After planning the menu for the week yesterday, I knew I was going to cook Salisbury Hamburger Helper tonight. Early this afternoon I got the idea to make it in the slow cooker. I did a quick Google search to get an idea if it would work without messing it up. I found a couple sites where people had tried it with success. I had to laugh when I also saw several comments of people criticizing why somebody would even want to make Hamburger Helper in a slow cooker since it’s a quick meal anyway. Obviously there are several people out there with the idea, and I’m guessing they all had their own reasons. You know what they say about everybody having an opinion…
Ahem.
Anyway, I saw one lady wanted to cook it in the slow cooker because she had a meeting at dinner time and she wanted it to be ready when her husband got home with the kids after soccer practice. In my case, I find that I often have time in the morning or afternoon, but by dinner time I’ve gotten busy and then, even if I know what I’m cooking, I feel rushed to get it cooked at a decent time. I don’t like to eat too late and try to have it ready between 5pm and 6pm. This usually requires starting to cook about the time Andrew gets home from school or soon after. Between helping him start on homework and chores, and now with Cub Scouts and Awana taking up two nights of our week, it gets chaotic. Not to mention just wanting to spend some time hearing about his day! So today I thought what if I put the Hamburger Helper in the slow cooker so that I can make dinner when I have time to do it without stress and have it ready at a decent hour.
How to make Hamburger Helper in the Slow Cooker
- Brown ground meat.
- Combine ingredients according to Hamburger Helper instructions in the slow cooker.
- Add half a bag of frozen green beans or favorite vegetable. (Optional)
- Stir all together.
- Cook on low 3-4 hours.
The result? It was edible and tasted pretty good. BUT the noodles were a bit soft and mushy so the texture was different. It ended up being more of a thick soup or stew. I read one comment from somebody that said to cook it on low because on high it would get too dry. I think I’ll try it again and cook it on high to see if it keeps it from being mushy. All in all though, it was good enough to use again in similar circumstances.
Another option is to stir in the noodles about 30 min before done. The few times I’ve cooked any pasta in a slow cooker if it goes in too soon it becomes a starchy mess.
I used to take ramen noodles to work for lunch. I would put the ramen into a hard plastic sandwich container, and enough water to cover the bottom of the container but not enough to cover half of the ramen “brick”. By the time I ate lunch 4 hours later the noodles were perfect. That was in like 70 degree weather. This probably doesn’t help you at all. :)
Ha. That’s great!
Actually, we do ramen kind of that way, but in the microwave. Just put it in a microwave safe dish and enough water to almost cover the brick. Cook for 3 minutes on high. Sometimes I’ll stop it at 2 minutes and turn the brick over just be sure both sides get enough water to cook. One of the first things my now teenager learned to cook by himself. :)
I am doing this tonight. I’ve been cooking the hamburger in the crockpot because there were 2 frozen bricks. The meat is just about done. I’ll probably put the noodles in 45 minutes before just to be sure it had enough time.
That’s a great plan! That should work great. Let me know how it is. :)
So I broke my stove the other day and I’m looking for ways to make simple things in my slow cooker now. Lol my husband teases our seven children and asks if they really need to eat everyday, but they are insisting :-P Anyway, thanks for the knowledge it will be put to use for some cheesy tuna helper tonight.
LOL That’s funny. I ask my teenager that all the time. I hope the Helper in the slow cooker worked for you.
How do you feel about microwave cooking? We didn’t have a working oven for the longest time, and I became quite adept at cooking in the microwave. With the help of Tupperware, I was even able to bake a cake and roast a chicken in the Stack Cooker. And that was almost 15 years ago! They have so much more now. I just recently bought the pressure cooker, and I’m in love!
Wonder if this would work with a box of mac and cheese and a pound of ground turkey?
I do macaroni and cheese from scratch in the slow cooker all the time. I’m guessing a boxed mix would work just as well. Did you try it yet?
Any updates? I want to
Do tonight with tuna helper.:)
I seem to have better luck with a thicker pasta such as elbow macaroni, but I’ve done it several times with just regular Helper meals, and it comes out great. I stick closer to three hours when possible. Then it isn’t as mushy. Did you try it last night?
This is great thank you. I’m doing the crock pot because we’re staying in a motel for a month before our move and the induction burner we have apparently doesn’t like my cookware (cerapan). The only thing is I’m going to take the advice of the one who left a comment and add the noodles 30 minutes before it’s done. I’ve never had good luck with pasta in the crock pot but I’ll give it another go lol
Good luck, Molly! I’m not sure 30 minutes is long enough, but do let me know how it goes.
What size crock pot did you use to make the hamburger helper? I have a 6 quart one so the 3-4 hours might be too long. Also the noodles will usually cook (in a 6 quart cooker) in 30-45 mins if you turn the slow cooker to high when you add the noodles. I do this all the time with homemade chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker and the noodles come out perfect!!
I don’t know for sure. It’s a “regular” size. That’s probably not helpful. Haha.
That’s a good tip to try for the noodles, though! I’ve done macaroni and cheese on low in the slow cooker for three hours, and it came out great. I’m guessing the type of pasta makes a difference as well. The thinner kinds of pasta would cook faster.
How long would you recommend cooking a box of stroganoff hamburger helper in the slow cooker on high and how long should I wait before adding in the noodles? I’m trying not to heat up the house so much right now and this helps. Thank you so much for any advice.
I believe the stroganoff is an egg noodle one, right? I see that James had success at 2 and a half hours on high. I would try two to two and a half and see how you like it. I really need to try this myself again and update this post. I’m going to try to do that this week. :)
Tonight I’m trying the stroganoff in the crockpot. My son has baseball practice until 730 (starts at 430) so I would like to have dinner done when we roll in the door. I’m trying it a little different. I purchased a pasta cooker from one of my sons endless fundraisers. I also browned my hamburger meat and froze it the day I bought it. So I currently have the meat and pouch of stuff in the crockpot. I’m going to add the milk to the crock pot but not the noodles. I’m going to cook the noodles in the microwave in the pasta cooker thing when I get home while my son is in the shower (hoping to avaoid mushy noodles as I can’t stomach them!) will let you guys know how it turns out later! We stay so busy through the week. (We have travel baseball practice mon and wed and football practice tues and thurs with our travel tournaments every other sat starting in September. I work two jobs and my husband works out of town. So this may very well save my life! ?)
I do stroganoff in the crock pot all the time mix the meat, veggies, most of the sauce and everything EXCEPT the cream and noodles into the crockpot in the morning let it slow cook on low all day 8 hours or so then about half an hour before serving stir in the cream and the noodles and turn it up to high in half an hour you’ll have a delicious healthy meal that looks and tastes like you slaved all day
I found this page cause I was curious if I could do it. I followed the directions for measurements. I put it all together on low for three hours. I got home, went to stir it and got…stew. My kids loved it, and have requested it again. I was not impressed. I had hoped the macaroni noodles would survive as I didn’t have 30-45 minutes to wait for them to cook. Dinner needed to be eaten as soon as we got home. Not sure what to do going forward.
You can also do the ground beef in the crockpot, no need to brown on the stove. Put the ground beef in with a 1/4 cup of water. Break it up so it cooks evenly, set on high for 3-4 hours, then add sauce mix. Do not add the pasta until 30-40 minutes beforehand. Mine comes out perfect every time.
I just gave it a try today. I put it on for 2 1/2 hours on high. came out dam near perfect.
Awesome! That sounds like a good time. I cook elbow macaroni for just three-ish hours on high. Most of the Hamburger Helper I cook is more of an egg noodle and would require less time so that totally makes sense.
yes i agree that the noddles would have to be put in the last 10 to 15 minutes due to they are easily overcooked. Thanks for this hi light i am going to attempt hamburger helper lasagna to see how well i will do. Thanks
It really depends on the pasta as well. I’ve made both traditional lasagna and macaroni and cheese in the slow cooker, and they both turned out great. Both cooking times are around three hours or more.
Have you ever tried the hash brown hamburger helper in the crock pot? I make 2 boxes at a time and it never turns out in my favor on the stove top, I have 2 boxes in my pantry that I would love to get rid of
I haven’t! I haven’t even made them on the stove, though, that I remember. I’ll have to try it sometime. I would try it and just cook for maybe an hour at a time on low until they are to your liking. I imagine they might turn into more of a mashed casserole type instead of looking like traditional hashbrowns.