No need to buy store bought when you can make this Homemade Hamburger Helper Beef Noodle right at home. With a few simple ingredients and a few minutes time, you can avoid the boxed stuff.
Homemade Hamburger Helper Beef Noodle
I always found really great deals on boxed Hamburger Helper when I spent time using coupons. My family loves the stuff, especially my hubby. Our favorite has been the Beef Noodle variety.
Over the years, Betty Crocker has made quite a few different variations of the quick and easy dinner idea. When surfing the web, I came across a blog, The Chickens In the Road. This site has quite a few different recipes for Hamburger Helper but they did not have one for our favorite Beef Noodle. What was a girl to do?
I decided to take a chance at making my own Beef Noodle Hamburger Helper. It was so super quick and easy. I had everything right in my pantry to make homemade.
Hamburger Helper is perfect for making when I am pressed for time. I can quickly brown ground beef and have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.
To make this recipe, you will want to have a pound of ground beef, wide egg noodles, milk, and a few spices. The beef bouillon added the same flavoring you will find in the box mix and worked perfectly.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb Ground beef
2 cup Wide Egg Noodles
1 1/2 cup Water
1 1/2 cup Milk
3 Beef Bouillon Cubes
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. set aside.
Brown ground beef in a large skillet and drain excess fat.
Boil water in microwave safe bowl.
Add bouillon cubes and stir until dissolved.
Add bouillon mixture to skillet and stir to incorporate.
Add milk and stir to incorporate.
Add seasoning mixture and stir until blended.
Add egg noodles, stir and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Remove from heat and let stand for several minutes to thicken.
Adapted from: Chickens in the Road!
Do you have a favorite quick and easy homemade dinner idea? I know we will be making this recipe very frequently.
Homemade Hamburger Helper Beef Noodle
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground beef
- 2 cup Wide Egg Noodles
- 1 1/2 cup Water
- 1 1/2 cup Milk
- 3 Beef Bouillon Cubes
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. set aside.
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet and drain excess fat.
- Boil water in microwave safe bowl.
- Add bouillon cubes and stir until dissolved.
- Add bouillon mixture to skillet and stir to incorporate.
- Add milk and stir to incorporate.
- Add seasoning mixture and stir until blended.
- Add egg noodles, stir and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.
- Remove from heat and let stand for several minutes to thicken.
Looking for other easy meal ideas? Be sure to see some of these other recipes that I have shared…
Great recipe! I’ve lost count how many times we’ve made this. Tastes great every time and I’ve even memorized it.
I made this tonight for me and my 4 kiddos and wow it did not disappoint!! Wasn’t sure how close it would be to the boxed stuff and it was BETTER! My one son who doesn’t like the regular boxed hamburger helper actually really liked this. 5 out of 5! Thanks for sharing.
This is SO good. I’ve made it a few times now. It’s just as easy as the box and tastes exactly, or better, than the box. My only issue is the sodium. I’m trying to watch it so I only used 2 cubes instead of the 3 and omitted the salt completely. Neither hubby nor I missed the salt and it was still really, really good.
I agree. The bouillon cubes have enough salt, adding more makes it way too salty. The dish ended up being so salty that we couldn’t eat it.
I made this tonight for dinner. So disappointed. It was so salty that we had to throw it out. I would use 3 cups of low sodium beef broth and 1 cup of milk and salt at the end if necessary. I will try the recipe again with these modifications.
This recipe is exactly what I was looking for. It’s delicious, quick and versatile. I’m putting it on a regular rotation. Thank you so very much for sharing!
Love it! Tastes great. Thank you.
Replace water and b cubes with 2 1/2 cups beef broth low sodium. Decreased salt to 1/2 t, add 1/4 cup sour cream. Increase noodles to 3 cups. Great recipe!
Cousin Ash,
Use sour cream INSTEAD of or in addition to milk? When to add sour cream?
thanks!
I made this recipe using 2 cups of water and only 2 beef cubes, 1 cup double cream instead of milk, used all the recommended seasoning and also added a bit of soy sauce. It came out delicious!
😋 yummy! Finally something close to the original good stuff! I skipped the milk(added extra water) and added more pepper
I’ve always loved hamburger helper but this recipe kicked boxed hamburger helper to the curb!!! So easy to make and much more flavorful!! Loved it!
I made it with no salt, less bullion added a punch of thyme, a dash of worcheshire sauce and browning sauce. Everyone thought it was good
Waaaay too much salt. 3 bullion cubes plus another tsp of salt was just..way too much. 1100mg of sodium / half a cube. Not healthy. I had one plate and barely made it through. The rest of the recipe was good and it would have been really good if the salt wasn’t all you could taste. The few bites that I could taste the actual food and seasoning were very good which is why I am giving 3 stars. Next time I make this I will half both the cubes and the salt, or maybe even no extra salt.
Can’t imagine how salty this must be using bouillion. Yikes!
Skip the bouillion and water. Besides…water has no flavor.
Instead use 2 1/4 cups canned Beef Consommé’ and increase milk to 2 1/4 cups. Need the liquids for the noodles. It’s delicious and a much richer flavor.
I thought this tasted exactly like Hamburger Helper even with my small changes. I used a pound and a half of beef and one pound of pasta. One pound of pasta needs 5 cups of liquid so I used a cup of milk and the rest water (adjusting bouillon for 4 cups). I left the seasonings as written with the exception of salt (only used it to season the beef) and pepper (sprinkled it in instead of using the full measure). I love these kinds of recipes because one box isn’t enough to feed my family of 6. Thank you!
just what I was craving, DELICIOUS!
I thought it was a good basic recipe for hamburger helper.cooked as read the first time I thought it was good. What I cook it the next time I will cut back the salt. And experiment with added veggies to it yum.
Made this tonight and it was Very good. I did tweet it a bit, added the corn starch to 1/2 cup of sour cream then stored in 1cup milk, also add a splash of good balsamic vinegar.
Will be making this again.
Could I sub non dairy milk like almond milk for this recipe?
I tried almond milk substitute and it was TERRIBLE. :(
I always use regular almond milk and it turns out great
Excellent! Came out perfect! Thank you!!
I made this dish today and it was so easy. The taste is so much better than Hamburger Helper box… No one could believe me that it wasn’t out of the box. Fresh ingredients and healthier than the box. My family favorite now….
Love the recipe I used beef broth instead of water. Also added onion and peppers to add depth. Omitted the salt because bullion cubes are very salty. Family loves it.
I thought this turned out really good! It tastes just like the real thing! I would consider using canned beef broth next time instead of the bouillon. I did add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and it was a great addition. We will definitely have this again!
I made this by using 2 1/2 cups whole wheat penne pasta, and omitted the salt as well as the sugar, as I didn’t find it necessary. It turned out perfect this way.
Super easy, and tastes like the real deal but better. It was a little too peppery, but it might be personal preference. I also added a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
Okay I just finished cooking this and I am letting it sit on the back burner hoping that it will thicken a bit. Now, I used rotini pasta because that’s just what I had. I let it cook for the full 16 minutes because it was so liquidy. And honestly, this came out a little anemic looking for beef pasta. Too much milk maybe. It looks more like stroganoff helper to be honest, but it smells really good and what I have tasted of it tastes pretty good but yes, a little on the salty side. Thank you for sharing, it certainly works. Especially since I have not been able to find beef pasta lately at the store with coronavirus going on lol. I could see this being a regular staple in my home with a couple of tweaks. Again, thank you. :-)
This really captures the boxed Beef Pasta Hamburger Helper, which I don’t mind saying, I enjoy sometimes. I had no idea It was this easy to “make your own” version. Thank you for sharing!!
Way too salty. Gets enough from the bullion. Skip the salt in the recipe and it will probably be fine. Flavor is spot on though.
I agree. The bullion cubes were way too salty. I use low sodium beef broth instead.
I skipped the salt, and it was still crazy salty. :/
If you use bouillon concentrate instead, follow the directions on the bottle. It’s not as salty. I followed the recipe too and the first time it was way too salty. I made it tonight with the concentrate, it was perfect.
Used 1/2 the salt and 2 bullion cubes. Subbed 1/4 water with 1/4 of red wine to get the “brown” color HH has. Was fa good meal. Nice starting point recipe.
I didn’t have quite enough milk so I added red wine! The color was perfect and it added so much depth to the flavor! Thanks for that suggestion!
Don’t have bullion cubes, can I use beef base paste instead. Can’t wait to try this.
Thank you! My husband LOVED this recipe! The first time, I did not have beef bouillon cubes, so I boiled down two cups of beef broth. It was still very good! I currently have it cooking on the stove having used the bouillon, so I’ll have to see! But thank you for putting out an easy recipe that my husband loves, and one that is made at home from scratch instead of the traditional from-the-box hamburger helper that I just never could get myself to buy!
Made this tonight! Super easy to follow recipe and it tasted delicious! I had to differ a little with what I had, flour and linguine noodles. Quick and easy recipe!
I really thought easy and delicious
Spot on! Very easy to follow & delicious without the processed stuff. My only changes were to add diced onions & some half & half replacing 1/2 cup of the milk. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you
Made this today. Delicious and so easy. Will definitely make again. Thanks!
Made this for dinner. We LOVED it! The recipe goes in my recipe box. I had all of the ingredients on hand. Thank you
Great recipe! I haven’t tried adding more bouillon cubes yet, probably will the next time. I usually add some Worstershire to this, cut the salt in half, and put some frozen peas in as well. I’ve also always used 3 cups of egg noodles instead of 2 and it seems about the right proportion.
Thanks for the great recipe!
serious question does it matter what kind of noodles you use?
I use 5 cubes of beef bouillon, just a little onion powder and follow the rest of the recipe and my kids like it way better than the boxed and it’s much healthier. I’m about to try this recipe with gluten free noodles for my celiac daughter. Anymore recipes like this?
This was DELICIOUS!!!! Definitely will make again, only omitted salt and used whole wheat noodles
I too am excited about finding this recipe and will make it again. Next time I will decrease salt by half, decrease garlic powder by half, and increase water by 1 cup. Probs decrease onion powder a little and may add a boulion cube. I Think those changes will make it taste and act more like the box. Thanks!
I so rarely post a comment to anything online but had to take a second and do one for this recipe. I thought it was delicious however hubby said this was the best hamburger helper that he has ever had! Getting ready to fix it again tonight. Thank you!!
I followed the recipe (minus the salt). Bought 2 8oz bags of egg noodles (equally 2 cups) but it was WAY too much noodles, with not enough liquid for the noodles to sit in!? So I doubled up and made another batch of sauce to add. Noodles are still kinda dry kinda dry, but the flavor is there! I’ll try one bag of noodles next time and double the recipe.
Noodles are bagged by weight, not volume. 8 oz. by weight does not equal a cup.
I really liked this recipe, it was a tad too salty so I will cut out the added salt next time.
how many servings does this make?
I don’t have bouillon cubes,so can I use beef broth instead and how much should I use. Thank you.
Do you boil the noodles separately then and to ground beef?
My husband loved this from the word go! With all our recipes we always try to one up it and after several tries we finally found it! Use Beef Consume instead of water add the boullion cubes, we also fried the meat with a little garlic (personal preference) cut back salt to a dash and voila! Delicious Beef Pasta that gets the plate licked clean :-D
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Made this tonight – was very good but quite salty. I’ll leave out the salt next time as the 3 buillion cubes are enough; will also cut back on the garlic powder & add an additional 1 cup noodles and 1 small can sliced drained mushrooms. Husband liked it very much.
A must try for us. I love the boxed beef noodle hamburger helper but was always way too salty for us. I am excited to try this minus the salt, your other readers had it right, bouillion has enough salt.
This looks so good! Beef noodle is mine and my kiddo’s favorite, too, but I’m trying to be more cautious of what I’m eating and what I’m feeding him. Is there any chance you could provide the nutritional information for this recipe?
Hamburger helper out of the box is truly atrocious in that area!
I am so excited to find this recipe. This is also one of my favorite hamburger helpers. After much research I have stopped eating all boxed food and make everything from scratch. I have been so lost on how to make this, thank you. My family will be pleased thus evening. Thank you!
I would implore your web devs to fix the social network sharing bar on the side, as it blocks the recipes on iPad. I’m sure I’m not the only one that uses my iPad for recipes when cooking, rather than booting up the PC, and printing it off. A more sustainable approach to waste less! When deving a website, it’s important to consider all platforms! (mobile and tablets!) Making this one tonight, even with the challenges of reading the directions! Can’t wait!
Made this tonight. Flavor was right on, but for some reason it was way too salty. Will make gain but ext me will cut down on salt or bouillon.
Mine was too salty also, but loved the flavor of it. I will not add the salt next time because I think the bouillon cubes are probably salty enough.
I made this with no salt, but I added some browning sauce to give it a little color. Next time I will cut back on the black pepper.
Made this tonight for my family. It was amazing! I used gluten free macaroni nodles and it turned out great! Thank you for this recepie!!!
I made this tonight. My guys love Hamburg Helper and I love being able to make it healthier. Mixed in cut froz string beans and a loaf of garlic bread. Dinner in under 30. Verdict. Put on rotation Mom!
Great recipes
I cannot wait to make this- my family will go crazy for it! Pinning!