Let's talk about Hamburger Helper!

[Dark Fact]

Ah, Hamburger Helper! The packaged mix of pasta, sauce mix, and other herbs & spices that we all like to buy in our grocery stores and blend it with ground beef to make a tasty lunch or dinner treat! Admit it, we've all had our share of the famous ground beef kit sometime in our lives so why don't we share our fondest memories of it? It could be about that very first time that you've had a taste of Hamburger Helper, how Hamburger Helper was a major part of your life during the Reagan administration or just flat out say what your favorite flavour is?

The premise was simple: you bought a pack of Hamburger Helper, browned up some ground beef, mixed in the pasta and sauce mix, and voila! Lunch or dinner is served! For me? I always make an effort to purchase the Lasagne flavour in addition to any other flavour.  Lasagne is not only my favourite flavour, it was the very first flavour I ever had of Hamburger Helper...and this was when I was 6! Since that first fateful bite, there was no turning back.

Nowadays, I make an effort to try out every flavour of Hamburger Helper but to this day, no flavour I've tried was ever able to beat Lasagne.  That flavour was just too good for me!

Hamburger Helper makes a great meal! Just talk to the hand! The helping hand that is!

[Hobo Xiphas]

I hear leftover Hamburger Helper is great in a casserole.

[Keranu]

Very nice thread  . Unfortunately, I don't really like Hamburger Helper and I don't really have a favorite  .

[TurboXray]

Ohhh god, the Lasagne one is nasty. Doesn't taste anything close to Lasagne - taste more like someone dumped generic spaghettiO's sause into the mix or something along those lines. Same goes for the zesty Italian one.

 But.... all the others kick ass. It's like crack - the very reason I don't eat it much. If there were a situation were I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, I would have to choose Hamburger Helper (excluding the ones I listed). It even taste great cold

[cavein2000]

I went with "other" as my choice.  Although I haven't had every variety (or even close to) I have to say that the cheesy enchillada version is totally rad and mostly jawesome!!

[termis]

Mmm - I Looooove Zesty Italian.  But I've had a tough time locating it in regular supermarkets these days..  (with all the moving around between various countries might have something to do with that.) 

In fact, last time I had it was when my ex from university days 'bout 7 years ago brought some over for me, as her dad bought some from the Px.

[Keranu]

I went with "other" as my choice.  Although I haven't had every variety (or even close to) I have to say that the cheesy enchillada version is totally rad and mostly jawesome!!

I've always wanted to give Cheesy Enchillada a try, same with Crunchy Taco. I'm not very well experienced in the Hamburger Helper area, unfortunately .

[cavein2000]

I went with "other" as my choice.  Although I haven't had every variety (or even close to) I have to say that the cheesy enchillada version is totally rad and mostly jawesome!!

I've always wanted to give Cheesy Enchillada a try, same with Crunchy Taco. I'm not very well experienced in the Hamburger Helper area, unfortunately .

Right on, Me and the gf were shopping last night and I def stopped to pay homage to the helper section.  There are also some varieties of chicken helper which I have tried too.  But back to the hamburger helper - cheesy enchillada is jawesome and I will soon hook up the crunchy taco as well!!

[Keranu]

Please post how the Crunchy Taco flavor is .

[termis]

This post made me go run out and made me buy some HH.

Had lasagna.  Dang it was good.   

Still looking for that elusive Zesty Italian...   

[TurboXray]

This post made me go run out and made me buy some HH.

Same here, but I went with the cheese burger with *double cheese selection. 1.3 lbs of meat to two boxes of mix. I don't like a lot of meat in the mix.

Just an FYI -  I'd have to say the chicken one is pretty decent.

[Dark Fact]

Glad to see the majority here are fans of the Helper!

Ohhh god, the Lasagne one is nasty. Doesn't taste anything close to Lasagne - taste more like someone dumped generic spaghettiO's sause into the mix or something along those lines. Same goes for the zesty Italian one.

 But.... all the others kick ass. It's like crack - the very reason I don't eat it much. If there were a situation were I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, I would have to choose Hamburger Helper (excluding the ones I listed). It even taste great cold

Lasagne? Nasty? Hmmm, maybe the ingredients they use for the Canadian distributed version are different from the American version because the Lasagne up out here is pretty good.  Oh, and I don't ever eat Hamburger Helper cold because I find it tastes like crap.  It's gotta be heated up for me.

Mmm - I Looooove Zesty Italian.  But I've had a tough time locating it in regular supermarkets these days..  (with all the moving around between various countries might have something to do with that.) 

In fact, last time I had it was when my ex from university days 'bout 7 years ago brought some over for me, as her dad bought some from the Px. 

You wanna know something amazing? My mother once bought Zesty Italian Hamburger Helper and opted to make it without the use of ground beef.  Yeah, I know...WTF? But let me continue: my mother served it to me with a mix of veggies like celery and carrots and by God it was surprisingly good! I would be lying to myself right now if it wasn't 5 star eating right there! So it goes to show that Hamburger Helper has other good uses besides ground beef.

Now for the record, I've also seen chicken and tuna helper but we never bought any of it for chicken or tuna.  I hope to one day.

By the way, sometimes I heat up Hamburger Helper and mix in some tabasco sauce and chili powder and voila! Tortilla dip!

[termis]

Haven't tried the Chicken helper, but Tuna helper isn't half bad.  Does kinda stink up the kitchen, though.

Ohhh god, the Lasagne one is nasty. Doesn't taste anything close to Lasagne - taste more like someone dumped generic spaghettiO's sause into the mix or something along those lines. Same goes for the zesty Italian one.

You are now on my blacklist for not recognizing the two best HH flavors.

[Keranu]

Ohhh god, the Lasagne one is nasty. Doesn't taste anything close to Lasagne - taste more like someone dumped generic spaghettiO's sause into the mix or something along those lines. Same goes for the zesty Italian one.

God, SpaghettiOs are so nasty.

[CrackTiger]

Glad to see the majority here are fans of the Helper!
Lasagne? Nasty? Hmmm, maybe the ingredients they use for the Canadian distributed version are different from the American version because the Lasagne up out here is pretty good.  Oh, and I don't ever eat Hamburger Helper cold because I find it tastes like crap.  It's gotta be heated up for me.

Kinda like Kraft Dinner huh? 

[esteban]

I eat some nasty stuff (i.e. "Airheads" candy), but the "food" products mentioned in this thread makes me cringe! Sorry . If it makes you feel better, I'm sure you'd think my regular diet has some gross items in it.

[Keranu]

Haha, I was waiting for steve's reply in this thread, with him being a vegan and all . By the way, Airhead candy is awesome.

[CrackTiger]

Haha, I was waiting for steve's reply in this thread, with him being a vegan and all . By the way, Airhead candy is awesome.

What, you don't love pork rinds? 

[esteban]

Haha, I was waiting for steve's reply in this thread, with him being a vegan and all . By the way, Airhead candy is awesome.

What, you don't love pork rinds? 

I'm just waiting for the day when I see a bag of Soy Pork Rinds in the store. I know I'll see it, it's just a matter of time. Until then, I have my Soyrizo, Tofutti cream cheese and tempeh burgers.

[Keranu]

Soy beans and it's by products are amazing. I'm not a vegetarian, but I still love the taste of soy burgers and other soy substitutes and I tend to avoid dairy products, though not as much as an obsessed vegan would. I too would love to see soy pork rinds since I don't eat pork.

[Dark Fact]

Speak of the devil! My mother just bought two packs of Lasagne Hamburger Helper this morning! Rock on!

Black Tiger, maybe one day Betty Crocker could make Soy Helper!

[termis]

Well, it's not too hard to substitute ground meat for soy-based products...  Hmmmm....

[Dark Fact]

Betty Crocker also ought to make Veggie Helper for non beef eaters.  Just because there is no meat doesn't mean the meal can't be tasty! And yes, I have tried vegetarian style cuisine before and it is delicious when prepared right!

[rolins]

I know my friends love this stuff, and they got me to try it once before. Sure it tastes good but I can't take no more than two spoonfuls w/o being disgusted.  Really, to me it looks like a pile dog shit.

Yuck 

[Dark Fact]

I've seen worse looking foods that look like dog shit.  I don't know if you'd still think that if you're really hungry.

[thewestexit]

I've honestly never had hamburger helper, and I doubt I ever will, since I try to eat healthier nowadays and the concept of most meal-in-a-box stuff kinda grosses me out.

That being said, I still help myself to the occasional pack of ramen or box of mac and cheese -_-

[Dark Fact]

Ha, Hamburger Helper should be just that, an occasional food item if you have nothing fancy to prepare or something.

But you're right, Hamburger Helper shouldn't be a substitute for healthy eating like fruits, vegetables and grains.  I know Hamburger Helper has a good source of protein but you can't just have protein.

[esteban]

I've honestly never had hamburger helper, and I doubt I ever will, since I try to eat healthier nowadays and the concept of most meal-in-a-box stuff kinda grosses me out.

That being said, I still help myself to the occasional pack of ramen or box of mac and cheese -_-

Oh, I still love to eat the sodium-enriched instant ramen, but I add tofu and fresh veggies to it.

Instant ramen is truly one of the wonders of the modern age.

[Keranu]

I've gotten so sick of ramen these past years since it was all I would ever eat.

[OldRover]

Be careful though...I believe a lot of HH flavors have MSG in them, something you really don't wanna be eating. And another thing...you don't want to be eating too much soy, in fact the less the better. Overuse of soy has some pretty bad effects on the human body, as scientists are now discovering.

[rolins]

Instant ramen is truly one of the wonders of the modern age. 

We all should give big round of applause to the inventor, Momofuku Ando, who passed away no to long ago. 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-06-ando-obit_x.htm

[Dark Fact]

Ando deserves special praise for the invention of instant Ramen.  When it comes to inventing convenience, the japanese know no bounds.

[Kitsunexus]

This is a cool topic, so BUMP!

I love the Tomato Basil Penne (formerly Zesty Italian), the Lasagna and the Spaghetti.

It's good hot, cold, damn it's good with ANYTHING!

But where do they get off with the Tuna Helper? That shit's RANK! 

[Dark Fact]

Never tried Tuna Helper before so I wouldn't know.  Ditto for chicken Helper.

You eat Hamburger Helper cold? Dude, how can you stomach it cold?

[Turbo D]

I made some strogonoff yesterday, but it wasn't hamburger helper.

[Dark Fact]

Hamburger Helper has about 3 kinds of Stroganoff.  You have the regular Stroganoff, potato, and cheesy.  The potatoes that come with the potato one are dried out and taste just like regular chips.  Fancy that.

[Ceti Alpha]

Hamburger Helper is disgusting. It's too salty or something. I wouldn't turn it down if I was starving, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to eat it. 

[Dark Fact]

I won't argue that it's sodium content is high but this is why you need to drink tall glasses of water or fresh juice with it during your lunch or dinner. It works for me.