One-Pot Vegan Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper… a distant memory from my youth with that adorable little cartoon character of a weird white glove holding a wooden spoon, just ready to get to cooking! Why was this little glove the face of the brand that was all about selling boxed pasta that you put crumbled hamburger meat into? I have no idea.
To be honest, I had completely forgotten about this classic American dish. It wasn’t until Eat Figs, Not Pigs was making their own version on Instagram Stories that it planted a little bug in my ear. So,needless to say, I made it immediately.
The concept and execution of hamburger helper is very simple. In the box you have loads of seasonings and spices mixed with dried pasta. All you have to do is grab a pack of hamburger meat and then sauté it in a pan. Then add the pasta and some water and ta da! You have a filling, quick, and delicious meal. Well, at least I thought so when I was a kid.
Now that I have slightly more sophisticated taste buds and a substantially different relationship with my food choices, I’ve realized that I could make a much better and more respectable interpretation of hamburger helper. No shade to you little glove man, but my One-Pot Vegan Hamburger Helper is better.
NOODLE OPTIONS FOR ONE-POT VEGAN HAMBURGER HELPER
I used Cavatappi noodles because they remind me of the traditional boxed version of this recipe. But I also used large rotini noodles when I was testing this dish out (albeit drunk) and that worked great as well. I think macaroni shaped noodles would also look cute. I do not think long, thin noodles would be good for this. Just my opinion… don’t have a nervous breakdown.
KEY INGREDIENTS FOR ONE-POT VEGAN HAMBURGER HELPER
The key ingredients that make this recipe sing are: fire roasted tomatoes, smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder. If you don’t have these ingredients, go buy them. They are easy to find and they are amazing. If you want to sub them out for something else, then don’t tell me about it, because I won’t approve!
LET’S TALK ABOUT TOPPINGS
Did I mention there are crispy onions on top? You know, the kind from the green bean casserole? Why they are only used for that one itty bitty dish beats me! I think they’re fantastic and they work so perfectly with a baked, cheesy pasta casserole situation like this. Trust.
As for the parmesan cheese on top, I like to use Follow Your Heart brand. I also really like the container the cheese comes in as you can reuse it for all kinds of storage. You could use your own homemade version of vegan parm or the Violife brand. Also, when serving, make sure that everyone gets some of the crispy cheesy onion top. It would be very mean to hog it all!
The best part about this vegan hamburger helper is that it’s done in ONE-POT. That’s right. Brown the onions, cook the meat, add the garlic and loads of spices and then add in everything else. While the dish cooks for 30 minutes in the oven, you can clean the kitchen, set the table, and have a glass of wine! Man, I’m good.
If you do make the One-Pot Vegan Hamburger Helper, please leave a comment below and if you share it on social media please tag me. I can’t wait to hear what you all think of this recipe. Happy cooking!
–Timothy
P.S. WANT TO TRY OTHER COMFORTING DISHES?
One-Pot Vegan Hamburger Helper
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 pack Beyond Meat Sausage, preferably Hot Italian, roughly chopped
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- Pinch of cayenne
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 28 ounces fire roasted tomatoes (diced), one large can
- 7 ounces vegan cheddar or American cheese, shreds or if using a block, diced
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- One pound box of desired pasta noodles, ideally cavatappi
- 2 cups water
- 4 ounces crispy onions
- ¼ cup shredded vegan parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Add oil and onions to a large dutch oven and bring to medium-high heat. Season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Sauté for a good 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are golden brown and slightly dark around the edges.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the sausage and garlic. Break up the sausage into a crumbly texture. Cook for a few minutes, stirring often, to caramelize the garlic and brown the meat. Add the paprika, chipotle chili powder, pinch cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, thyme, sage, and oregano. Cook for a few more minutes to toast the herbs, stirring often.
- At this point the mixture should smell outrageously good. Pour in the canned tomatoes, cheese, tamari, and sea salt. Mix well and continue to cook for about 7-8 minutes to bring the mixture to light simmer. Make sure to stir often so the bottom doesn’t burn. Once to a simmer, add the pasta noodles and 2 cups of water (this will just barley cover the pasta). Mix well and place the lid on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove from oven and take off the lid. Mix well. By now, all of the cheese should be melted and the pasta should be very close to being done! At this point you can taste a little bit and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Sprinkle on the crispy onions and some shredded vegan parmesan. Bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes or until the top is crunchy and bubbly and the pasta noodles are thoroughly cooked. Remove from oven and let stand for a bit as it will be hot! Serve.
Notes
The recipe is phenomenal. Smells delicious from start to finish and tastes even better. The best part is that since it’s all in one pot, cleanup is minimal! Any of the prep tools can all be cleaned and set to dry while it’s in the oven. Couldn’t recommend it more.
Yesss! Thank you for this.
My family loved this dish. I have expanded my menu just by discovering you wonderful blog.
Oh, that is lovely to hear! Thank you!
Hi greetings from lockdown UK. This looks fabulous… but don’t know if to make it…. I keep reading about fire roasted tomatoes which sound amazing. Unfortunately, they are unavailable here in the UK. Any ideas tips or tricks how I could turn up the volume with plain canned tomatoes. I can get hold of San Marzena, crushed organic, whole plum organic, cherry tomatoes (but not the Fire roasted ?) do they have a smoky flavour? I was wondering if a splash of Colgin or smoked sweet or smoked hot paprika to normal canned tomatoes would enhance? However, as I have never tasted them I am treading unknown waters here… beyond meat burgers only hit our shelves last year. I avoid coconut (allergy) so don’t eat them. I do sometimes purchase them for my husband. They are now much higher in saturated fat than when they first launched here which is hard to believe. ..You would think they would be working towards less saturated fat not more…. they were originally 3.8 sat fat per burger and are now 6.1g per burger so I only purchase them occasionally. I could use a different non coconut oil burger in your recipe but how do I get over the non fire roasted tomatoes?!?!
One last question I have been looking at your cookbook does it contain a lot of coconut products ie oil, milk cream? And are there alternative suggestions? Key Question as I avoid coconut. Many thanks, stay well and keep safe…
So you can use plain canned tomatoes and just add a splash of liquid smoke like you suggested or a sprinkling of smoked sea salt. For the sausage, you can use whatever vegan sausage you like and have access to or you could use chopped mushrooms! In my cookbook, you can usually swap out coconut oil for avocado oil unless the recipe is dependant on the coconut oil hardening (like in the strawberry shortcake bars). As for coconut milk/cream, I’d have to know what recipe you are referring to. I am sure oat milk would work as a swap for some. Please email specific recipes you are referring to with coconut products and I can help you further!
Holy Cow this was soooo good!! I added some Mexican spice mix and some canned Chipotles in Adobo sauce, ‘cuz I like spicy food. I made this at 9am because a friend across the country recommended it. She was 100% right! Delicious! Now that’s an eye-opener of a Breakfast!!
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks for leaving a review!
Hello! I made this tonight for dinner and I don’t have a dutch oven. I used a stainless steel pot to do the stovetop part and then I threw it in my clowcooker on high for 1.5 hours. I also used tofu instead of Beyond. Just pressed 16 oz block of firm tofu and used a plastic grater to grate it small. Soooooo good!
Oh, awesome! I love tofu so I shall try this as well! Thanks for leaving a review. 🙂
I prepare this recipe for our community café at church every time we offer a popular noodle and ground beef casserole, so that we also have a vegan/vegetarian option. Last time, at least 20% of the people asked for this instead of the casserole loaded with sour cream and cheeses…and asked for the recipe! Thanks for helping me in my effort to convince folks that eating vegan can be just as (more!) delicious as eating meals loaded with animal products.
Well, that is just fabulous! So awesome to hear this. Thank you so much!
What size Dutch Oven and do you have a suggestion on what brand to buy. Thanks!
I would say a large dutch oven (one that can fit around 10 cups of water) is best! But if you have a smaller one, you could halve the recipe. I personally like Le Creuset but you can find similar versions that aren’t so expensive at Home Goods or Marshalls. 🙂
This was fantastic! I am making it for the second time. Thank you!
That’s how I know it’s a bomb recipe- when you have to make it 2x! Thank you sweetheart. 🙂
This dish converted my non vegan fiancé into a vegan overnight! He told me if I can make him tasty meals like this all the time he has no objections to living a vegan lifestyle! It made me so happy. Thank you for this delish recipe 🙂
Woohoo! That’s what I like to hear. Really lovely. Thank you and happy cooking!
Ok so my daughter made this for dinner tonight. It’s one of our all time favorite recipes. It’s also the best quarantine comfort food – hands down! ??????❤️
Sounds like you have a great daughter cooking you some delicious food! Haha! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. And that you are spending time with your baby.
Great recipe! The smoke flavor is very intense, between what’s used in the sausages, the paprika and the chili powder. If you aren’t a fan, like me, I suggest using sweet paprika. The Beyond Sausage definitely has the best texture of the vegan meats though! Will definitely make again when I’m craving some down-home comfort food.
Glad you liked the recipe! Happy cooking!
I’ve made this twice now. I used the tofurkey Italian sausage simply because it’s cheaper (it doesn’t crumble) but it’s still amazing. The second time I subbed leftover spaghetti sauce for the tomatoes *chefs kiss*
This is my new favorite.
Also it is nearly impossible for me to find chipotle chili powder so I used a chipotle grill mix. Still amazing!
Awesome! I am so glad that you like the recipe. 🙂
Made this tonight. Ridiculously good. And the photos are gorgeous. I’ve never had hamburger helper before but I’ll bet my last dollar this is WAY better.
Now I need to check out your other recipes.
So glad you liked it! I need to make it again myself! Happy cooking and thanks for the comment. 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! I haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure it will be amazing! I love that your talking about having some wine and cooking that is literally my favorite pass time. And I definitely loved that you put the dried herb measurements in there bc I hate saving a recipe until I can get to the store,and buying a bunch of herbs to use a sprig. I’ll be making this very soon. I just have one question, our closest grocery store carries a morning star product that is an Italian crumble, do you think that would work in this or should I stick with the beyond products? Beyond is kinda hard to find in my area.
Beyond is really the best to use for this, so I highly recommend it. But if you can’t find it, you can certainly substitute another vegan meat and it will still be delicious!
This was delicious, really fabulous~ !
Yay! Thank you!
I’ve made this recipe at least 20 times now. Next to lasagna, it’s the best baked pasta dish I’ve ever had in my life. My only recommendation is to check how spicy your chipotle chili powder is before committing to an entire teaspoon. My chili powder is great, but also VERY spicy, so I try to cut back to ½ teaspoon… if I remember to. Anyway 20/10, would definitely make again.
Wow! I love hearing this! Big smiles over here.
OMG I just made this and it was yummy! My Omni family loved it. Definitely going to make this at least once a week! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. I love it.
Well, that’s lovely to hear. How lucky is your family that you cook delicious food for them!? I’m coming over!
How many servings does this recipe make?
This makes a lot! I would say it could feed 8 people easily with a veggie side and salad or 6 hungry people with nothing else.
I just watched your YouTube video and was going to make this tonight… bc it’s below zero inn chicago…. but Amazon Prime does not have crispy onions 🙁 and alternative??
Breadcrumbs would be a nice addition as an alternative. Or even crumbled corn tortilla chips or potato chips. Just looking for a crunch really. But you could just add cheese without either of these otpions if you are in a pinch.
This recipe sounds amazing… and loving all the positive comments on the taste. I have a quick question about the garlic… do you use a whole head for this recipe or just a clove? Just double checking so i don’t ruin it.
Yes, it does call for one head! But you could certainly cut back if you’d like to. I personally love garlic so I always use a lot. 🙂