Easy One-Pot Healthy Hamburger Helper

This one-pan cheesy beef and pasta skillet is the ultimate easy weeknight dish and cozy comfort food. Bonus points for the sneaky veggie twist that even the pickiest of eaters won’t notice. This Healthy Hamburger Helper combines ground beef, grated zucchini, pasta, and crushed tomatoes. It has the perfect creamy sauce and is finished with melty cheddar cheese and protein-packed cottage cheese. This meal is hearty and delicious.

❤️ Why You’ll Love Healthy Hamburger Helper

• Protein-Packed: This dish is packed with protein from the cottage cheese and ground beef, so it’ll not only taste great but also fill you up.
• Hidden Veggies: This Healthy Hamburger Helper has hidden veggies that not even your picky eaters will notice. So even if they don’t eat the side salad, you can feel good that they are getting their veggie fix through this.
• Comforting: Hamburger Helper is such a comforting dish that many people grew up with. This homemade version is healthier, with fewer preservatives than the box stuff, and tastes way better! It’ll warm you right up on a chilly fall night!

🍲 Ingredients

Pasta – For this recipe, I used shellbow noodles. These work best to get the most sauce-to-noodle ratio. I like to use DeLallo because it is an authentic Italian brand made from 100% durum wheat semolina. It cooks beautifully al dente and has that perfect taste and consistency for your fav pasta dishes.

Crushed Tomatoes – The perfect base to any pasta sauce is crushed tomatoes, more specifically, San Marzano Style Crushed Tomatoes. These tomatoes have the perfect tender, meaty texture for pasta sauces, soups, and stews. I use DeLallo’s because they use sun-ripened Italian plum tomatoes that are harvested right in Italy. They’re hand-picked and packed fresh within 48 hours of harvesting, so they have the best color, texture, and flavor. Truly a necessity in your pantry.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Healthy Hamburger Helper

1. Add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to a large high sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. When the pan is hot, turn to medium heat and add the diced onion, diced red pepper and garlic and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the ground beef to the skillet and season with the Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika. Cook, breaking up the ground beef as you cook (use a ground meat masher utensil if you have one), cooking until the beef is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and stir it into the ground beef.
5. Add the grated zucchini, stir and cook down for about 4-5 minutes until the grated zucchini is quite wilted and combined with the ground beef.
6. Add the shellbows, milk, bone broth (or chicken broth) and crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.
7. Bring everything in the pan to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to keep at a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring very often, until most of the liquid is absorbed and you’re left with a creamy sauce, about 8-12 minutes.
8. Remove from the heat and stir in the cottage cheese and shredded cheddar cheese until combined.
9. Taste for seasoning and adjust with more salt and pepper if desired.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

• Pan: Use a big skillet or Dutch oven for this recipe. You will want something with high sides and plenty of room to stir without splashing sauce everywhere.
• Sauté: Sauté your onion, red pepper, and garlic to get that nice, soft texture before adding in the beef. It helps build the rich flavor, so don’t rush this step.
• Browning: Let the ground beef sit for a minute or two before breaking it up. This helps you get those caramelized bits that add depth to the dish.
• Mixing Cheese: It’s important to mix the cheese off the heat so it melts smoothly without curdling or getting too greasy.

🗒 Variations

If you love this Dutch oven pasta dish, try some of my other one-pan pasta dishes:

• One-Pot Chicken & Gnocchi
• Greek-Style Chicken & Orzo
• Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta

🗒 Best served with

• Authentic Greek Salad
• Italian Chopped Salad
• Fluffy Greek Pita

👝 How to Store Leftovers

This Healthy Hamburger Helper is great leftover and as meal prep. Store it in an airtight container, once cooled, and keep it in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. When reheating, add a splash of liquid like broth to help keep that creamy consistency.

🤔 Common Questions

Easy One-Pot Healthy Hamburger Helper

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This hearty Healthy Hamburger Helper is packed with protein and hidden veggies. It is a great dish for the whole family and a quick weeknight meal.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine American-Inspired

Servings 4 – 6

Calories 566 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 450 grams / 1 lb Extra lean ground beef
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp ground pepper
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 cups grated zucchini, about 3 medium zucchini, liquid squeezed out
• ¾ lb / 12oz DeLalo shellbows
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups bone broth or chicken broth
• 1 cup DeLalo crushed tomatoes
• ½ cup cottage cheese blended
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

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Instructions

 

• Add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to a large high sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• When the pan is hot, turn to medium heat and add the diced onion, diced red pepper and garlic and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
• Add the ground beef to the skillet and season with the Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika. Cook, breaking up the ground beef as you cook (use a ground meat masher utensil if you have one), cooking until the beef is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and stir it into the ground beef.
• Add the grated zucchini, stir and cook down for about 4-5 minutes until the grated zucchini is quite wilted and combined with the ground beef.
• Add the shellbows, milk, bone broth (or chicken broth) and crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.
• Bring everything in the pan to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to keep at a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring very often, until most of the liquid is absorbed and you’re left with a creamy sauce, about 8-12 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the cottage cheese and shredded cheddar cheese until combined.
• Taste for seasoning and adjust with more salt and pepper if desired.

Notes

• Want to add some spice? Top with red chili flakes when serving.
• If you can’t find shellbows, other noodles that could work are shells, large elbow noodles or even rotini.
• This recipe is great for meal prep! And if you like this recipe, try our Sundried Tomato Chicken Meatballs and Orzo

Nutrition

Calories: 566kcal | Carbohydrates: 55.4g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 21.3g | Saturated Fat: 9.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7.9g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 986mg | Fiber: 3.9g | Sugar: 9.1g

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