Review of Velveeta Cheesy Skillets Nacho Supreme
Good Ol' ground beef
If you have a pound of ground beef there are so many things you can do with it. Thanks to packaged dinner kits, that pound of ground beef doesn't have to be boring. Hamburger Helper makes tasty meals by just adding pasta, powdered seasoning and some water and Velveeta Cheesy Skillets add two more ingredients (a packet of salsa and a package of a creamy cheese) and add even more flavor to a quick meal.
To prepare a meal with this package, you will need a pound of ground beef browned in a large skillet, 2 cups of water and about 20 minutes.
Preparing it
This is so easy to prepare. Brown a pound of ground beef in the large skillet. The instructions on the package say to drain it after cooking it, but I find that if you use 90% lean (sirloin) or leaner, there is so little fat that it does not need to be drained. Next, add the water, seasoning and pasta. Bring it to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring often.
By that time most of the water should be gone and it is time to stir in the cheese sauce and the salsa. That's all that is involved in preparing this meal.
Comparing it
Now that we know how to prepare it and we know it is similar to the classic, Hamburger Helper Beef Pasta, let's compare the two products and note a few differences.
Main Similarities:
The first few preparation and cooking steps are the same, and until the final two steps and ingredients, both products even look the same. Both are easy and quick to prepare.
Both use pasta and beef as the main ingredients in the meal.
Quality is about the same for both products.
Fat, cholesterol and sodium levels are about the same for both products.
Both list their package as having 5 servings.
Main Differences
Velveeta Cheesy Skillets Nacho Supreme has the added ingredients of salsa and cheese sauce. This addition adds a wonderful bit of flavor (zing, zip, perhaps). It has a very bold and lively flavor. The beef spices for this dish by themselves, remind me of eating a taco. The addition does add an extra two steps to the process, but only at the end and it is just a matter of stirring well.
The added ingredients also add to the total calories per serving. (360 as opposed to 280)
Total carbs are slightly higher (31 grams vs 21 grams)
Dietary fiber is 2grams for the Cheesy Skillets Nacho Supreme and less than 1 gram for Hamburger Helper Beef Pasta.
COST:
At the WalMart Supercenter near me in September 2011, Velveeta Cheesy Skillets (any flavor) sell for $1.75 and Hamburger Helper varieties sell for $1.50 or a twin pack for $2.50, so the Hamburger Helper is a little less expensive.
A few after-thoughts on the Nacho Supreme dinner kit...
My overall opinion of this product is that it is a more sophisticated and flavorful version of Hamburger Helper. It is a good cross between a boxed dinner and something outside of the box.
That being said, I might actually consider making this meal myself without buying the kit. Based on what my taste-buds tell me, I could make this by buying taco seasoning and mixing it with ground beef, salsa, melted cheese and noodles. The fun part about doing that would be that I could adjust the intensity and strength of each ingredient. I could also use different types of salsa or different types of cheese. There are many different variations on this.
If you are trying to avoid red meat, I suggest trying to make this dish with ground turkey or ground chicken, or even deer meat if you have some.
********AFTER WRITING THIS COMPARISON, I REALIZED THAT HAMBURGER HELPER HAS A LINE OF CHEESY, MEXICAN DISHES THAT I WILL TRY to PERHAPS COMPARE WITH THIS*********
