We used to love the Hamburger Helper crunchy taco meal-in-a-box. Well of course we haven’t had that since we started eating organic, meals from scratch. Then I came across Real Fit, Real Food Mom’s Cheesy Taco Brown Rice recipe and it gave me an idea. Let’s add some hamburger to that and whatever else we want to throw on top! It was SO good. I make this quite often now, and I use my homemade taco seasoning in this recipe. You can use chicken broth to cook the rice, or water works just fine too. My homemade chicken broth is best, of course. 😉 This is an easy meal that everyone loves.
So what is in the Hamburger Helper Crunchy Taco meal that makes it bad for us? Well it has GMO corn flour, corn starch, and corn syrup. Cottonseed oil, which is one of the worst. Cotton has high pesticide usage because we don’t eat it but they use the oil from it and put it in our food. Why is that allowed?? It shouldn’t be. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) that is used to enhance flavor just to get you to eat more of it. This is what companies put in foods to make you addicted so you eat a lot of it and want to continue to purchase their products. Silicon Dioxide is used as an anti-caking agent. GMO soybean oil. Yellow dye #5 & #6 for color, and we all know why food dyes are bad right? They have been linked to hyperactivity (ADHD) in children, among other things. And there are many other questionable ingredients in Hamburger Helper. It’s so easy just to make your own and you will know what’s in it, plus you can make sure it’s all organic healthier ingredients.
- ½ - 1 lb ground beef (grass-fed organic preferred)
- 1 - 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth (or water)
- 1 cup rice
- Taco Seasoning (link to my homemade seasoning is included above)
- 1 cup shredded cheese (plus extra for on top if you want)
- Optional: sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips, corn, black beans, tomatoes, green peppers
- In a large pot, bring the tomato sauce and chicken broth to a boil.
- Brown the hamburger in a frying pan.
- After the tomato sauce and chicken broth are bubbling, stir in the rice, turn down to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- When the hamburger is ready, drain the grease if necessary and add the taco seasoning and ¼ cup of water (just enough to mix up the seasoning).
- Then add the rice when it's ready, add the cheese and stir everything up. Just cook until the cheese is melted.
- You can add corn/green peppers and cook it with the hamburger if you want, or black beans instead of the hamburger (or in addition to). You can also add tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, and tortilla chips.
Here is the rice and hamburger combined:
And now we have added the shredded cheese! Yum.
Ready to eat! Or you can add more toppings like sour cream, salsa, corn, olives, tomatoes, avocado, whatever you like.
Looks awesome!! Yum!!