Last updated on May 15th, 2018 at 02:55 pm
One Pot Hamburger Helper Lasagna – ditch the boxed mix Hamburger Helper and make your own, lasagna style, much healthier and homemade. Comfort food at its finest.
OK, I hate to admit this but I actually secretly love the Hamburger Helper meals and when I was in college and I lived on my own, I made them quite a bit. But now that I’m a mature adult, ahem, and am more conscious of what I’m eating and would actually like to know what goes in my food, I make these things myself. Last time I went grocery shopping and went down the aisle with all the boxes of Hamburger Helper I saw this lasagna version and I remembered that this was my favorite. Rather than pick up a box, being the food blogger that I am, I decided to make it myself.
MY LATEST VIDEOSI’m glad I did, because this could not get any easier. With just a few ingredients, you have comfort food at its finest. I mean, in case you haven’t figured this out before, I am a pasta lover, so anytime you give me pasta loaded with meat and cheese, I’ll be your best friend for life. No lie!
Thing is, I’m usually the one giving people food, probably because I’m always cooking. When it comes to dishes like this, I’m not very happy and willing to give the food away because, wait for it, lasagna is my all time favorite food!
I really think I should have been born Italian. And to think I married a man who does not like pasta, how can this be? How can anyone not like pasta? Anyway, I’m not going to contemplate that now because this is the time to talk about this luscious mafalda pasta smothered in marinara sauce with ground beef and laden with mozzarella cheese. This is what my dreams are made of. Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world!
Seriously though, have you seen anything more beautiful than this. No, don’t answer that! It was a rhetorical question anyway. Back to the lasagna though, I’ve tried to make this as simple as can be and with very few ingredients. Basically the main ingredients here are pasta, marinara sauce, ground beef and mozzarella cheese. Then all you need to do is add the things that flavor the dish, like onion and garlic, must have garlic, lots of garlic, Italian seasoning, and chicken broth. And here’s the kicker, you can do it all in one pot in 30 minutes or less, cause that’s my thing you know, 30 Minute One Pot Meals. OK, that was a shameless plug, but moving on.
Actually there’s nothing more to move on to, other than let’s eat! Perfect meal to make on a busy night after work and it’s pretty much guaranteed that all family members, especially children, will love this dish, unless of course you have one like my husband around, who doesn’t like pasta.
Try some of my other 30 Minute One Pot recipes!
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 8 oz dry mafalda pasta
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- fresh parsley
In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat until it's no longer pink and starts to brown. Drain off any excess fat, if needed.
- Ad the chopped onion and minced garlic to the skillet and stir. Season with salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and cook until the onion gets soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add the marinara sauce, pasta, chicken broth and stir everything together. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through, most of the sauce should be absorbed as well.
- Stir in the cheese and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute until the cheese melts.
Garnish with parsley and serve.
If you can't find mafalda pasta, you can use any other small type such as farfalle, penne, shells, etc.
You can use ground chicken or turkey to reduce the fat content.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
This was delicious! Thank you for a quick meal.
My pleasure!
Can you use milk instead of chicken broth?
I would do half water and half milk. Milk has more of a tendency to burn than broth.
Wonderful quick recipe!!!! Perfect for a last minute family meal.
Just made this for the kids for dinner and am tasting it right now – it’s fab!
I added finely chopped zucchini and mushrooms for extra nutrients and replaced the mozzarella with parmigiano reggiano. If they don’t like it I’ll be happy to eat it for a few days. Lol
Hi Jo, I love your recipes & I’d really like to try this but I can’t find marinara sauce in the stores here (I live in Switzerland). Could I sub it for something else? Maybe passata and then add some other seasonings?
Yes, passata would be just fine. I mean marinara is just crushed tomatoes with some olive oil, onion, garlic and sometimes red wine.
Hi Joanna! Do you think this can be made in the Instant Pot?
Thanks for all of the great recipes! Our house loves your food.
You can, obviously you can make anything in the instant pot, but the recipe already only takes 30 minutes, so I don’t really see why not. It might take longer for all the natural release of the IP and all that.
Turned out amazing…so so good and easy! AND I made it Gluten Free & Dairy Free w/more veggies! I substituted gluten free macaroni noodles, vegan mozzarella cheese, and added bell peppers. Next time I will add spinach too, it will blend nicely. The only trick w/gluten free noodles is to not let them over cook. So once it boils start checking the noodles, once they taste good pull it off the burner so they don’t over cook.
This is a regular at our house! Great recipe!!
Thank you, so glad you like it!
I’m dying to try this, but I have NEVER been able to find mafalda pasta in any grocery store in this city. Websites tell me there’s no grocery store in this state that sells it. I just need to either order online or try another shape of pasta. This looks too delicious not to try.
You can definitely find it on amazon here: http://amzn.to/2txekXF
I made this with farfalle and it was delicious 😋 I’ve also just broken up lasagna noodles into bite size pieces, works the same!
Made this last night for supper it was amazing I used boe tie pasta and oregano and basil a sprinkle of chilli pepper This is a keeper
Thanks for trying this recipe and adding bow tie pasta into it sounds like a great idea
Looks great and am going to try this tonight! The amount of broth seems like a lot, but I’m not an avid cooker. With that much liquid, does it turn out watery? Might it be okay to use less chicken broth?
Hi Elise, the pasta will soak up all that liquid, it will be fine. 🙂
I was hunting on the web for a kid friendly dinner for tonight, that would use items that i had already (going grocery shopping tomorrow). Well, last week I had come across a deal on mafalda noodles so on a whim I bought them not knowing exactly what I would use them in…then I came across your recipe and i must say you’re a genius!!! OMG this is sooooo good! Only difference I did to mine was use beef broth instead of chicken and it came out amazing! Needless to say, your website is now bookmarked on my tablet 🙂 thanks for the awesome recipe!!!!
Thanks Kat! Hope you try some of my other recipes! 🙂
Had friends with kids over for dinner last night and wanted something everyone would enjoy. This was a hit. The only change I made was at the end, I sprinkled a bit of the mozzarella on top and put it under the broiler till it was golden brown. Everyone, including the 5 year old went back for seconds! I also could not find malfada pasta so used farfalle – worked well.
That’s great, glad you all liked this dish. Any type of pasta would work here. Always good when the kids like it. 🙂
How would the nutrition facts change if turkey was subbed?
Probably would be lower fat etc. You can google nutrition on ground turkey and you will get all the details you need or if you use a turkey breast or any other type of meat.
Tried this tonight and it was delicious! I couldn’t find Malfada pasta at my local grocery store so I used large macoroni from my pantry! Still wonderful.
Glad you tried it out and put your own spin on the recipe. And thanks for commenting and being a part of our Jo Cooks community.
what is Malfada pasta? How is it different than regular?
Mafalda pasta is just a shape of pasta, it’s shaped like little lasagna sheets, same taste. Any type of pasta would work though.
Sounds delicious!! I’m a novice over here…would it make any difference in prep/seasoning/etc if I subbed ground turkey?
Thanks!!
You could certainly use ground turkey and maybe go with more of a savoury spice like thyme etc but any recipe with beef would work with chicken or turkey. It just will give it a different flavour.
OK so this may sound really stupid of me, but what is hamburger helper?
Not stupid at all. Hamburger helper is a boxed product that you add hamburger to that often has a sauce and noodles or something with it. Our recipe shows you its easy to make this on your own. Hope this helps