Delicious Baked Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese Recipe

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Cooking With Anadi

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Hamburger Helper in the Oven

I was looking for a new idea for a mac and cheese recipe. I had been loving cheeseburgers lately, and I thought why not put the goodness of a juicy burger into a mac and cheese? And here you go, it turned out absolutely amazing! This is the ultimate homemade hamburger recipe!

I didn’t start eating cheeseburgers until a few years ago because of cultural reasons. Same with mac and cheese actually. I’ve only ever had the Kraft KD once ever! It was okay, I guess, but I wasn’t a big fan. My first cheeseburger ever was from McDonald’s. That was also all right, but ever since then I’ve loved making my own cheeseburgers! If you want to see how I make my classic cheeseburger, then be sure to check out my Classic American Cheeseburger recipe! Now, I do have to admit I’ve never actually tried a Hamburger Helper, however, it does look good! I figured I should just try to make it myself and avoid the boxed stuff!

In this cheeseburger mac casserole recipe, I’m really letting the meat and tomato sauce shine here. I pair it with some amazing cheddar cheese chunks that get so molten and creamy in the oven.

If you’re looking for a cheeseburger in a pasta, then this recipe is definitely for you! I’d say this mighty combination is comfort food at its best!

What’s also great about this recipe is that the clean-up is next to none! If you want to dirty less dishes, you could bake your mac and cheese in the same skillet you used on the stove, provided it’s oven-safe. Because I love the personal-sized casseroles, however, I chose to do that extra step. If you’re making this for a large crowd, you could also use a large casserole dish. Either way, I barely had any clean-up and dinner was ready in no time!

I also recommend you watch the recipe video! The video will show you exactly how to cook the sauce and how to assemble your casserole! Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’re not already! I also recommend that you hit the bell icon, you’ll be notified every time the corresponding video goes live with the written blog post! I love filming the recipes since I find watching the demonstration is a nice complement to the written recipe and you’re set up for success! Let’s get cooking!

Tools Needed

• Large bowl
• Cutting board
• Chefs knife
• Garlic press
• Nonstick pan
• Wooden spoon
• Ramekins
• Baking sheet

Ingredients in Homemade Hamburger Helper

You won’t need much to make this baked hamburger helper from scratch! Remember, the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD for all ingredient quantities and step by step instructions. You can save the recipe for later, and it’s so easy to scale the ingredient quantities based on how many casseroles you’re making! You can make a single portion if you have a personal-sized casserole, or double or even quadruple the recipe and add to a large casserole if you’re serving for a crowd!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Ground beef
• Cheddar cheese
• Elbow macaroni
• Onion
• Passata, or strained tomatoes
• Cloves of garlic
• Worcestershire sauce
• Habanero Tabasco sauce (or any hot sauce)

If you don’t have Habanero Tabasco sauce, don’t worry! Any hot sauce will work, but I initially made this recipe using the Habanero Tabasco and love the combination! You’ll see in the pictures below I actually am using a Cajun hot sauce.

However, I strongly recommend the Worcestershire sauce. I use this to make my classic beef patty in my cheeseburger recipe and it makes a world of a difference. The flavor of the ground beef, combined with the rich tomato sauce and the cheddar cheese totally complete this dish. So go get some if you don’t have it already, trust me!

How to Make Hamburger Mac and Cheese Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Boil water in a large pot. Once it’s boiling, season generously with salt. This will be the seasoning for your pasta.

Then, add your pasta to the water and cook until al dente.

2. Heat a pan on medium heat and drizzle some olive oil. Once hot, add onions.

Cook for 3-4 minutes or until they become translucent. Then add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the ground beef and mix well. Break down any lumps and cook until the meat is no longer pink.

4. Add passata and mix well for 5-6 minutes or until the sauce becomes thick and the oil releases from the sides of the pan.

5. Add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce (or any hot sauce).

Cook for 2-3 minutes, then transfer the macaroni into the pan and mix well.

6. Transfer the pasta to a personal-sized casserole, or a large casserole, depending on the amount of pasta you’re making.

Fill the casseroles halfway. Add a few pieces of cheddar cheese, gently pressing them into the pasta. Layer with more pasta, and top the casseroles with a few more pieces of cheddar cheese.

7. Add your casserole to the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on how gooey you want your cheese. I prefer to bake more toward 12 minutes, because the meat sauce will form a nice crust while still having gooey cheese.

Serve hot and enjoy a cheeseburger in pasta!

Frequently Asked Questions

No Roux, No Milk, No Seasoning Packet: What Is Actually in the Sauce

If you came here expecting a boxed mix or a cheese sauce built the usual way, the ingredient list is going to surprise you. There is no flour and no butter in this, so no roux, and there is no milk and no broth either. The sauce is 2 cups of passata cooked down with the beef until it thickens and starts to release its oil. No seasoning packet, no paprika, no dried spices of any kind. If passata is not something you keep, the card's swaps are crushed tomatoes blended smooth or tomato puree thinned with 2 tablespoons of water.

There is no teaspoon salt in the ingredient list either. Salt and black pepper both go in to taste, once when the beef browns and again at the end if it needs it, which is the right call when the cheddar on top is bringing its own. The whole ingredient list is 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 7 oz of macaroni, 6 oz of ground beef, 1 finely chopped onion, 4 cloves garlic minced, those 2 cups of passata, Worcestershire, Tabasco and 90 g of cheddar.

Two to Three Drops, Not a Tablespoon: Where the Cheeseburger Taste Comes From

This is the part every version of this dish gets wrong in the same direction. There is no mustard, no ketchup and no mayonnaise in here, and the cheeseburger flavor is not coming from burger condiments. It comes from two bottles used with restraint: 2 to 3 drops of Worcestershire sauce and 2 to 3 drops of habanero Tabasco, stirred into the tomato and beef mixture and cooked for 2 to 3 minutes. Not a tablespoon worcestershire sauce, which is what most recipes ask for. Drops. At that quantity it reads as savory depth rather than as sauce, and that is exactly the point.

The Tabasco is doing heat rather than flavor, and 2 to 3 drops is gentle, but if you are cooking for kids leave it out and nothing else changes. Any habanero hot sauce works in its place, or regular Tabasco at 4 to 5 drops since it is milder. For the Worcestershire, the card offers soy sauce or fish sauce at the same amount, both saltier and less complex. Taste before you commit to more of either.

Six Ounces, Not a Pound, and Why the Cheddar Goes On in Cubes

Most homemade cheeseburger macaroni recipes start with a pound ground beef. This one uses 6 oz, because it serves two and the passata carries more of the weight than the meat does. That smaller amount is also why there is no drain step anywhere in the method: at 6 oz there is not enough rendered fat to pour off, and what there is gets absorbed as the sauce thickens. Lean ground beef will work perfectly well if that is what is in the refrigerator.

Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, not medium-high, after the onion has had 3 to 4 minutes to turn translucent and the garlic 1 to 2 minutes after that. Break the lumps down and cook until it is no longer pink. Then the passata for 5 to 6 minutes, the two sauces, and the al dente macaroni stirred through.