals What do you want to know? I have the magazine in front of my as I type. 31 skillet supper recipes and about 20 sides, along with ratings of skillets and spices. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/42 "2011-07-10T23:34:57Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > Take a jar of Pace Picante Salsa, whatever “heat” you want. Heat it in a saucepan, and then dump in half (or more) of a (small) block of velveeta, diced into cubes. When the cheese melts, throw in a pound of browned hamburger, and some cooked bowtie or rotini pasta (or for a thicker consistency, add some water to the “sauce” to thin it and throw uncooked noodles into it, and cook covered until the noodles are tender). Add more salsa or cheese to your liking. > > Now it’s not the best thing in the world, but it’s quick, filling, spicy/cheesy, and it’s a helluva lot better than the boxed HH. In college I used to make my own “hamburger helper” by cooking a box of mac and cheese, then adding a pound of hamburger seasoned with taco seasoning. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/43 "2011-07-10T23:47:08Z")
> [@parsnip](#): > > “skillet dinner” > > I bought this magazine recently and we are working our way through it. Cooks Illustrated is always entrancing–they take EVERYTHING so seriously. > > [http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=498](http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=498) Do you recommend buying it? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/44 "2011-07-10T23:51:40Z")
I did. I’d eat 30 of the 31 dishes they have, and probably will before the end of the year. The wife thinks they are very good. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/45 "2011-07-10T23:59:31Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Not something I have often - but I like the one pan meal idea. I’ve used bratwurst instead of hamburger. > > As previously mentioned - OK as a backup. > > Brian Spicy sausage, potatoes, onions, fried up in bacon fat or olive oil or whatever. Best meal in a skillet for my money. Extra points for tossing an over-easy egg on top. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/46 "2011-07-11T00:04:54Z")
> [@parsnip](#): > > “skillet dinner” > > I bought this magazine recently and we are working our way through it. Cooks Illustrated is always entrancing–they take EVERYTHING so seriously. > > [http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=498](http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=498) They do. I’m wary of a lot of their advice, and flat-out disagree with them many, many times, but they’re great for ideas and some of my favorite prep methods have come from them. ---
**Author:** ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/47 "2011-07-11T02:41:43Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Do you recommend buying it? Sure–this is a more usable book than some of the monthly issues. It also lies flat on the counter for use. I have put the 14 yo to work making dinner. Love Beef Stroganoff–they parse how to use sirloin tips instead of filet mignon. Their chili mac is tastier than my mom’s “Texas Hash”, which is saying something. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/48 "2011-07-11T02:42:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I dunno… I guess maybe it’s because I grew up on a diet of Hamburger Helper, Ramen noodles (“Ichiban” here), and Kraft Dinner, I pretty much like it all. In fact, these are some of my favorite foods. I still make a bowl of Ichiban from time to time, and Hamburger Helper (Beef Romanoff or Stroganoff, please) is very satisfying. > > But the best of all the packaged dinners is Kraft Pizza - the stuff in the yellow box with the bag of flour, the pasta sauce, a pouch of parmesan cheese, and the little packets of seasoning. It’s quite literally my favorite food. My family loves it, too. Six bucks will get you enough pizza for three people. Make it exactly according to instructions, spread the dough into a thin crust, and sprinkle on the cheese and spices. Awesome. please tell me you are kidding about the Kraft pizza. No onions, pepperoni, olives, mozzarella cheese, NOTHING??? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/49 "2011-07-11T03:08:06Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Possible explanations: > > 1. I’m very, very wealthy and all meals were made from scratch by Cook. > 2. I’m very poor and grew up with my five brothers and three sisters living in the Last Station Wagon in America, which we had to move every night, and we never had a stove or oven or refrigerator, for that matter. > 3. I am intrigued by Earth convenience foods. We did not have HH on my planet. 1. Your parents are hippies who would sooner die than serve their children HH, and foodies who do their own cooking, every night, and even made their own baby food, back in the 70s before it was cool. Really, I never had a lot of processed foods until I was an adult. I think my mom would have thrown herself bodily between me and Cool Whip, screaming “nooooooooooo…!” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/50 "2011-07-11T04:58:57Z")
Hamburger Helper is, as others noted, just a sort of boxed casserole. Once I realized that HH was usually just a sauce with a starch and some sort of seasoning, I was able to play around with the basic formula and come up with my own variations. I perfected my basic cream sauce. I’d learned about them in Home Ec, but my mother was perpetually on a diet and never taught me how to make gravy/sauce at home. But I was able to learn how to do it reliably. After that, it was a question of looking in the pantry and deciding whether to have rice or pasta as the starch filler, and how to season the sauce, and then what sort of vegetables to go with it. Once I’d built up a decent supply of stuff to keep around, it was almost as easy as opening a box. The HH meatloaf was pretty tasty, for a boxed dinner. And a lot easier than my standard meatloaf recipe, which calls for panfrying onions, celery, and bell pepper before adding it to my meat mix. But my recipe is far tastier. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/51 "2011-07-11T05:03:33Z")
Hamburger Helper was a significant part of my childhood experience. Didn’t know they still had it. Isn’t that the product with the commercial where the little redneck girls chorus: “And we hay-elped!” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/52 "2011-07-11T05:04:32Z")
Nope. That’s _Shake and Bake_. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/53 "2011-07-11T06:05:14Z")
Once upon a time, I viewed Cheeseburger Macaroni as the most sinful of sinful delights. But they changed the recipe or something. I just don’t dig it that much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/54 "2011-07-11T06:53:25Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > please tell me you are kidding about the Kraft pizza. No onions, pepperoni, olives, mozzarella cheese, NOTHING??? Nope. It helps to not think of it as pizza, but more like pizza bread. It’s a unique flavor, and it’s awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/55 "2011-07-11T07:45:06Z")
I always add mozzarella and pepperoni to the boxed pizza kit, at the very least. Usually hamburger, mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper, too. When I lived in Spain, this was the closest I could get to having a US style pizza. Sometimes I get nostalgic for the taste of it. However, I live in an area that has a few decent pizza places now. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/56 "2011-07-11T08:10:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Am I missing anything? 😕 No you are not. HH is lazy food IMO. > [@silenus](#): > > The stuff is moderately handy in a “I’m really lazy” way, but it’s just as quick and a lot healthier/tastier if you just fake it yourself. **Bachelor Chow** should be in every person’s kitchen repertoire. Your comments echo my first thought on reading the title of this thread. The only thing I would add is it points out the similarity convenient and lazy can share at times. “Bachelor Chow” indeed. Just as easy to make. I appreciate the recipe you posted for that as well. It undoubtedly tastes better. And it must be healthier. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/57 "2011-07-11T10:32:18Z")
Huh. I think of it as pasta, myself. It’s noodles and sauce that you add meat too, right? And, anyways, I’ve found that some of the flavors are good, but pure hamburger helper isn’t. (I agree that Tuna Casserole is good, but I wouldn’t call it casserole, as you don’t bake it or layer it, and it contains noodles.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/58 "2011-07-11T11:51:28Z")
I haven’t had either in 20-some years, but during my college days, I thought that Tuna Helper wasn’t bad and made it from time to time, but Hamburger Helper was just disgusting–it had (to me) a really weird chemical taste that Tuna Helper didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/59 "2011-07-11T12:17:47Z")
This has been an informative thread - I’ve never seen Hamburger Helper, and I always assumed it was some kind of sauce. I guess I forgot that Americans refer to ground beef as “hamburger”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531/60 "2011-07-12T02:26:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Isn’t that the product with the commercial where the little redneck girls chorus: “And we hay-elped!” > [@silenus](#): > > Nope. That’s _Shake and Bake_. Ah, yes. so it is. But Hamburger Helper was what I grew up on. It was the epitome of my mother’s cooking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-eaten-hamburger-helper/588531.md?page=4)