Hamburger Helper Crunchy Taco: A Great Meat Base to Use in Mexican Recipes ...

My family is not big on casseroles, so few of the Hamburger Helper varieties "cut the mustard," so to speak, around my house. But there is one exception, and that is Hamburger Helper Crunchy Taco. This Hamburger Helper meal consists of hamburger, a taco seasoning packet (the box says it is Old El Paso brand), rice (the slow-cooking kind ... more on that later), a small package of corn chips and a package of cheese "topping" (think cheap macaroni and cheese ... dried cheese powder where you add milk).

Instructions are to brown 1 pound of hamburger, pour off fat, then add the sauce mix, 3 cups of hot water and the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 25 MINUTES, or until the rice is tender.

I would like to interject a personal comment here, if I may...why on earth would they put slow-cooking rice into a Hamburger Helper meal that's supposed to be "quick and easy" to make??????? I have started substituting Minute Rice whenever I make this dish.

It works just fine and reduces the simmering time to about 5-7 minutes. I have even gotten on the BettyCrocker.com website and submitted my suggestion that they should change the rice in this Hamburger Helper meal to a quick-cooking variety ... we will see what happens!!

Pardon the venting ... meanwhile, back to the recipe! Once the rice is tender, you pour the mixture into a serving dish, drizzle the cheese sauce over the top, and sprinkle on the corn chips.

The flavor of this Hamburger Helper variety is quite tasty, and because it is just a casserole mixture, you can easily add additional ingredients to vary the flavor. For example, I almost always add a can of black beans to the mixture. Add fresh tomatoes, onions, green chilies, even jalapenos. Extra cheese, more chips (Fritos would be wonderful!)

If you find the "taco casserole in a bowl" concept a little bland for your tastes, try Hamburger Helper Crunchy Taco in a variety of Mexican recipes.

• You could spoon this mixture into large tortillas and make burritos.
• You could spoon the mixture into smaller corn tortillas, roll them, place them in a small square pan, pour green chili sauce over them, perhaps a little additional cheddar cheese, green chilies, jalapeno peppers ... and have a scrumptious enchilada dish!
• Spoon the mixture on top of shredded lettuce in a taco salad shell
• Add some of the mixture to a jar of nacho cheese and serve with tortilla chips ... yum!!

Our personal family favorite is to use Hamburger Helper Crunchy Taco in a Mexican Torte.

We make the Hamburger Helper according to directions (except that we use Minute Rice. We mix the chips and cheese into the mixture, and we add a can of black beans!). Spray the bottoms of quiche dishes very lightly with Pam. Place one small corn tortilla in the bottom of each dish. Spread each tortilla with about 1/3 cup of the mixture. You can also add extra ingredients at this time - shredded cheese, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, etc.

Place another corn tortilla on top of the mixture and repeat the process two more times. You will end up with three corn tortillas layered with the Hamburger Helper mixture. Then pour canned (or homemade, if you have it!) green chili over the layers, sprinkle on more shredded cheese and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes (just long enough to melt the cheese and blend the flavors).

All in all, if your family likes Mexican food, this is a Hamburger Helper variety that they are probably going to love! And one other note of interest: it apparently is gluten-free, according to the website shown below.