{"id":3171,"date":"2024-09-18T21:10:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T21:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/?p=3171"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:40:18","slug":"homemade-hamburger-helper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/homemade-hamburger-helper\/","title":{"rendered":"Homemade Hamburger Helper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-recipe-blocks-ingredientsbetter\"><h4 class=\"ingredients-title\">Ingredients<\/h4><ul class=\"ingredients-list\"><li>1 pound extra lean ground beef<\/li><li>1\/2 medium onion chopped<\/li><li>4 cloves of minced garlic (you can use less, I like garlic)<\/li><li>2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste<\/li><li>1\/2 teaspoon garlic powder<\/li><li>1\/2 teaspoon chili powder<\/li><li>1 teaspoon <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3MR10Ez\">Traeger rub<\/a><\/li><li>1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni<\/li><li>3 cups beef broth (*see note)<\/li><li>2 cups freshly grated cheddar cheese (*see note)<\/li><li>Salt &amp; pepper to taste<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-recipe-blocks-directions\"><h4 class=\"directions-title\">Directions<\/h4><ul class=\"directions-list\"><li>Cook onions in oil of choice (olive or avocado is best) on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes until they become slightly translucent. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.<\/li><li>Add in the beef and season with Traeger seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. Break up with a wooden spoon and let cook for about 7-10 minutes until browned.<\/li><li>Stir in tomato paste and beef broth. Increase heat to high and once it starts boiling add the pasta. Reduce the heat to medium\/medium-high for a rapid simmer and cook according to pasta instructions (mine take about 7 minutes)<\/li><li>While it&#8217;s cooking, grate the cheese (this saves prep time at the start of the recipe).<\/li><li>Once the pasta is cooked, remove from heat and stir in the cheese. <\/li><li>Enjoy!<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-recipe-blocks-notes\"><h4 class=\"notes-title\">Notes<\/h4><ul class=\"notes-list\"><li>I like to double this recipe, makes enough for a family of 4 for two nights!<\/li><li>You can substitute 3 cups of beef broth by adding 3 cups of water, letting it heat up, and then adding 3 bouillon cubes or the equivalent (Better than Bouillon Beef Base gives it awesome flavor).<\/li><li>Buying a block of sharp cheddar and shredding it specifically for this meal makes it taste much better and gives it a smoother consistency rather than pre-shredded cheese. And saves $$$.<\/li><li>As always, if there is not enough liquid and things are starting to burn, add more!<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41,100,53,4,94],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dinner","8":"category-easy","9":"category-favorite","10":"category-from-scratch","11":"category-quick","12":"entry","13":"one-fourth"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9826-600x400.jpeg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9826-600x600.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"Magda Sicknick","author_link":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/author\/magdas\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3172,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171\/revisions\/3172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsageacres.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}