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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Similar to what we made when growing up. Used tomato juice instead of chicken broth. May try both liquids when I make. Thanks for the recipe brings back great memories. Cute puppy. Love the name. My two kitties were Honey and Barley!
Looks good and of course Butters is too precious for words.
Looks delicious – and Butters is precious!
Butters is adorable! Cannot believe you even posted after your day. You’re a new mom now…go play with your bundle of joy as much as you can and take tomorrow off!! 🙂
This is such easy mac n cheese. I rarely make it b/c it always takes me forever to make…so this is perfect!
It’s a miracle as to how I even got a post up. Last night was a whirlwind of craziness!
The recipe looks so warm and yummy. We are having lots of rain now but it is really nice to see the warm recipes.
And the expression in dog’s eyes is so soft and lovely. I have a large poodle with me now and the time with him is really nice. My dog is named as coffee. And I love the name Butters.
I love that you named your poodle after a food item too!
made this for the family last night, went down a treat with everyone including my very fussy daughter, the entire clan said they would deffo eat it again.
Thank you for adding to my recipe collection
looks good and I will try it – but why only 3/4 can of each bean? I will try using a whole can of each. Can always add more broth.
Terry, there are only 3/4 cups canned beans because 1 whole can each is a bit much with the rest of the ingredients. But feel free to use more as needed!
And it says 3/4 cup, not 3/4 can….unless that’s what it comes out to 🙂 I am making this today!! Looks fabulous and we have 8-9 inches of snow and ice and more coming tomorrow. Good day for this pot of ‘warmth’!!
I added one can of each, def. wasn’t overpowering with the other ingredients, I also found the tomatoes to not be enough, so next time two cans of tomatoes.
Hi Chungah, because of your recipe, i won a chili contest at work. I’m an Executive Assistant in Finance and am always bringing food in for my co-workers to try. We had a “tail gate” event and had a chili contest and because of your Chili Mac & Cheese dish, and my own spin with spices, I WON THE BLUE RIBBON! I served it with a creamy jalapeno sauce for extra kick and made bite size pieces of corn bread! THANK YOU … and love, love, love that Butters! If i didn’t have 2 cats, i’d consider a baby like yours! God Bless both of you and keep up the amazing work. Oh, yeah, your cookbook is to die for, CONGRATULATIONS!
Joanne,
Can you tell us more about your jalapeno cream sauce and your spinny spices?
🙂 Sounds amazeballs.
-M
Hi Chungah, just saw that you posted my comment and replied, how exciting is that! You’re amazing. I couldn’t find the recipe so i looked it up on your website and saw my note and was like WOW! So you answer your question, here is the creamy jalapeno sauce I used as a side sauce for my already spicy dish!
It makes about 1 1/4 cups
the INGREDIENTS are
5-6 jalapeños stemmed, seeded, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil (such as grapeseed)
3/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems
PREPARATION
Pulse jalapeños, garlic, lime juice, and salt in a blender or food processor until puréed. With motor running, slowly drizzle in oil until a thick sauce forms. Add cilantro and pulse a few times until chopped and incorporated. Taste and add more jalapeño, if necessary.
Do Ahead
Sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated.
Any my spices are a little of this and little of that. I have something called HELL FLAKES they have a nice kick! I just sprinkle and taste, sprinkle and taste till it has enough WOW factor! Thanks for asking. Wishing you and Butters a Wonderful day.
I have a (M) Sheltie, and his name is “SUNDANCE KID”, here in N. Las Vegas we have a restaurant by that name. I asked him hey you didn’t tell ma ma. I am going to try it out, oh yes he has his mother her too and they are both “SERVICE DOGGIES”. CHUNG-AH, love your recipes, and the photos of your furry family and with your husband. I also have to say you are “CUTE”.. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Made this and lost all my broth due to the noodles cooking in it. I wouldn’t cook the noodles in the broth. It’s also hard to measure out 10 ounces of noodles. It’s a guesstimate.
I also didn’t see the point of the cheese. It added no flavor to the soup just calories
It’s not supposed to be soup, it’s Chili Mac n Cheese! The broth is supposed to cook out, and you kind of need cheese in a Mac n Cheese dish!
The cheese makes it. I used medium cheddar, fabulous!
This recipe caught my eye because it had a richness not seen in the others and so I thought to give it a try. As others mentioned, 10 oz of macaroni is hard to measure out (unless you have a scale-I don’t) lemme offer my suggestions, some of which I will apply the next time I make this and some I’ve tried this go-round.
It’s important to note my suggestions are based on the fact I used 4, 1/3 lb. burger patties I had on hand- I was planning on burgers that night.
Now on to my suggestions:
1. Use 5 cups of chicken broth that way you can use the whole 16 ounce box of elbow macaroni. (I followed the 4 cups listed, but estimated the macaroni. Based on the macaroni remaining in the box and meat to macaroni ratio, I could have used the whole box with some extra chicken broth)
2. For a creamier texture, use a prego creamy cheddar cheese sauce!
3. For extra convenience I used a combination of chili seasoning, some ranch seasoning, and taco seasoning packets- again, what I had in my pantry.
4. Next time: I’ll add some red pepper flakes, and sauté jalapeño slices with onions and meat.
5. Use a meat substitute like Morning Star crumble or other and this becomes a wonderful vegetarian option! (Use vegan cheese, omit the hidden valley ranch seasoning and it’s vegan)
Thanks for the recipe!