Healthy Hamburger Buddy
Her goal was to make a family-friendly recipe that incorporated plenty of vegetables, and one that tasted enough like the original that even picky kids would be excited to eat it. And, with inexpensive ingredients like pasta and beef, this dish is still a good cheap dinner option.
Here’s what Katie did to give Hamburger Helper a healthy makeover:
- As with many of our
healthy ground-beef recipes, she chose 90%-lean ground beef for
this dish. She decided on 90%-lean, after testing the recipe with
beef of different degrees of leanness, because it offered the best
balance between flavor and health. The 90%-lean beef is considered
“lean” by USDA standards. And it has more flavor and
moistness than leaner grinds, but less saturated fat than fattier
grinds such as 85%.
- The secret to boosting the nutrients in this dish was adding
carrots, plenty of onion and mushroom. Wondering where they are in
the picture? Well, that’s why this is a perfect
kid-friendly recipe. The veggies are chopped fine in the food
processor then cooked in the skillet with the rest of the dish.
Because they’re chopped small, the vegetables blend in and
become unnoticeable for fussy kids, but still add plenty of
delicious flavor.
- Katie replaced regular noodles with whole-wheat noodles to increase the fiber.
Serve this quick Hamburger Buddy recipe with a salad to make it a meal.
3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
10 ounces white mushrooms, large ones cut in half
1 large onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound 90%-lean ground beef
2 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups water
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth, divided
8 ounces whole-wheat elbow noodles (2 cups)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or chives for garnish
1. Fit a food processor with the steel blade attachment. With
the motor running, drop garlic through the feed tube and process
until minced, then add carrots and mushrooms and process until
finely chopped. Turn it off, add onion, and pulse until roughly
chopped.
2. Cook beef in a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven over
medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no
longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped vegetables, thyme,
salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables
start to soften and the mushrooms release their juices, 5 to 7
minutes.
3. Stir in water, 1 1/2 cups broth, noodles and Worcestershire
sauce; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook,
stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, 8 to 10
minutes.
4. Whisk flour with the remaining 1/4 cup broth in a small bowl
until smooth; stir into the hamburger mixture. Stir in the sour
cream. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, about
2 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley (or chives), if
desired.
Makes 6 servings, about 1 1/3 cups each.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 326 calories; 10 g fat (4 g
sat, 3 g mono); 54 mg cholesterol; 38 g carbohydrate; 23 g protein;
4 g fiber; 431 mg sodium; 644 mg potassium. Nutrition bonus:
Vitamin A (70% daily value), Zinc (33% dv), Iron (20% dv),
Potassium (18% dv).
By Jessie Price
EatingWell food editor Jessie Price's professional background in food started when she worked in restaurant kitchens in the summers during college. She started out testing recipes for EatingWell and then joined the staff here full-time in 2004 when she moved to Vermont from San Francisco.
Related Links from EatingWell:
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