One-pot Hamburger Helper

original blog post: https://greedygirlcooks.blogspot.com/2021/02/one-pot-hamburger-helper.html

Ingredients

1 lb beef mince

1 cup chopped onion

4 tablespoons oil

2 garlic cloves

4 cups beef stock

3 packs boxed mac n cheese

¼ cup ketchup

1 tablespoon mustard

seasoning mix

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

• combine all the seasoning mix ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

• shred the garlic and chop the onions.

• in a deep pot, heat the oil

• add the onions to the oil and sauté when the onions are soft and fragrant add the ground beef and seasoning mix. cook until it starts to brown.

• add the ketchup mustard and garlic and stir.

• add the beef stock and uncooked pasta cover over medium heat and allow the pasta to cook to al dente, about 12 minutes. The pasta should have soaked up most of the stock leaving a little behind for creaminess.

• Add one package of the powdered cheese mix (adding all three may make it too salty) stir until it's dissolved.

• serve garnished with onion and scallion.

Greedy Tips:

• Use a beef-stock that has salt. If you use an unsalted version you will have to season with salt to taste.

• The powdered cheese addition at the end is optional, lets say you have real cheese at home and regular macaroni elbows, you can use three cups of the macaroni, and then at the end stir in a cup of your favorite cheese. This recipe was made using the Kraft box mac n cheese to keep the cost lower. Since fresh cheese would be a bit more costly but not by that much seeing as the whole pot serves around 6-7.

• This will only be creamy immediately after it's cooked and ready to eat. Pasta continues to soak up all the moisture as it sits. That’s why leftover creamy pasta is never usually as creamy the next day. So expect it to be less creamy but still flavorful. You can always add a touch of milk to leftovers when reheating to get back a bit of the creamy texture.