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Hamburger Helper has never tasted so good! This homemade, vegan version is full-of-flavor, hearty, and down-right delicious. It’s simple to make and requires just one pot and about 30 minutes!
This post is sponsored by Kroger.
We teamed up with Kroger to bring this recipe to life using their Simple Truth Plant-Based Line, and wow, we are so impressed! We used their new Emerge Plant-Based grounds as the centerpiece for this Hamburger Helper, and it was PERFECT for this recipe!
Growing up, hamburger helper was a staple for so many of us, so being able to create a vegan version with wholesome ingredients was a lot of fun. If you are in the minority and have no idea what hamburger helper is, it’s essentially a cheeseburger pasta dish. Who wouldn’t love that, right?
If you have a Kroger store near you, this new Simple Truth Plant Based line is a total game changer. With products ranging from plant-based cream cheese, to meat alternatives and cookie dough to a full line of plant-based milk, there is no shortage of options. Did we mention that everything is super affordable too? Whoever said eating vegan is expensive, hasn’t been to a Kroger store recently.
Here are a few other one-pot pasta recipes that you may also like:
- Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
- Vegetable Noodle Soup
- Taco Pasta (7-Ingredients)
- 5-Ingredient Hummus Pasta
- Minestrone Soup
If you make this recipe, let us know what you think in the comments below! + If you post any photos on Instagram, make sure you tag us @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris so that we don’t miss it, we love seeing your photos!
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One-Pot Vegan Hamburger Helper (Cheeseburger Pasta)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
This Vegan Hamburger Helper is the ultimate comfort food staple. It’s hearty, packed with flavor, and the perfect copycat of the classic boxed pasta many of us grew up with. All you need is one-pot, 30-minutes, and 11 simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 lb. vegan ground beef alternative
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano, dried
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 1/2 cups warm unsweetened almond milk (or unsweetened milk of your choice)
- 1 cup warm vegan beef broth (see notes; we use this brand or you can use vegetable broth)
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups rotini pasta (or pasta of your choice)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded vegan cheddar cheese (or vegan cheese of your choice)
- Optional: 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, to garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add in the oil, onions and garlic. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the onions have softened and the garlic is fragrant.
- Add in the emerge grinds (vegan ground beef alternative) and break them up with your cooking utensil. Cook, stirring often, for about 6 minutes. Drain any excess fat in the pan if needed.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, oregano, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper until uniform. Sprinkle the mixture over the mixture in the pan and stir well to distribute.
- Mix in the almond milk, broth, tomato sauce, and pasta, and bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Remove from heat. Keep in mind that it will thicken as it cools.
- Sprinkle the shredded vegan cheese over the cooked pasta and stir until it has melted through.
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you want to take this to the next level, replace 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Category: Entree, Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Kroger but all opinions remain our own. The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
I’d like to try this recipe. It looks really good. How do you use the beef bouillon to equal 1 1/2 cups of broth? Do I add a teaspoon to boiling water? Do I just add water to the pot and then some bouillon? I don’t know the process. Thanks.
We hope you love the recipe! Yes, you would add 1.5 teaspoons of the bouillon paste to 1.5 cups of hot water and mix it in!
I used Penne pasta but still came out great! One of the best pasta dishes to make with pretty minimal effort!
Made this for my parents’ anniversary dinner! They both loved it, and they’re both big meat and dairy fans. They didn’t even realize it was vegan! I did use spicy Impossible sausage for half of the protein, because my grocery store didn’t have enough vegan beef crumbles in stock. I also added a little extra pepper jack on top of the recommended amount of cheddar. The extra spice really added something, imo.
Thanks for the easy and tasty recipe! Very fun to make and eat. :^)
This is DELICIOUS. I added some nutritional yeast and a dash of turmeric when I made this, but otherwise followed exactly. So good!
Soooo good! I left out the vegan cheese because half the family doesn’t like the flavor. We didn’t miss it! Very good – we used New Mexican red chili powder for the chili powder and Wow!
My boyfriend just made this, and it is absolutely scrumptious!! He used Impossible burger and Violife cheddar style shreds. I would call him a flexitarian, while I am a 9 year vegan. We both agree that no one would ever guess it’s vegan if they were not told. This is so good I spontaneously started doing a “happy dance” when I tried it. Great job with this recipe!
Yum. I dropped the grounds to 1 patty and subbed the remainder of the 1lb with broccoli and squash.
Wow i love a one pot meal especially a childhood favorite veganized. So simple & so freaking delicious! Tastes exactly how i remember
We LOVE this recipe and call it “Harmless Helper”! We add a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast, 1/4 tsp of garlic and onion powder! We also used Gardein tvp instead of the emerge!
I loved the idea of adding the tomatoes like you said, so we do 1 cup broth, 1 cup almond milk and 1 cup crushed roasted tomatoes!! Soooo good! Thank you for the great recipe!
This was delicious!! Thank you!
I didnt have corn starch so I added green yogurt (so veg instead of vegan), also added shredded zucchini with a bit less ground veg and about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. My toddler ate 3 bowls. We will be making this again!
I’ve made this several times and it’s soooo good each time. My partner and I can almost eat the whole recipe to ourselves because it’s that good. Super simple and forgiving as well for ingredients. I’ve tried different types of noodle shapes, veggie grounds (impossible meat, beyond, st yves, etc) and different vegan cheese shreds (daiya, earth island, violife) and the recipe always turns out
great.
One of my go-to recipes! Always so delicious and a crowd-pleaser. I like adding soy sauce for a bit more salty/umami and that Mushroom & Co seasoning from Trader Joe’s!
We make this about twice a month. It’s a family favorite. We use gluten free noodles, impossible meat , nutritional yeast instead of vegan cheese and the tomatoe sauce as suggested. I always have to add alot more noodles otherwise it’s mostly meat. But it’s delicious!!
SO GOOD. Just make it, you won’t be disappointed!! And definitely use the tomato sauce. I used even more than 1/2 cup because I didn’t want to waste the rest of the can.
This was SO good! I used 14oz of frozen meatless crumbles and about 3oz of chopped up mushrooms, and a little nooch for extra cheeziness~
Also 100% recommend using tomato sauce in this recipe, even my omnivore boyfriend liked it more than hamburger pasta with beef! (I will convert him soon, hehe.)
Do I cook the pasta before adding it?
Nope, we use uncooked pasta. The recipe is designed to cook the pasta along with everything else 🙂
I don’t usually write reviews but this recipe was simple to make and delicious to eat! Reminded me of childhood dinners. My husband, who is a bit finicky, also loved this dish. It will be on regular rotation.
This was a great, flexible recipe. I used what I had on hand: impossible burger and gluten free quinoa macaroni; and arrowroot to thicken. The pasta held up well but I did check on it a few times to make sure it didn’t turn to mush. Next time I’ll use unsweetened cashew milk as I prefer it in vegan sauces; neutral taste with a little more fat. The omnivores in the family really liked this and I can’t wait to make it again. Yum!
My vegan daughter really enjoyed this! I used precooked vegan crumbles and added two tablespoons of tomato paste. I probably added 2 cups of cheese, but stayed true to the original recipe otherwise. I used artisan pasta, which I don’t recommend … this dish needs nice, soft, cheap elbows to get that hamburger helper vibe. I plan to make this often.
If I use gluten-free pasta, do I need to adjust the liquid and cooking times?
We haven’t tested it, unfortunately. Gluten-free pasta is a bit finicky and could easily get mushy if overcooked. We recommend just keeping a close eye on it to make sure it cooks properly!