"America's favorite one-pan meal, Hamburger Helper, has been serving up both comfort and convenience since 1971. The brand began then with just five humble flavors but has since exploded to an entire aisle's worth of options. It's safe to say that ease in the kitchen will never go out of style. Lefty, the brand's iconic helping hand - with his stirring spoon always at the ready to assist at-home chefs - has been there through it all. He's a cheerful, red-nosed reminder that a filling family dinner doesn't have to be complicated. All you need is a pound of meat, some water and/or milk, and a trusty box of Hamburger Helper (which has since rebranded to just "Helper")."
"Looking at the selection now is like flipping through a cookbook of American weeknight meals. So, in the name of both nostalgia and curiosity, I recently picked up several different boxes - some classics, some wildcards - to cook up and try for myself. All the boxed dinners deliver the same level of cooking convenience. All you have to do is cook the meat, dump in the rest of the ingredients, and let it simmer. So, I judged and ranked them based purely on what comes in the box: the noodle shape, the seasoning, the sauce, and how everything came together on my plate."
Hamburger Helper launched in 1971 with just five flavors and has grown into a wide range of boxed one-pan meal options now branded as Helper. The Lefty mascot, a red-nosed hand with a stirring spoon, represents easy, family-friendly dinners that require only a pound of meat and water or milk plus the box. Multiple Helper varieties were prepared and evaluated strictly as packaged, using only the included pasta and seasoning. Preparation involves browning meat, adding the box contents and liquid, then simmering. Boxes were judged on noodle shape, seasoning balance, sauce quality, and how the components combined.
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