Keto 4-H Burger Mate – Healthy Homemade Keto Hamburger Helper

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Better than Hamburger Helper

I grew up eating hamburger helper. It was nothing fancy, certainly not gourmet, but I loved it! I loved it so much, that even when we gave up processed foods and moved to a clean eating diet several years ago, I found a recipe to make it at home using whole ingredients.

Then we became keto. And no matter how you slice it, keto noodles (which are a thing, and I’ve made them) just don’t hold up like a grain noodle.

Like many self-made recipes in my household, I came up with this mixture on the fly, not even trying to mimic hamburger helper, but simply adding ground beef to a vegetarian dish I had made several times.

When my husband and I took our first bites, we both couldn’t get over how much it reminded us of our favorite hamburger helper….ONLY BETTER! If this sounds good to you, read on to learn how to make my keto “hamburger helper”

Related Reading: 8 Keto Comfort Food Swaps

Replacing the Noodles?

Now, if you are not a fan of mushrooms, you can stop right here, because mushrooms take the place of noodles in this dish. But if you are like me, and LOVE mushrooms, keep reading!

I came across a vegetarian dish on Pinterest (because where else do you find recipes these days?) for Creamy Garlic Parmesan Mushrooms. It’s a to-die-for recipe, and what this recipe is based on. Gotta give credit where credit is due, right?

I wanted to make a heartier meal by adding beef to the recipe, and in the process needed to swap out some of the fat ratios since the beef comes with its own fat…basically, I ditched the olive oil for the beef fat.

The other change I made was to use sliced mushrooms instead of whole mushrooms for easier bites. I soon had a hearty dish ready for dinner, with a soon-to-be-discovered bit of nostalgia when I took my first bite.

Wanting a great name to call this dish, because I didn’t just want to call it Keto Hamburger Helper, which is fitting, but boring, my husband came to the rescue with his witty ability to have fun with the English language.

He wasn’t satisfied with just Burger Mate (I assume you get the relation to the original name, haha?), he toyed around until he was saying Healthy Homemade Hamburger Helper…..AH HA!! 4-H Burger Mate!

Start by browning the meat in a skillet over medium-high heat. If you are using 85% lean ground beef or higher, don’t drain. If using fattier ground beef, you may want to drain off about ½ the grease, but you want to keep some of it in the skillet.

Once the meat is browned, add the butter, garlic, and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms release their water.

Finally, add the rest of the ingredients and continue cooking until the cheeses melt into a creamy sauce.

Serve immediately or save for later! It tastes great reheated so makes a perfect meal for batch cooking!

Looking for something to serve with it? Add a slice of my delicious and super easy keto bread!