With all the press around Impossible Burgers and Beyond Meat, I thought I would give meatless another try. No, I’m not going all vegan or vegetarian but, I was curious how the latest meat alternatives would work into our dinner rotation. Just one meatless meal could make a difference in a lot of ways if it tasted good. And what better way than to try it with that staple of economic family meals than Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni adding in Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles?
My first hurdle was how would I cook these Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles with the Hamburger Helper? Hamburger Helper starts with raw meat and then adding in pasta, cheese, milk and let it simmer for an extended time. Reading the Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles preparation, it’s cooked in a bit of oil until done.
I called the Kellogg’s helpline and my rep shared his opinion that the Grillers shouldn’t be cooked in with all the usual Hamburger Helper ingredients. I went online and reviewed the preparation instructions, the last step confirmed what I needed to do. Maybe, I missed it on the package but, I didn’t miss it on the web page: “Cool briefly before serving or adding to your favorite recipe.” So, I would cook the macaroni until almost done and then work on preparing the Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles
Cooking the Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni
As per those time-honored Hamburger Helper instructions, I mixed hot water with the cheese powder then milk.
Once it was boiling I added the macaroni and brought it to a simmer to cook.
As the macaroni was getting almost done, I moved on to prepping the Grillers Crumbles.
Cooking the Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles
The crumbles are cooked with a little oil for a few minutes (this was the whole bag of crumbles) 
then, the crumbles were covered for a few minutes more. They do need to be stirred fairly often.
After the crumbles were no longer frozen and heated to 165 degrees internal, it was time to combine the two and eat!
Combining Crumbles & Cheeseburger Macaroni
Final Results & Impressions
Overall, our family thought it was good. It looked a lot like what it would’ve with ground turkey or, ground beef. One family member thought it was too salty tasting. They decided to eat something else. I couldn’t confirm that it was salty, but the beef-like flavoring of the Morningstar Farms Crumbles had a soy sauce/mushroom flavor. Overall on a scale of 1 to 10, we rated it a 5.
3 Responses
Thank you experimenting with plant-based beef & Hamburger Helper. I have wanted to try this myself. I may try HH with Beyond Beef and see what happens. I have tried the Beyond Meat Tacos at Del Taco and, as I know how the originals taste, these were disappointing. Thank you again for your experimentation and for sharing with the rest of us!
I made this last night – using Stroganoff Hamburger Helper. I also added some chopped green peppers and cherry tomatoes. First, I sauteed the veggies, then added the Morning Star crumbles, then the sauce mix, milk, water, and noodles. It was delicious and even my husband loved it. We are doing more and more meatless meals for our health.
Terrific!