One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
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Two favorite comfort foods come together in this super easy, 30 min one-pot meal that the whole family will go crazy for!
So after 2 long months of waiting and waiting, I finally brought our new puppy home today. Here is the newest member of the Damn Delicious family – Butters, our 10-week old Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
It’s been a very long day as I sit by hyperventilating each time he whines, but apparently that’s quite normal in the puppy world. So forgive me for today’s short post!
So about this mac and cheese. Now it’s definitely not your ordinary mac and cheese. It’s mac and cheese combined with a super easy homemade chili using pantry ingredients, combining two of your favorite kind of comfort foods in a single one pot meal. It’s quick, easy and sure to be a hit with the entire family. You can’t beat that!
One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- ¾ cup canned white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 10 ounces elbow macaroni
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground beef and onion, and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in pasta. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 13-15 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Top with cheese and cover until melted, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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This stuff is the BOMB!! I just made it and yes I used a whole package of hamburger, all of the cans of beans and extra chili powder and cumin. It was great, I can’t wait to make it again!! Thank you for sharing!
I am so excited to make this recipe. But I cant tell if the pasta is cooked or not when added. Thanks
Yashika, the pasta is uncooked to begin with – that’s the beauty of a one pot meal!
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it! I’m just curious on what size your Dutch oven is? Thanks!
I used a 3-qt Dutch oven.
Made this tonight for my family. Its cold, raining & everyones catchin a cold bug. I wanted something healthy, satisfying, tasty & quick. I added 1/4 cup of leftover corn (my daughter loves corn). The canned beans held about 1 cup & I like lots of beans in chili so I went ahead & used the full cans worth Of drained & rinsed beans (didn’t want 1/4 cup of each left over). I served it with a dollop of sour cream & a pinch of extra shredded cheddar on top. I might add a third clove of garlic & a tiny bit of red pepper flakes next time. This is a great recipe that’s forgiving of mild tinkerings.
I tried it & it was so yummy. My Friend’s loved it too. Eas to make
I make this meal at least twice a month. The whole family absolutely loves it! Thank you so much. It’s so hard to make them all happy.
Chungah,
I absolutely love your comfort food recipes. I am currently living in Seoul and sometimes all it takes to cure homesickness is one delicious meal. A lot of your recipes include things I can easily find here in Korea. Thank you for that.
This chili-mac recipe is an absolute must when the weather turns to fall and thoughts of family on the other side of the world come to mind. 🙂
Have you ever made the recipe with black beans or chili beans instead of the white beans? Any thoughts on that?
~감사함니다!~
Stephanie
You are very welcome! I actually haven’t tried this recipe with other beans but I’m sure it would be a great substitute!
Hello-
First I would like to say how happy I am to have found your website. I have made a few of your dishes and I could not be more impressed. My husband and I have three kiddos and many of your dishes are not very time consuming, which helps out around my house. 🙂 I do have a question….Do you think it would make much of a difference if I were to use vegetable stock instead of the chicken broth? I was planning on making this for dinner this evening but for some reason I purchased vegetable stock instead of the chicken broth.
Yes, that should be just fine!
Loved this recipe! Made it tonight since my daughter had soccer practice it was quick and easy. Made a little more so I could have some left over and also added some spinach to it…always trying to add (sneak) some greens in when I can! Thanks!
This looks really yummy! Do you know if it will freeze well? I would love to make as a freezer meal for a new mommy that I know.
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Okay. Thanks. I’m gonna give it a go. I hope it works okay :/
How did the freezing and reheating go?
Just came across this recipie….looks delicious…….but the Corgi! OMG!!! I have a corgi named Otto, they are just the cutest puppies and the best dogs ever! Enjoy your pup
Not sure about the recipe but you corgi is adorable. I have two.
Thank you! We are thinking about adopting another corgi soon. Hopefully, a tri-colored corgi this time.
As for the recipe, I hope you will give it a try. It’s one of our favorites!
I love your recipes, also the pic of your puppy Butter. I also think you are so cute!! Every time I see your recipes I know they are going to be delicious and printable. Enjoy your new puppy and give it lots of TLC, the pup will love you back with unconditional love!!!
We aren’t bean fans…will I need to adjust the recipe at all if I take those out? Sounds delicious otherwise! 🙂
Kristi, you can certainly omit the beans but I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish.
Thanks for this recipe! made it earlier and it was a success!! hubby loved it he served himself 4 bowls full! did it on the slowcooker. and ate it with garlic bread
This looks yummy, will have to try it , congrats on your Corgi, we had two for 15 years and 3 litters of puppies. Wonderful little dogs with big dog personalities!
This looks amazing! Gonna make it tonight, but substituting veggie ground round for the meat. Can’t wait!
This chili is SUPER good! I doubled the recipe but used a bit less broth, and used beef broth for half. I would say it will be almost 8-10 servings. Well, anyway – my kids loved it since it was not too spicy but very flavorful, and I loved it even though I don’t like noodles. Yummy.
I’m planning on making this for college friends coming over tonight and wondering if I’m doubling the recipe should I double the chicken broth too? I’m afraid it will be to liquidy
I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried doubling this myself but you can certainly use 1.5x more broth to be on the safe side.
Can this be made in a crockpot?
Haylie, this recipe is tailor-made as a one pot meal on the stovetop. I recommend using your own judgement to convert this recipe to utilize a slow cooker.