By RetroRuth
So, this week we are taking a box of Hamburger Helper and making it into a salad!
This is Hamburger Helper Taco Salad!
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pkg Hamburger Helper mix for Cheeseburger Macaroni
- 3 1/3 cups hot water
- 2 to 3 tsp chili powder
- 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
- Dash of cayenne pepper, if desired
- 6 cups shredded lettuce
- 1 medium green pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/3 cup sliced green onions (with tops)
- 1/4 cup sliced pitted ripe olives
- Cook and stir ground beef in 10-inch skillet until brown; drain. Stir in Macaroni, Sauce Mix, water, chili powder, garlic and cayenne pepper. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 minutes longer.
- Place lettuce, green pepper, tomatoes, onions and olives in large bowl; toss with ground beef mixture. Serve immediately
This recipe is from a 1988 issue of Woman’s Day, and I have to admit that I have been a little obsessed with this one. I mean, I have been eating Hamburger Helper for years, but who would ever think of making it into a salad? I hadn’t. So I was pretty excited to make this one. But Tom was less than enthusiastic. 
“Please don’t tell me you’re making Hamburger Helper for dinner.”
“Well, yeah. I guess. It’s kind of an ingredient in what I am making.”
“Oh god. Is this another weird pizza?”
“Nope. This time it is a weird salad!”
“Great. Well, at least you bought Doritos.”
“Well?”
“It’s okay. Not as insane as I thought it would be.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and I don’t even like Hamburger Helper. I could do without the warm, limp lettuce though.”
The Verdict: Okay
From The Tasting Notes:
It is pretty heavy on the raw onion and green pepper, but is actually a pretty good use of Hamburger Helper. It tastes a lot like a regular taco salad, except wet. The lettuce mixed in with everything was the weirdest part. It would have actually been good if the lettuce would have been kept separate and just the veggies mixed in with the Hamburger Helper and piled on top of the lettuce. However, the flavor was really improved with the addition of sour cream. Definitely will NOT taste good cold. Overall, not as bad or as crazy as we thought it would be.
Tom looks less than sold, LOL. That doesn’t sound like too bad of a recipe at all though!
I love taco salad, so I actually ended up eating quite a bit of this! But yeah, Tom wasn’t exactly clicking his heels over the thought of eating it. 🙂