One-Pot Vegan Hamburger Helper

This one-pot vegan hamburger helper is a crowd favorite. It's all done in one pot, makes a large amount, and the leftovers are delicious.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 20

Servings people

Calories 419

Author Timothy Pakron

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

Because we are not cooking and draining the pasta first, we only need a few cups of water. This way, all of the flavor from the other ingredients soaks into the noodles when cooking! When adding the water, please just make sure to barely cover the noodles (2 cups). If you put too much liquid they will overcook and become squooshy like me.

You can totally use Beyond Burger patties or the ground meat but I prefer the flavor of the ‘Hot Italian Sausage’. I think it works really well with this recipe.

If you have fresh herbs, then by all means use them! I just didn’t want to call for them and you have to buy a whole pack of fresh thyme and oregano to only use a small amount and then tell me this recipe is expensive when it’s not really but you like to give me a hard time. I do recommend throwing in some chopped fresh basil, oregano, thyme or sage if you have them. They should go in when you add the dried herbs.

You can make the whole batch of this and divide some up into ramekins and bake off for a dinner party at another time! It freezes beautifully.

Nutrition