Hamburger Helper Sales Rise as Americans Try to Stretch Their Food Dollars

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/business/hamburger-helper-food-prices.html

[Sighlass]

It was on sale for little over a buck the other day... I bought some... little salty for my diet.

[roamer_1]

I never could eat hamburger helper. Makes me sh*t bricks... No, I mean real bricks. I could build a house.

[Cyber Liberty]

I never could eat hamburger helper. Makes me sh*t bricks... No, I mean real bricks. I could build a house.

The salt would kill you first.  Mrs. Liberty is far too good a chef for me to even think of eating that slop!

[Wingnut]

Up next, NYT claims Americans have resorted to eating cat food.

[Cyber Liberty]

Up next, NYT claims Americans have resorted to eating cat food.

I don't see the benefit of eating HH, to be honest.  I don't think of it as very cheap, and you don't have to be on a salt restricted diet to say, "Woah, that's bad for me!"

[roamer_1]

The salt would kill you first.  Mrs. Liberty is far too good a chef for me to even think of eating that slop!

I like the taste of it. I like that it is fast and convenient. My whole problem with it is that four or five days after I eat it, I am involuntarily turned into a masonry factory.  Same with Tuna Helper.

In fact, I used it for the baseline for my own Double Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole, which is far superior and contains no concrete mix of any kind.

[Hoodat]

Who can afford hamburger?  Yesterday, I paid over $20 for three pounds of ground beef to make spaghetti sauce.  Chicken is still a bargain.

[Wingnut]

Who can afford hamburger?  Yesterday, I paid over $20 for three pounds of ground beef to make spaghetti sauce.  Chicken is still a bargain.

You could always cook a dog.  I hear Ohbama found them tasty. 

[roamer_1]

Who can afford hamburger?  Yesterday, I paid over $20 for three pounds of ground beef to make spaghetti sauce.  Chicken is still a bargain.

70/30 is about 4 bucks a pound around here.

[Wingnut]

I like the taste of it. I like that it is fast and convenient. My whole problem with it is that four or five days after I eat it, I am involuntarily turned into a masonry factory.  Same with Tuna Helper.

In fact, I used it for the baseline for my own Double Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole, which is far superior and contains no concrete mix of any kind.

Good news is you could make a mud hut out of them.  Stacking shit so high made easy.  Ikea

[roamer_1]

Good news is you could make a mud hut out of them.  Stacking shit so high made easy.  Ikea

I thought of that. Not very cheap, and certainly not very easy, even after you get past the leading corners. 

Nope. Bad idea. No concrete in the ol bung hole, thank you very much. 

[Sighlass]

We did process two of our male ducks the other day... haven't had duck in a while.

Neighbors gave us 5 ducks and we raised them in the chicken electric fence not know which were male/female. After a while the males make a different sound than the females so we could id them. Our church has a group process day a few times a year where you take your foul and everyone works to process them.

My search engine is "Duck Duck Gone".... (ok, bad joke).

[mystery-ak]

Well I think the last time I had HH was when I was first married....is it still the same?

I you are on a budget and can afford hamburger just get a bag of buns and make hamburgers got to be better than HH...

[Smokin Joe]

Well I think the last time I had HH was when I was first married....is it still the same?

I you are on a budget and can afford hamburger just get a bag of buns and make hamburgers got to be better than HH...

Hamburger, an onion (chopped), macaroni, a can of stewed or diced tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. "Hangover soup".

[mystery-ak]

Hamburger, an onion (chopped), macaroni, a can of stewed or diced tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. "Hangover soup".

Add some chili powder, cumin and pepper flakes and you have chili mac...

[Smokin Joe]

Add some chili powder, cumin and pepper flakes and you have chili mac...

[roamer_1]

We did process two of our male ducks the other day... haven't had duck in a while.

Neighbors gave us 5 ducks and we raised them in the chicken electric fence not know which were male/female. After a while the males make a different sound than the females so we could id them. Our church has a group process day a few times a year where you take your foul and everyone works to process them.

My search engine is "Duck Duck Gone".... (ok, bad joke).

You're gonna get a kick out of this one...
So I have a townie friend. He bought him one of them mini-ranches, a little 5 acre piece, and set himself up to be a gentleman farmer.

Well, he knew that chickens were the 'entry-level' animals... So he builds himself a big ol coop - Bought him a Home Depot shed and planted a chicken run around three sides of it. And in this monstrous coop, he sets 4 young hens and a rooster.

Well, chicken math, and all that... and chickens did what chickens do... He was trying to be all natural, so he let broody gals set.

Soon enough he's over here crying to me, because these damn chickens have overrun the place - They don't fit in the chicken run anymore, roosters kicking the crap out of each other all of the time... and they are sh*tting absolutely everywhere... He'd given away all he could along the way, but these dang chickens were eating him out of house and home... He had a flock of 50 by then...And he was miserable.

Well, YOU know how this goes @Sighlass ... I set him down and splained the error of his ways, and the ultimate sum total of chicken math.

I suggested he should partition off a bro pen, separate all the roosters but one or maybe two, and put em in there.From now on, all roosters in the bro pen. THEN I told him that any rooster that hit the 4 pound mark or better, needed an immediate trip to freezer camp. He needed to murder em, eviscerate em, and stuff em in a freezer bag, and begin the process of turning em all into poo.

I thought he was gonna sick up. The shock on his face.... He couldn't bear it. I have seen that face enough times to know it's coming,  but it's still funny.

Then I told him he had to roll out his elder gals - anybody over 3 years that weren't laying good anymore, and murder them too.

It took him a couple more months before he manned up. He bought all the gear, and he, his wife, and I butchered 25 chickens in their first ever freezer run.

Sanity ensued. His egg production is way up (he can find em now, because they're laying in the boxes) He has a freezer full of meat, he's trimmed them down to something like 12 bright, new hens, and one rooster.

Now granted - That first run was gonna be a whole lot of soup and casserole birds. Pretty tough... But he'll get through em all right. 

[Wingnut]

We did process two of our male ducks the other day... haven't had duck in a while.

Neighbors gave us 5 ducks and we raised them in the chicken electric fence not know which were male/female. After a while the males make a different sound than the females so we could id them. Our church has a group process day a few times a year where you take your foul and everyone works to process them.

My search engine is "Duck Duck Gone".... (ok, bad joke).

Reminds of the lad who worked his duck into a good time.

[Sighlass]

You're gonna get a kick out of this one...
So I have a townie friend. He bought him one of them mini-ranches, a little 5 acre piece, and set himself up to be a gentleman farmer.

Well, he knew that chickens were the 'entry-level' animals... So he builds himself a big ol coop - Bought him a Home Depot shed and planted a chicken run around three sides of it. And in this monstrous coop, he sets 4 young hens and a rooster.

Well, chicken math, and all that... and chickens did what chickens do... He was trying to be all natural, so he let broody gals set.

Soon enough he's over here crying to me, because these damn chickens have overrun the place - They don't fit in the chicken run anymore, roosters kicking the crap out of each other all of the time... and they are sh*tting absolutely everywhere... He'd given away all he could along the way, but these dang chickens were eating him out of house and home... He had a flock of 50 by then...And he was miserable.

Well, YOU know how this goes @Sighlass ... I set him down and splained the error of his ways, and the ultimate sum total of chicken math.

I suggested he should partition off a bro pen, separate all the roosters but one or maybe two, and put em in there.From now on, all roosters in the bro pen. THEN I told him that any rooster that hit the 4 pound mark or better, needed an immediate trip to freezer camp. He needed to murder em, eviscerate em, and stuff em in a freezer bag, and begin the process of turning em all into poo.

I thought he was gonna sick up. The shock on his face.... He couldn't bear it. I have seen that face enough times to know it's coming,  but it's still funny.

Then I told him he had to roll out his elder gals - anybody over 3 years that weren't laying good anymore, and murder them too.

It took him a couple more months before he manned up. He bought all the gear, and he, his wife, and I butchered 25 chickens in their first ever freezer run.

Sanity ensued. His egg production is way up (he can find em now, because they're laying in the boxes) He has a freezer full of meat, he's trimmed them down to something like 12 bright, new hens, and one rooster.

Now granted - That first run was gonna be a whole lot of soup and casserole birds. Pretty tough... But he'll get through em all right. 

Son enjoyed your story.... He is a pretty good city chicken farmer... It is his game, I just built the chicken tractor.... He added the electric fence option a few month back so they have more roaming room and it keeps the stray dogs/cats/raccoons/possums/fox at bay.

[roamer_1]

Son enjoyed your story.... He is a pretty good city chicken farmer... It is his game, I just built the chicken tractor.... He added the electric fence option a few month back so they have more roaming room and it keeps the stray dogs/cats/raccoons/possums/fox at bay.

Funny how things are different place to place, yet still the same.
I did that chicken tractor thing for a while. Poultry nets and all that. Didn't work for me.

I had four of them units at my peak... But I still needed a coop. Snow. 2 feet of snow, heck, even 6 or 8 inches of snow, and them tractors were dead in the water... er, snow. Till next spring, pretty much. I tried plowing em out... plowing a run off of em... so they could move again. No good. Too much work.

So I built up. That worked alright... The tractors slid under a raised coop in the winter - But that was too complicated. The chickens had trouble laying up in the coop and the eggs would freeze down in the tractors.

So I went to a chickshaw - A kinda high-wheeled mini coop, highly dependent upon poultry nets... STILL no - Shoveling out and moving nets didn't work, and they'd short out in tall snow... predators delight.

So Coop. A nice, big, heated coop with a covered run...
WITH chickshaws. In the summer, chickshaws and poultry nets. Just like y'all down south.

In the winter, the chickshaws plug into the coop - the doors left open to the coop interior. an insulated poo tray is installed along the bottom of the shaws, and reusable insulated panels surround them. So the chickens love the palace... They'd still lay where they always did. They'd still roost where they always did. But the eggs didn't freeze, so long as I kept after em, the chickens had a nice heated shed with light control (helps with laying - Chickens don't lay well in short days) and a run I could cover in the deep winter, so they could still go outside and scratch.

All it meant for me was cleaning a coop all winter, and emptying the poo trays, which had a scraper in em that would self-clean em by sliding em out and back... and about 20 or 30 gallons of diesel for the heater... But better, unfrozen eggs, a controlled environment and a single path to keep plowed.

That's how it worked best up here.

[mountaineer]

Who can afford hamburger?  Yesterday, I paid over $20 for three pounds of ground beef to make spaghetti sauce.  Chicken is still a bargain.

Exactly. I wait for a decent sale price or a coupon to buy ground chuck.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Exactly. I wait for a decent sale price or a coupon to buy ground chuck.

I've heard recommendations to mix it with pork/turkey/chicken to make it stretch out a little.

[DefiantMassRINO]

https://youtu.be/bkExpbnjsX8

[BobfromWB]

It was on sale for little over a buck the other day... I bought some... little salty for my diet.

Just use the old time recipe from the 40s: loaf of the cheapest bread ( absorbs the grease, adds flavor and bulk ) use a slice's white parts pulled into small bits [ no crust  ), add finely chopped white onion in mixing bowl with bread bits, mix, kneed both into burger meat, make patties, cook. Salt, pepper optional.

[GtHawk]

Up next, NYT claims Americans have resorted to eating cat food.

at about $3.15 and up a pound it’s s till cheaper than hamburger for now, but if there is a run on it by by cash starved Americans that old supply and demand thingy will likely kick in.

[GtHawk]

70/30 is about 4 bucks a pound around here.

80/20 runs about $10 a pound where I am.

[Polly Ticks]

Just use the old time recipe from the 40s: loaf of the cheapest bread ( absorbs the grease, adds flavor and bulk ) use a slice's white parts pulled into small bits [ no crust  ), add finely chopped white onion in mixing bowl with bread bits, mix, kneed both into burger meat, make patties, cook. Salt, pepper optional.

Yep.  We grew up on "mini-meatloaf" and SOS.

[GtHawk]

Who can afford hamburger?  Yesterday, I paid over $20 for three pounds of ground beef to make spaghetti sauce.  Chicken is still a bargain.

I don’t buy hamburger anymore, or hamburger helper. I instead will make Hungarian Lecso, some describe it a vegetable stew or ragu. I will eat it alone, sometimes with a nice bread, or over some noodles. Way tastier that Hamburger Helper and since I am only cooking for one right now I get several meals out of it.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/hungarian-lecso-tomato-pepper-stew-recipe-1136692

[berdie]

Yep.  We grew up on "mini-meatloaf" and SOS.

Love me some SOS.

The last time I bought HH, on sale, it had been years since I had it. Very, very salty (as is SOS). And not nearly as good as I remembered. I can whip something up an imitation that is better.

[roamer_1]

80/20 runs about $10 a pound where I am.

As the Japanese say: "Hory Clap!'

That's insane.

[roamer_1]

Love me some SOS.

Me too - in spirit anyway. It's been a long, long time since I had plain ol SOS... Like everything, you've gotta jack it up 

Try frying up the burger meat with some onion, g.pepper, celery in the pan too... And jalapenos maybe, if you've got em (well, of course YOU'VE got em, it's all Texas down there by you  ) Amd when it's all worried up and done frying, when the burger is starting to turn a good brown, and the celery has the right bite, drain the pan and dump in a can of mushroom soup. Throw all that over a couple pieces of fat-ass texas toast, and then you've got something. 

[Wingnut]

Yep.  We grew up on "mini-meatloaf" and SOS.

Kinda like SOS.  Mom also serve us what she called Brazed beef on Toast dry.   It was just hamburger crumbles pilled on white toast.

[Cyber Liberty]

Kinda like SOS.  Mom also serve us what she called Brazed beef on Toast dry.   It was just hamburger crumbles pilled on white toast.

We do SOS every few weeks here.

[mountaineer]

I'd love to make a big ol' 2-3# meat loaf just like my mother made, but not at these prices!
Our prices: $5 or more per pound; hers 69 cents per pound.

[Wingnut]

We do SOS every few weeks here.

What do they get for a package of Chipped Beef these days?

[Smokin Joe]

As the Japanese say: "Hory Clap!'

That's insane.

Well, we know at became of the golden calf...

Depends on fat content and sales around these parts, but average runs about $6/lb. Sometimes ground chuck is cheaper than the 80/20, so shop around. If it comes up as a loss leader, stock up. That's what the freezer is for.

[berdie]

What do they get for a package of Chipped Beef these days?

I can buy a little jar of dried beef for 4$. But I get 2 meals off of it. Stouffers used to sell SOS but I haven't seen it in a long time.

[berdie]

Me too - in spirit anyway. It's been a long, long time since I had plain ol SOS... Like everything, you've gotta jack it up 

Try frying up the burger meat with some onion, g.pepper, celery in the pan too... And jalapenos maybe, if you've got em (well, of course YOU'VE got em, it's all Texas down there by you  ) Amd when it's all worried up and done frying, when the burger is starting to turn a good brown, and the celery has the right bite, drain the pan and dump in a can of mushroom soup. Throw all that over a couple pieces of fat-ass texas toast, and then you've got something. 

You are a lot fancier than me @roamer_1  However...I might try this at some point. Usually, if I'm gonna sin with SOS, I go traditional. I have used hamburger...but none of the other ingredients you listed.

[Wingnut]

I can buy a little jar of dried beef for 4$. But I get 2 meals off of it. Stouffers used to sell SOS but I haven't seen it in a long time.

 

[Cyber Liberty]

What do they get for a package of Chipped Beef these days?

We take a couple packages of   Budding beef for sandwiches and cut into small pieces.

[libertybele]

I haven't done grocery shopping in awhile and have no idea the cost of ground beef these days.   

Hamburger helper?  I'd rather have just plain spaghetti with meat sauce. .... maybe spice it up a little bit with Italian sausage meatballs and a little extra parmesean cheese.

[berdie]

We take a couple packages of   Budding beef for sandwiches and cut into small pieces.

I did that for a while...until I couldn't find Budding Beef any more.

[roamer_1]

You are a lot fancier than me @roamer_1  However...I might try this at some point. Usually, if I'm gonna sin with SOS, I go traditional. I have used hamburger...but none of the other ingredients you listed.

I am getting to be rather fond of canned beef - I have been getting it from Wally World by the piece, but my last order was a half rack (12) of 1lb cans for 40 bucks.

Not real great meat, but it is well cooked and soft. And canned, so it can keep forever... And the water from the can makes a decent gravy (butter roux, caramel to coffee)

The canned beef at Costco is better (and way more money), but they never have it around. There are also options on Amazon I have not tried yet.

[mystery-ak]

We do SOS every few weeks here.

I like SOS with hamburger....We like biscuits and gravy for an evening meal...a pound of pork sausage and can of biscuits...sometimes I make them with Bisquick...

[libertybele]

I like SOS with hamburger....We like biscuits and gravy for an evening meal...a pound of pork sausage and can of biscuits...sometimes I make them with Bisquick...

I love biscuits and gravy; we usually have it for Sunday brunch.

[Cyber Liberty]

I love biscuits and gravy; we usually have it for Sunday brunch.

 

[Bigun]

I love biscuits and gravy; we usually have it for Sunday brunch.

It's a regular breakfast item for us. At least once a week.

[roamer_1]

I like SOS with hamburger....We like biscuits and gravy for an evening meal...a pound of pork sausage and can of biscuits...sometimes I make them with Bisquick...

I used to do biscuits and gravy using JennyO's turkey hot breakfast sausage - Not enough grease in it for the flour to take to.... Had to add butter for the roux...

But it turned out grand = Not greasy, which is my usual complaint with white gravy (I cannot stand biscuits and gravy from a diner).

But I always made scratch biscuits for that. Never had much use for Bisquik,with as easy as it is to scratch build. All you're saving is mixing the dry goods... flour, baking powder, and maybe a touch of sugar and salt... Other than that, it's the same dang process.

One thing I do miss using canned biscuits... Spread em over with Dinty Moore stew.There's something about it.

Even the dog food smell when you crack open the can... 

[LMAO]

Remember when stories like this would have members  here blasting the White House occupant?
Those were the days

Americans reduced to using crap like hamburger helper to stretch their food dollars …. The last time I read stories like this was in the late 1970s.

This is terrible. And as most food items prices continue to rise and jobs get tougher to find, guess who the American people are going to hold accountable? And Bernie Sanders will start sounding pretty good to voters

I know it’s hard to believe for some, but Trump and the GOP are not immune from the same dynamics that cost Harris and the Democrats in 2024