Gluten-Free Hamburger Helper: One-Pot Comfort Food

This is a fancy gluten free hamburger helper recipe that I created for those busy weeknights. Hamburger Helper is a popular packaged food product you can buy in any grocery store. The original mix is not gluten free. My recipe is a healthier, gluten-free alternative to the popular boxed meal.

When I saw this Hamburger Helper recipe on the NYT Cooking site, I knew I needed to make a gluten-free version that could be cooked in a lot less time. I tweaked the recipe so it could be cooked in under 30 minutes. The original recipe took 25 minutes just to caramelize onions!

My recipe is the best gluten free hamburger helper recipe. I made it with real, simple ingredients, and I added in some extra flavor with wine and bacon. This recipe will serve a family of four with leftovers or a family of six.

If you are looking for more recipe inspiration, I have tons of easy Gluten-Free Dinner Recipes to try.

Ingredient Notes:

For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.

• Gluten-Free Elbow Macaroni – Not every brand will hold up to cooking in a big pot, so I recommend the Jovial and Tinkyada brands of gluten free macaroni.
• Ground Meat – I used 90% lean ground beef for this recipe, but you can also use ground turkey, chicken, pork, or Impossible Meat. Any of these meat options will work well.
• Bacon – Any bacon will work in this recipe. I used applewood-smoked bacon.
• Onion – I recommend yellow onions.
• White Wine – I used an inexpensive white wine since it was just cooked into the sauce.
• Beef Broth – Use regular or low-sodium. Both add the same amount of flavor.
• Heavy Cream – I do not recommend using half-and-half. So Delicious dairy-free heavy cream also works.
• Cheddar Cheese – I used a Mexican blend of shredded cheese; you can use this or cheddar. If you are dairy-free, use dairy-free cheese.
• Ketchup – I used this in order to reduce the hot sauce in the original recipe. My kids are not into spicy. If you want yours to be spicy, you can use all the hot sauce.
• Hot Sauce – I used Sriracha, but any gluten-free brand will work. See this list of gluten free Sriracha. If you don’t like spice, omit this ingredient.

Substitutions:

• You can use chicken broth as a substitute for beef broth.
• If you do not like spicy, omit the hot sauce ingredient.
• You can use minced garlic in place of garlic powder.

Step 1: Add oil to a Dutch oven, large 12-inch skillet, or soup pot. Add the diced onions, chopped bacon, salt, and pepper. Note: I keep my bacon in the freezer and just cut it from there. Use 4-5 slices. Cook the onions and bacon over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Step 2: Add the ground beef and cook until the ground beef is mostly cooked. Use a wooden spatula to chop the meat as it cooks into bite-sized pieces.

Step 3: Add the white wine and stir. I tend to use inexpensive white wine for this recipe. There is no need to use expensive wine. Most white wines should be gluten free. You can read my article on gluten-free wine to learn more about gluten in wine.

Step 4: Add the broth, heavy cream, hot sauce, ketchup, and seasonings. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

🔑 Sandi says: Some gluten-free pasta is prone to getting mushy. I always recommend using either Jovial or Tinkyada elbow macaroni. It seems to hold up a lot better to cooking in sauces.

Step 5: Remove the lid and add the gluten free elbow macaroni to the pot. Stir so the macaroni is mixed in. Stirring the pasta will prevent it from sticking together and cooking in clumps. Boil for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low.

Step 6: Stir after 5 minutes. Cook until the pasta is al dente. This will vary by brand, but I used Tinkyada gluten-free macaroni, which took about 9 minutes.

Serve With:

• These Roasted Italian Green Beans make a tasty side dish.
• My kids say bacon makes these Roasted Brussels Sprouts even better!
• Make a batch of these Gluten Free Dinner Rolls or Gluten Free Breadsticks to dip into the sauce!