Bored with Basic Hamburger Helper? Try These 32 Ideas!
Hamburger Helper has been making dinner easier since the 1970s, but it is not always the tastiest meal. Honestly now that they have more than 60 different flavors, they all start to taste the same!
Let’s go over some easy and cheap options to spice up your Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, or Chicken Helper and make it a better meal!
How to make Hamburger Helper taste better?
Here is my ultimate list of ingredients that can not only make Hamburger Helper taste better, but it can stretch the meal out to serve more people or have leftovers for later!
1. Rotel Tomatoes
These canned tomatoes with diced chiles inside can add a little kick and a lot of flavor to almost any Hamburger Helper flavor.
2. Diced Onion
After you strain your ground beef or finish cooking your chicken, take the time to sauté some diced onion before you add the water and seasoning. This extra step will really bump up the flavor and give it a more homemade taste!
3. Chopped Mushrooms
I have used both canned mushrooms and fresh mushrooms with Hamburger Helper and both works equally well. I especially like to add mushrooms to the chicken flavors with pasta.
4. Sour Cream
The addition of a dollop of sour cream is awesome for the stroganoff flavor or to any of the creamy white sauce pastas. This makes it creamier and gives a nice tangy flavor too!
5. French Fried Onions
These works really well with Tuna Helper. We sprinkle them on top for a little extra crunch and they also have a really great taste too. (Don’t forget to check out “Can I use expired French Fried Onions?“
6. Tortillas
This is really lifting up your Hamburger Helper! All you have to do is make the Cheesy Enchilada flavor and then roll it up in tortillas. Lay them in a casserole dish and top with enchiladas sauce and cheese. The final meal is so yummy and cheesy!
7. Black Beans
Canned black beans can be added to any of the Mexican flavors to not only add protein but also make the meal stretch a little further. The trick is the rinse the beans with water first to get the metallic taste out. I add them right after I cook the meat, and they work perfectly.
8. Extra Cheese
Processed cheese especially powdered cheese just does not compare to real cheese. I like to add any extra shredded cheese I have on hand at the very end of cooking and let it melt. This single step easily makes anything taste better! For more ways to save, check out “Is shredding your own cheese cheaper?“
9. Frozen Mixed Vegetables
This is one of those ingredients I always have in my freezer. I buy a large bag and use just a cup or so at a time. You can add the vegetables in at the same time as the water and they add that extra serving of veggies that my kids don’t even know they are eating.
10. Beef Boullion Cube
This works for any of the Hamburger flavors, and all you need to do is add 1 beef bouillon cube to the water when you add it to the pan. This tiny cube will add tons of flavor and actually make the dish taste more like handmade.
11. Bacon
We typically cook an entire pack of bacon at time in the oven at our house. Then we have precooked bacon ready to add to any recipe whenever we want. We noticed that adding chopped cooked bacon to some of the white sauce meals like the stroganoff and the alfredo flavors is truly the finishing touch!
12. Baked Beans
Before you think I am crazy, just try it sometime! All you have to do is add a can of baked beans to one of the cheesy flavors like Cheesy Hash Browns, Cheesy Beef Pasta, or Cheesy Ranch Burger. The sweetness of the baked beans adds an awesome flavor combo and also add extra protein to the dish.
13. Salsa
This is a great way to use up any salsa that may be lurking in your fridge. I especially like to add this to the Cheesy Fajita, Cheesy Enchilada, or Crunch taco flavors.
14. Diced Bell Pepper
This is another super easy vegetable that can be added to almost any flavor of Helper. I like to sauté the peppers with my meat and then follow the directions as usual. Occasionally I have just half a pepper leftover and this works really well for small amounts too.
15. Minced Garlic
I am a huge fan of garlic and love to add it to almost any dish. So, Hamburger Helper is no exception. It adds a yumminess and just really helps make the flavor better especially in the Tomato Basil or Lasagna flavors. For more information on how to buy garlic the cheapest, check out “Is it Cheaper to buy Minced Garlic or Cloves?“
16. Dry Onion Mix
Adding a little dry onion soup mix to the Fettuccine alfredo or Tuna Helpers is a great way to add extra flavor. I wouldn’t add a whole packet, but using 1/3 of a packet seems to work just great!
17. Ketchup and Diced Pickles
We add a little ketchup and diced dill pickles to the Cheeseburger Macaroni one and it really ups the Cheeseburger taste. My toddlers think this is amazing!
18. Frozen Broccoli
Most of the Hamburger Helper flavors can really be stretched and taste better with some extra vegetables. Thankfully my kids love broccoli with cheese on top, so we add chopped frozen broccoli to a lot of the pasta dishes. They almost always ask for seconds!
19. Tortilla Chips
We recently found out that if you eat leftover Cheese Enchiladas or Cheesy Fajita with tortilla chips it tastes awesome! We literally ate it like a dip with chips for lunch and it was sooooo good.
20. Canned Corn
For some reason, if you add vegetables directly into pasta kids are more likely to eat it without complaining. I’m perfectly fine adding vegetables into the dish so that way it is a truly a one pot meal. Sometimes my kids will actually eat the Hamburger Helper with corn and also a side salad, so I feel like I won an extra vegetable serving for the week!
21. Worcestershire Sauce
Almost every time I brown ground beef, I go ahead and add a couple of shakes of Worcestershire sauce. This really adds to the beef flavor and a little goes a long way!
22. Fresh Parmesan Cheese
For the Italian flavors of Hamburger Helper, I love to add shredded parmesan cheese on top at the very end. This really elevates the taste and makes it feel more like a homemade meal to me!
23. Italian Seasoning Blend
I think everyone should have a nice Italian herb blend in their spice cabinet. It is so easy to add to hamburger helper, canned tomato sauce, or any Italian dish to really up the seasoning!
24. Red Pepper Flakes
I don’t typically add red pepper flakes to the dish until after I pull out what my young kids will eat. They aren’t ready for the extra heat yet. On the other hand, my husband and I love the kick of red pepper flakes and they can take almost anything from boring to tasty!
25. Green Peas
Green Peas work really well with the Tuna Helper flavors. I like to add frozen sweet peas or any leftover canned peas to the dish after it is cooked to add some color and extra flavor!
26. Heavy Cream or Half and Half
Most of the hamburger helpers call for some milk to be added to make the dish creamy, but I have found that if you use heavy cream or half and half it is so much better. This gives the sauce a less watered-down taste and more of a full-bodied creamy taste.
27. Cottage Cheese
After you cook the Italian flavors like Lasagna or Tomato Basil, if you stir in some cottage cheese you will be amazed! I like to add about 1/2 cup or a heavy spoonful and this just really makes it taste more like Lasagna.
28. Ground Pork
Skip the ground beef or ground turkey and try making it with ground pork. Ground pork is similar to sausage but without the extra seasonings. It is usually very lean like ground turkey, but it adds so much flavor! I also think it taste moist where sometimes ground beef has a dry taste to it.
29. Cream Cheese
Cream Cheese is another staple ingredient in my fridge. It has some many more uses than just a bagel topping. I love to add 1/3 to 1/2 an 8oz block to any pasta or rice dish to really up the creamy and cheesy flavor. This works in almost any Hamburger Helper version.
30. Diced Tomatoes
We love tomatoes so they occasionally jump into lots of different dishes. We have found that if you use the italian style diced tomatoes with garlic and herbs it is really good. We also like just the plain diced tomatoes in the cheeseburger macaroni and chili macaroni.
31. Kidney Beans
We always make chili with beans, so making the Chili Macaroni or any of the cheesy pastas it just makes sense to add kidney beans. Canned kidney beans really need to be rinsed with water first or they have an off taste to me. This is another easy way to add protein or supplement protein by only using 1/2 a pound of ground meat and 1 can of beans.
32. Smoke Sausage
Just because it says to use ground beef or ground turkey, does not mean those are the only meats you can use. We love to slice up smoked sausage like kielbasa style and add to the pasta versions. This shakes it up a bit and makes it taste less like a tired dish that you make all the time.
What can you add to bland Hamburger Helper?
I believe that with some extra seasonings and a trip to your pantry, you can jazz up any flavor of Hamburger Helper. I love to use up what I already have on hand and incorporate leftovers from other dishes a lot.
We look at Hamburger Helper as the ultimate easy one pot meal when we are not in the mood to really cook. If you look at the premeasured box as a base and then add items to it, you can really elevate the taste of any Helper.
Also keep in mind, that you can switch out the meat to anything you like. You can use canned chicken, hot dogs, sausage, diced ham, meatballs, or anything else you have on hand! Changing the protein can also add a “new” and “exciting” flavor to a boring same old night of Hamburger Helper!
Just in case you stock up on easy dinners like Hamburger Helper in your pantry, make sure to check out “Can you eat old Hamburger Helper?“
