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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I made this last night and it was wonderful! My family isn’t a huge fan of tomatoes so I only used half a can of petite diced tomatoes. We also swapped out white beans for black beans and used almost two cups of sharp cheddar cheese! It was a huge hit, thank you for sharing!
Just made this and yes it is a twist on traditional Chilli Mac. I loved it!
Thank you for sharing. This is as easy as they say – 30 minutes DONE! 🙂
Love this recipe and will be featuring it on my Monday Moments.
I saw this on Buzzfeed and made it last night! SO GOOD! I used ground turkey, lots o’ hot sauce and cheese, but otherwise followed the recipe. I will be visiting your blog regularly; you have great recipes!
Great recipe – a huge hit with my whole family! I think weighing the pasta is important because 10 oz is just the right amount for the liquid. Thanks for sharing!
Just wanted to drop in and say how much we enjoyed this easy, one pot dinner! I actually doubled the recipe…boy did it make a ton! Lucky for my neighbors and friends, they enjoyed your chili mac recipe tonight also 😉
I used what I had…added a can of tomato sauce, and used pinto and white northern beans. The rest I followed per directions. When doubling the recipe, I just used a 1lb box of macaroni and it seems to work out perfectly.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
If i wanted to leave out the meat would i reduce the broth?
Yes, the liquid should be reduced to compensate for the lack of meat in this dish.
How much should I reduce the broth if I leave out the meat?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
White kidney beans are also called cannelli beans…I probably didn’t spell that right bush beans carry them
I made with ground chicken and used all white beans (was cooking for someone who doesn’t eat beef) and this was really good. I’ll make again for sure. I want to try with beef as well. Thanks for the recipe.
Made this last night and must say it was a huge hit! I want to make it every week now. Thanks!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit with everyone! Such a great one-pot meal. Love all of your simple and tasty recipes.
I kind of fudged the amounts in this recipe to use (a lot) of leftovers from a chili cookoff at my university and holy moly, this was so good. I made the mistake of sharing it with my residence hall, and there was none left.
I really enjoyed this dinner but unfortunately my hubby did not. He is not much of a chili fan though. I found this dish super simple to prepare.
Good recipe and all, but the portion it makes is much too small if men are eating.
If you guys are heavy eaters, then yes, by all means, I recommend doubling the recipe! If anything, the leftovers are also amazing.
I made this and it was very good! Even though it tasted delicious it came out very dark in color (like dark gravy color). It did not look bright and colorful like the photo. Any suggestions on what I may have done for it to turn so dark? My kids were not impressed with the presentation. Any thoughts would be welcome!
Angi, I’m not entirely sure why it came out so dark in color. Did you follow the ingredient list as is? If all else fails, you can always top it off with a little bit of grated cheese – extra cheese always get me more excited about my meal 🙂
Maybe she forgot to drain and rinse the beans? That would darken it some, if you forgot to do that.
Have you tried freezing this recipe? Would you add the cheese before freezing or after it’s been heated once it’s been thawed out?
Michelle, unfortunately I have not tried freezing this (there were no leftovers to freeze 🙂 so I cannot answer this with certainty. I recommend using your best judgement for freezing/reheating options.
Made this tonight – an easy, impromptu dinner. Really enjoy it. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!! I add our favorite toppings just like we were having chili, delicious. I could’t believe how easy this was.
Thanks so much!
Cuteness overload! And, we’re making this for dinner.
Thanks!
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