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
Offensively delicious and easy. I grew up in an Asian household and we rarely ate hamburger helper. This recipe, however, is everything I’ve ever wanted. I don’t have an ovenproof pot so I simmered, covered, for 30 ish minutes and it turned out perfect (though I had to leave out the onions rip—one day!). I added some diced mushrooms after the sausages were mostly browned and it helped bulk up the dish but definitely not necessary. Savory bomb.
Hi Erin! Oh fantastic, so happy to hear this. Love that you pushed and pulled it to your liking as well. Bravo!
This is my boyfriend’s favourite meal. He’s not even vegan, but I still use the beyond meat and the vegan cheese. I skip the crispy onions but I’m sure they’d be good. Otherwise I follow the recipe exactly! It is pretty expensive as beyond meat and fire roasted tomatoes aren’t cheap in my country but it’s great for special meals. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Wow! That is so fantastic to hear. Thank you!
I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I didn’t have a dutch oven so had to transfer to a baking dish. I made my own “Italian meat” with a TVP recipe and worked out great! This is a definite keeper, thank you!
Love to hear it! Thanks for letting me know!
I was skeptical about the Italian sausage, but it works so well for this. Also, I picked up the bottle of chipotle chili powder and realized it was empty mid-cooking! Figured I’d add a little spoonful of chipotle in adobo as a sub, but then completely forgot. It was STILL very delicious and quite a crowd-pleaser, so I can’t wait to try it with ALL of the important ingredients pleasant!
Yayyy so happy you liked it!
how many calories does it have?
Hi there! I honestly couldn’t tell you.. I’m sorry!
just made this. innnsaaane. will be making this again and again!
Yay, love that! Thank you!
I made this last night with really high expectations. You really sold it on your YouTube channel. Im cooking for carnivores and they like to make fun of vegan food. So when I say this exceeded all expectations I really mean it. This meal was so delicious. Excellent flavor, warming heat. I feel it’s a dish you could feed vegan shaming carnivores and they would never know. It would be the best thing they ate all month.
Heather! Thank you for this awesome comment. It made me smile. Happy cooking!
This is my new fav recipe for dinner. I freeze it in small portions. To cook the next time I put the hunk of frozen HH in a stove top pan, pour over a jar of red pasta sauce, put the lid on and cook on low for about 30 mins until thawed and cooked thru.
NO ONE who eats this can tell it’s vegan.
Oh I LOVE that. Great idea to portion this out into little servings. I might have to do that as well! Thanks for sharing. Happy cooking!
HOLY COW, BATMAN!!!!!!!
I found this recipe a month or two back and I’ve been dying to make it since… and ridiculously craving it this week. I actually put such ridiculous expectations on this dish that by time I finally made it, I figured it couldn’t possibly be as good as my hopes and dreams. You proved me WRONG. This blew our minds. Like… our minds are splattered all over the wall.
My spouse won’t eat spicy foods so I omitted the cayenne and opted for the mild Italian beyond sausage. Believe it or not, this still had a kick to it! But it was just right for both of us to absolutely love this dish. If you’re thinking twice about this recipe because of the spice, just make those small adjustments and it’ll work out.
I don’t own a Dutch oven (who am I?) so I popped this into a baking dish and covered to bake. Came out perfect! Oh, and mozzarella does work great on top if you live in a fly-over state like me and can’t find parmesan.
Will be bringing this to game night in two weeks to share with our fellow nerds.
Oh, and it’s so fun and refreshing to read recipes written by dudes. Love your sense of humor. Thanks and more thanks.
Haha! Thank you for this colorful and amazing review. It made me smile and laugh! I am so happy you liked it. Thanks for the love. Happy cooking!
Finally tried this recipe after years of reading about the hype. It’s a winner. 10/10.
Love hearing that!!! Thank you!
Wow! I’ve eyed this recipe for a while and we never got around to actually making it until last night… absolutely delicious!! My husband said it is one of his favorite dinners we have ever made. I am sure we will make this many more times in the future.
That is so awesome to hear! I have now heard this *multiple* times about the husbands loving this recipe in particular. This makes me smile!
I grew up near Pascagoula, MS and ever since I started eating a mostly plant based diet people have recommended you to me so much! I tried this recipe because hamburger helper was a staple in our home. I made this for my sister and I and we absolutely LOVE it. I had to substitute the chipotle chili powder the first time, but the second time I made sure to have it and WOW what an awesome flavor!! This is now one of our favorite vegan dishes to make. I’m so grateful to have found you! I’m going to be trying a few of your other recipes as well.
Aww, welcome to the blog my fellow Mississippian! I am so happy that you are here. Thrilled that you liked the recipe, that makes me very happy. Happy cooking!
My wife and I loved this dinner. I’m a bit of a pepper head so I goosed up the pimenton, chipotle and cayenne. I made it yesterday, and it was so good, it’s gone today. Thanks so much for this excellent vegan comfort food recipe. It’s going on our rotation!
Love reading this! I love that you goosed up the pepper- I feel the same. Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate it!
This is the BEST vegan recipe for anything I have ever tried. I used Daiya cheddar shreds because it’s all we had at our grocery store and it turned out so good! I don’t have a dutch oven (sadly) but I cooked it in a casserole dish with a cover and it still was super quick and easy!! Thank you sooo so much for sharing this glorious recipe. I’m currently eating myself into a pasta induced coma ??
Aww, this was so nice to read. Thank you for letting me know. I am so happy you liked it!!
This looks amazing! I have everything out and ready to make this but the beyond sausages were mushy and kind of gross so i threw them out….not a fan of beyond but i got them so i could follow the recipe exactly. I took a pack of field roast apple sage sausages out of the freezer as a substitute….Hopefully they will work?? That’s all i had. I’m also planning to make your cheddar beer bread to go along with this which looks amazing as well:)
Yes, you can use whatever vegan sausage you like in this! I hope it turned out well for you!
This is my go to comfort food! I use this in my meal prep and it is even better left over. Thank you for your recipes. Trying the alfredo next weekend.
I love that! I hope you enjoy the alfredo, too. It’s a fun one. Happy cooking!
Made this again last night and it turned out excellent as always! I didn’t have time to bake it, so this was a two pot dish for me. I also used fresh Sage and Oregano from the garden, and had Beyond Sweet Italian Sausage instead of the Hot.. But it still turned out amazing!! It was my first time using the Sweet (purchased on sale 😉 , so I definitely added a little extra Cayenne and pepper flakes. I have made it in one pot per instructed multiple times before, and that too is an easy delicious dish. You can’t go wrong here 🙂 It’s very forgiving and can be done with what’s on hand.
Mmmm, is it lunch time yet?! Or is it okay if I eat the leftovers for breakfast??
Can this be made in a crock pot and set on warm? I want to make this for a work lunch that we have in our office every Friday. I’m thinking if I do the prep at home and then throw everything in the crock pot, bring it to work… it could be ready by lunchtime?? Just wondering about amount of water?? Has anyone ever commented on using a crockpot?
I haven’t tried that so I am not sure how long it would take to cook.. I’m sorry! But I bet you could bake it at home and then transfer it to a crockpot on low warm and bring it to work that way. Hope this helps!
I make this weekly for my family of one picky toddler and one “meat and potatoes” husband. It’s easy, fast and tastes amazing. Plus there is always leftovers for my lunch the next day. Win win win
That’s what I like to hear! Thank you so much!
First of all, thank you so much for ALL of your wonderful recipes! I learned to make greens over quarantine based on your recipe, and they were approved for Thanksgiving dinner. Major! You red beans are fantastic, jambalaya is excellent, and your gumbo…MAN!! I was terrified of the roux, but after watching countless YouTube videos, I made it happen and it was perfection.
Made this recipe last night and we really loved the flavors. But, it was a little dry. 🙁 Curious to see what I should do to fix that.
I was really paranoid about adding the water – both how and how much. Like do you pour the noodles in, cover with water and then mix? Or do you pour the noodles in, mix, and then cover with water? I did more like the latter after watching your video. I ended up adding maybe 2/3-3/4 of a regular can of tomato’s worth of water to it (I used two small cans instead of one large one). I was definitely worried about adding too much water, so just rolled with that.
In the end, the noodles were cooked well (yay!), but there wasn’t much “sauce”. What should I do differently to get more sauce/make it creamier?
If you have a more precise estimate for the water, that would really be helpful to this type A chef. ha, ha!
Thanks in advance and keep the great recipes coming!
Hi Maya! So with a one-pot pasta dish like this- if it seems dry you can always add some more water, mix, and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes or until saucier- to your liking! I’m sorry it was dry for you. To answer your question- once the pot has all of the ingredients you then fill it with water just to cover the noodles barely. This method has worked for most but I understand you need exact measurements so next time I make it, I will measure the exact amount and update this recipe.