one pot Archives · Jess in the Kitchen

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Comfort food at its finest with the flavors of childhood without all the preservatives.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 12

Servings servings

Ingredients

1 pound ground protein beef, venison, turkey
1 teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
6 ounces tomato paste or 8 ounces tomato sauce
1 ½ cups milk of your choice regular, almond, etc
1 ½ cups low sodium beef broth
3 cups egg noodles
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
Olive oil optional
Salt to taste

Instructions

Over medium heat, begin to heat olive oil (if using a low fat protein) in a large saute pan (that has a cover). Add ground protein. Season with onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, and ground pepper. Brown. Drain if necessary.
Stir in tomatoes, continuing to heat over medium-high temperature. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in milk and beef broth. Bring to a boil.
Add egg noodles, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the egg noodles are cooked through.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Season with salt if needed.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

When I cook, I go all in. Over the years, I have become determined to avoid adding overly processed food and box dinners for my family. I don’t always succeed (let’s be honest, that blue box of Mac and Cheese is pretty dang good sometimes!), but I would say that the food that I cook is from scratch, oh, I don’t know, 70% of the time? So when my kids requested Tuna Helper a few months ago, I was determined to make it my own. After a little experimentation, I came up with a great, simple alternative to the boxed stuff and I can’t wait to share my one pot tuna and broccoli skillet.

This tuna and broccoli skillet can come together in just over 30 minutes AND you can make it by only dirtying four dishes:

A large skillet or saucepan
A cutting board
A knife
A strainer

That’s it. Everything will be cooked in the same pan (winning!) and after you strain the noodles, you can put the vegetables on top while you make the roux. I love to avoid extra dishes as much as possible (we don’t have a dishwasher so everything is done by hand in our house).

Ready to get cooking for a weekend or weeknight meal? I can’t wait to share!

Your Ingredients

12 ounces tri-colored rotini (or any other pasta shape your family loves)
4 cups broccoli, chopped
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
½ cup diced onion
½ tablespoon garlic
1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
¾ teaspoon pepper, divided
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup half and half or heavy cream (whole milk would work too!)
1 ⅓ cup skim milk
2 cans tuna

Your Steps to Tuna and Broccoli Skillet

In a large saucepan, cook rotini according to package directions. Drain and set aside in the strainer.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in the large saucepan. Once hot, add onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add broccoli, mushrooms, salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook until softened, approximately 5-8 minutes. Remove from pan, spooning into strainer, on top of noodles (See, I am all about avoiding extra dishes!).

Add butter to the saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat. Once fully melted, stir in flour, preferably with a whisk. Continue to whisk as the flour browns slightly. Very slowly, stir in half and half, ¼ cup at a time. Then stir in the skim milk, again, very slowly, ¼ cup at a time. (This is hard for me to do. I want to mix it too fast and I get impatient. Don’t be me. Ha.) Sprinkle in additional ¼ teaspoon of pepper, if desired.

Once milk and half and half have been fully incorporated, slowly stir in noodles and vegetables. Add drained tuna and stir until well combined. That’s it! Serve it up. In our house, we would serve it with additional vegetables that we cooked in these Ziploc Steam Bags. We always keep a stock of our favorite frozen vegetables and cook them up in 6 minutes flat!

Looking for dinner inspiration ideas? Check out my cooking page! Maybe you need dessert. Check out the baking page!

Cooking

Baking

Tuna and Broccoli Skillet

This one pot tuna and broccoli skillet is great for both weekend and weeknight meals. It's sure to please kids and adults alike!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings

Ingredients

12 ounces tri-colored rotini
4 cups broccoli chopped
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
½ cup diced onion
½ tablespoon garlic
1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
¾ teaspoon pepper divided
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup half and half or heavy cream
1 ⅓ cup skim milk
2 cans tuna drained

Instructions

In a large saucepan, cook rotini according to package directions. Drain and set aside in the strainer.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in the large saucepan. Once hot, add onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add broccoli, mushrooms, salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
Cook until softened, approximately 5-8 minutes. Remove from pan, spooning into strainer, on top of noodles.
Add butter to the saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat. Once fully melted, stir in flour, preferably with a whisk. Continue to whisk as the flour browns slightly.
Very slowly, stir in half and half, ¼ cup at a time. Then stir in the skim milk, again, very slowly, ¼ cup at a time. Sprinkle in additional ¼ teaspoon of pepper, if desired.
Once milk and half and half have been fully incorporated, slowly stir in noodles and vegetables. Add drained tuna and stir until well combined. Serve.