This is comfort food for me; a dish I grew up on. No, not the kind from a box, but the stuff that’s just as easy and it’s homemade. I’ve even made this with homemade noodles and it was delicious. But this time, plain ol’ macaroni.
***Update: my sister-in-law made this using 2 cups of tomato sauce and 2 cups of water in place of the tomato juice. I never thought to do it that way but if you only have sauce on hand, go for it! Thanks Amy!***
“Hamburger Helper”
Recipe from my mom
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 quart (4 cups) tomato juice
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t basil
1/4 t oregano
1 t parsley
6 oz dry macaroni
1/2 cup grated cheese
Brown the beef, onion and garlic together. I don’t use oil but if your meat is super lean, you will want to use a T or so. When browned, add the tomato juice and spices. Bring to a boil and drop in the macaroni. Stir occasionally and cook until noodles are al dente. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Serve immediately.
Serves: 3 or 4
hmmm, guess I’ll have to try this again. Normally my family only chokes this down.
my husband would love this! 🙂 He generally likes whatever gourmet meal I might prepare, but in the end, he will often request something involving “beef and pasta” 🙂 Sounds like a guy, eh? Thanks for sharing…
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
Thanks for stopping by Cathy! I am sure your husband will enjoy it. Most meat-eating guys do!
I checked out your blog…looks great! I will frequently stop by 🙂
mmm this sounds great! just the thing for a chilly, busy week night! thanks…joanne
Oh gosh, this brings back memories. We had something very similar when I was growing up. We called it Swedish Spaghetti and we had it every couple of weeks. We used tomato soup and half a can of milk instead of juice and also crumbled some crisply cooked bacon into it. Mother made this for us as did my grandmother for her and her great grandmother.
[…] about the 3 meals that mom made most often when we were kids. This dish was one of them. Homemade Hamburger Helper was another and macaroni and cheese is the […]
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