18 Best Ingredients To Add To Hamburger Helper

There are some days when the idea of cooking a whole dinner from scratch sounds nearly impossible. At the same time, you don't always want to order takeout — particularly if you're trying to watch what you spend. So, what's the solution? Hamburger Helper is one option. It's one of those meal ideas that's about as easy as they come since almost everything you need is in the box. Of course, you'll have to buy ground beef (or whatever other kind of ground meat you want to use) separately.

But did you know that you can add even more ingredients to upgrade a basic Hamburger Helper meal into something more appetizing and satiating? That's why we've collected this list of ingredients you might want to add to your Hamburger Helper the next time you're trying to get dinner on the table quickly. There's a good chance you have at least some of these ingredients in your pantry or fridge already. Why not use them to create a more delicious dinner? These are the best ingredients to add to your next batch of Hamburger Helper.

Whether you want to make a meatless version of Hamburger Helper or you just want to add more bulk to your meal, mushrooms can make for a delicious addition to this dish. If you want to go the meat-free route, use mushrooms in place of ground meat. Their umami flavor and meat-like texture makes for an excellent meatless swap that may even taste better than the original.

However, you don't have to omit the meat completely for your dish to be enhanced by the addition of mushrooms. In general, mushrooms do well with rich, meaty flavors, and Hamburger Helper is no exception. As for what type of mushrooms to use, it's up to you. Use fresh mushrooms if you happen to have them on hand, but canned mushrooms can also work just as well as their fresh counterparts.

Have you ever made a batch of Hamburger Helper only to realize that there wasn't much color in the dish at all? You're not alone. Ideally, you'll want to work something green into your dinner recipe, and Hamburger Helper is conspicuously lacking veggies. But you don't have to make a big salad from scratch to get some green into your diet. Peas may be one of the best and easiest additions to Hamburger Helper.

First of all, it's easy to keep frozen or canned peas on hand whenever you need them, which means that adding them to a dish at the last moment is about as simple as can be. Additionally, they don't really have a very strong flavor, so they won't impact the outcome of the dish that dramatically.

Sometimes, you need to use up the extra veggies in the fridge, and other times, you have to find a way to get your family to eat more vegetables. Whatever the case may be, it's easy to sneak them into a Hamburger Helper recipe, particularly if you dice them. Diced fresh tomatoes make for a flavorful, acidic, and slightly sweet addition to Hamburger Helper, but you could use the canned variety as well. We also love adding bell peppers, celery, onions, and basically any other leftover veggies we have on hand.

Carrots can also be a delicious addition to Hamburger Helper. If you choose to dice them, you'll have to cook them down for longer, but they meld well with the flavor of the other ingredients. For quicker cooking, you can also use grated carrots instead of diced.

If you ask us, you can add beans to just about any meal, but black beans specifically work well with Hamburger Helper. First of all, the flavors just mesh well. Black beans, like beef, are hearty and savory, which helps build on the dish's appeal. Plus, if you don't have any beans on hand, they can easily replace the beef in the recipe to make for a meatless version of the dish. We love this hack because it's cost effective and doesn't require you to make a run to the grocery store for any fresh ingredients. Just pull a can of beans out of the pantry, and you're ready to make dinner.

Of course, you can use other types of beans in Hamburger Helper as well. Pinto beans, navy beans, or red beans can all be interesting, cost-effective additions.

Want to give your Hamburger Helper more of a Southwest-style feel? If so, adding some corn to the mix can easily up the flavor ante. Corn works especially well when it's added to the mix alongside other ingredients, like black beans and chorizo, for instance, but it can also be used all on its own for added flavor and texture.

You can use pretty much any type of corn you have on hand. While fresh corn can make for a delicious addition, you can also opt for frozen or canned corn instead. Most of the time, this doesn't have a drastic effect on the flavor or texture of the dish. And if you want even more flavor, use fire-roasted corn for the most delicious results.

One of the best parts of using a Hamburger Helper mix is the fact that you don't have to figure out any of the seasonings on your own. Just dump in the flavoring packet, and you've got a seasoned dish that requires no extra thought on your part. But just because that seasoning packet is included doesn't mean you shouldn't find more ways to add flavor — particularly if they're easy to pull off.

Perhaps one of the simplest ways to add a ton of flavor to a dish is to simply add some salsa. You don't have to do any chopping or even seasoning yourself. Just pour a bit of salsa out of the jar directly into the pan while you're cooking, and you'll have a seriously upgraded Hamburger Helper.

Hamburger Helper is flavorful, of course, but most would not consider it spicy at all. If you tend to like milder dishes, then that may not be a problem. But for those who always like to add some heat to their meals, it may feel like there's something missing in an average serving of Hamburger Helper. You could easily just sprinkle in some crushed red pepper, but for a more flavorful form of spice, try diced green chiles instead.

We love using diced green chiles because all you have to do is open the can, drain them, and add them to your pan. Choose from mild, medium, or hot peppers, depending on your spice preference. This is one ingredient that seriously makes a huge difference in your ready-to-make meal.

Let's be real for a second. As tasty as Hamburger Helper can be, it's a heavy, relatively rich dish. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but you may want to add some element to the dish that will balance it out by bringing a touch of brightness and acidity to the recipe. That's exactly why you may want to consider using chopped pickles. Adding a small handful of chopped pickles to your bowl of Hamburger Helper after it's already been cooked gives the dish a bright vibrancy that makes every bite that much more delicious.

This is an especially fun addition if you're trying to capture that hamburger feel. You can then use some ketchup and mustard on top to bring the whole dish together.

Not everyone wants to make their Hamburger Helper lighter and fresher, though. If you'd rather dig into a more decadent, filling meal, stir some heavy cream into the mixture while you're preparing the dish. Heavy cream has a lot of weight to it, which will only result in a richer and creamier finished product. The result is a silkier, more indulgent Hamburger Helper that feels like it came straight from a restaurant — not a box at the grocery store.

Heavy cream can be a powerful ingredient, so start with just a small amount of it, stirring in more as you go as necessary. You don't want to make things too heavy or creamy, after all — all that liquid can create a soggy, unbalanced dish that's less enjoyable than the original recipe.

Hamburger Helper, as the name suggests, should be made with hamburger meat or ground beef. But just because that's the kind of meat the recipe calls for doesn't mean you have to use it. Of course, you could keep things lighter with ground chicken or turkey, but why not swap out that beef for a more interesting and more flavorful alternative? That's exactly why we think you should consider using chorizo for your Hamburger Helper.

Not only does chorizo deliver that meatiness you're going for in this kind of meal, but it also adds another layer of spices and seasonings. That makes for a more complex, layered dish than you'd be able to achieve with ground beef alone. Opt for a spicier type of chorizo if you also want to infuse the dish with some extra heat.

As useful as Hamburger Helper can be on those nights when you just don't have any energy to make a meal from scratch, it's conspicuously missing any fresh ingredients at all. Some people don't even think to add any additional fresh ingredients because they're not called for in the cooking instructions, but we think that fresh additions are essential to making Hamburger Helper taste as good as it can be. And the one fresh ingredient that can automatically improve this dish? Parsley.

Parsley is light, herbal, and refreshing and pairs well with basically any savory flavor. It's easy to chop some up and put it directly on top of your bowl of Hamburger Helper. You may not even believe how fresh a boxed dinner can taste with this one simple addition.

If there's one thing that Hamburger Helper is missing, it has to be a crunchy element. You have a lot of soft textures going on, but there's nothing hard and solid in the mix that makes for a more interesting texture. Luckily, there's one especially easy way to give your Hamburger Helper some crunch: panko bread crumbs.

We love using panko bread crumbs because they can upgrade your meal so easily. If you're really feeling lazy, just sprinkle them onto your bowl of Hamburger Helper right before you eat it. But for those who want to take an extra step for maximal deliciousness, baking your Hamburger Helper after you cook it on the stove can give it a chewier texture. Sprinkle those bread crumbs on top of the dish a few minutes before you take it out of the oven, and you have what feels like a gourmet meal.

If there's one thing you can do to improve just about any savory dish out there, it's adding onions. And while raw and sauteed onions can each contribute something special to a dish, they just can't compete with the deliciousness of caramelized onions. Now, keep in mind that it does take quite a while to properly caramelize onions — you're probably going to spend quite a lot of time standing in front of the stove. But all that work is worth it when you taste your savory-sweet, caramelized onion-infused Hamburger Helper.

For best results, begin cooking by caramelizing your onions. Once they've been properly caramelized, you can add in the meat and your other ingredients, cooking according to the package instructions. A basic pan of Hamburger Helper has never tasted this good.

When you want to add both bulk and freshness to a dish, fresh lettuce can be a game changer. Hamburger Helper can be quite heavy, so you may want to pair a light, fresh vegetable with it. That's where lettuce comes in. Unlike other types of greens that you may choose to cook down in the pan along with the other ingredients, fresh lettuce can go straight on top of your bowl, offering that refreshing crunch you're looking for.

But it's also perfect for when you just want to add more bulk to your plate without piling on more pasta and ground beef. If you're the kind of person who always wants to eat a huge plate of food, adding lettuce to your Hamburger Helper can help you stretch your meal for a few more bites.

Sometimes, the most unexpected ingredients can come together to make something unexpectedly delicious. That's just what will happen when you decide to top your Hamburger Helper with crushed tortilla chips. As we've already mentioned, Hamburger Helper is quite a soft dish that's somewhat lacking in terms of an interesting texture. Tortilla chips are one ingredient you can use to infuse every bite with crunch.

You can keep things super simple here. Just crush up some tortilla chips and sprinkle them on top of your Hamburger Helper. You can bake the chip-topped dish if you want even more crunch, but it's not necessary. This might just be the best way to use up that almost-empty bag of tortilla chips going stale in the back of your pantry.

Hamburger Helper isn't exactly known as the most veggie-packed meal you could possibly make. But just because you're not actually getting vegetables in the box doesn't mean you can't add them in for a bit of extra green. Luckily, quick-cooking greens make for a super easy addition to any type of Hamburger Helper you decide to make. We prefer spinach because it has a mild flavor and cooks down easily, infusing your meal with extra nutrients.

Want to keep things as cost-effective as possible? In that case, grab yourself a bag of frozen spinach and cook it down with the rest of the dish. However, you can also use the fresh stuff. Make sure you add a big handful of spinach to the dish — it becomes significantly less bulky as it cooks down.

If you look at your box of Hamburger Helper, you'll probably notice that it already contains cheese. But when has it ever hurt to make things even more cheesy? Ultimately, you can add basically any type of cheese you want to your dish, but we prefer Parmesan cheese, regardless of which type of Hamburger Helper you decide to make.

Parmesan is our cheese of choice because of the savory, salty, and umami flavor that it adds to the dish. Just keep in mind that the idea is not necessarily to melt this cheese — there are other varieties that are better for that. Rather, you'll just want to sprinkle a dusting of cheese on top of the finished dish for an extra salty punch of flavor. Use freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the most delicious results.

Garlic is the ultimate savory flavor enhancer. If you're a true garlic lover, then you know it's the perfect addition to pretty much any dish. And although you'll find garlic in some flavors of Hamburger Helper, that shouldn't stop you from adding even more to the dish. Freshly minced garlic tastes so much more potent and pungent than its powdered or even pre-minced counterparts, so if you're willing to take the time to mince it fresh, you'll definitely be able to taste the difference.

Perhaps the more conventional method of adding fresh garlic to your dish is to cook it down alongside the meat. But if you really want to harness that fresh, raw garlic flavor, you can also combine freshly minced garlic with some parsley and sprinkle it over the top of your finished dish. Give it a try if you're the kind of person who can never get enough garlic.