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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Made this the first time and it was awesome! I did tweak the recipe a bit. Being a Texan, we do know our chili.
I added:
about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
switched the chicken broth for beef stock
added 2 cans of red kidney beans
added more chili powder and cumin
I also used mini rotini instead of macaroni
Came out great and very flavorful. My 17 yr old son went nuts for it. Its one of his favorite dishes now. He even learned how to make it so he can do so when he gets out on his own.
I recently made this for my family, it’s delicious! I used crushed tomatoes because my boys are picky. I will definitely make this again, it’s simple and super tasty!!!
I made adjustments to suit my family’s taste. I cooked it for 30 minutes before and added 1/2 a pack of chili seasoning, salt,1/2 a block of cream cheese and a can of rotel. I only used a cup of elbow macaroni and it was a perfect ratio. My husband and picky son absolutely loved it. We added a dollop of sour cream. Thanks for sharing, this recipe was easy and will definitely make again
Can the chili mac be prepared in a slow cooker???
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I believe if you add the macaroni to the crock pot the last 15 minutes and cook on high it should probably work out
Doubled the meat, a little more pasta, half the broth and twice the crushed tomatoes. Can of black beans. Came out great. Not soupy.
One of my fav weeknight recipes!
Love this recipe! This is more like a chili mac but its great! I usually adjust the noodles to 2 cups and and a full cup of cheese to make it a little more thick. Make all the time 🙂
So glad you loved it!
Very easy recipe made with common ingredients I had laying around! After reading the reviews I decided to cut the liquid in half. Instead of 4 cups of chicken broth, I used 2 cups. This made it thicker, more like a hamburger helper. I also used 1lb of hamburger meat. We loved it!
This was good and a quick meal to make my family. If your expecting creamy Mac and cheese, or thick chili you would probably be let down. It’s more of a soup. But it’s deliteful and flavorful. I added some red pepper flakes for some spice and a squeeze from a slice of lime! It was yummy! My son loved it.
I absolutely love this recipe and have made it several times now. I’m not the best cook, but for the past two years (since I started dating my boyfriend) I’ve been trying to slowly get better and learn new recipes. This recipe tasted so good, but was also simple enough for a novice and not yet confident cook like me to do. Also, I’m a vegetarian and often struggle to find easy meals that my vegetarian self and meat-eating boyfriend can both enjoy while I still get the protein I need. I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t add any ground meat to it- I split the macaroni mix into two portions at the end and my boyfriend and I added our meat or “meat” to it. It has always turned out amazing and I’m going to be making it for a fourth time tomorrow.
We love this recipe. I’ve been making it for a long time. Thank you!
Oh my gawd I made this as a soup i thought it was a MAC an cheeseburger soup it was so good it was so delish I would try it as a soup also I preboiled the macaroni then finidpshed it in the soup it turned out excellent my fam jam said I was an awesome cook hahaha
Im.using leftover chili I made in the instant pot last night. Adding the cheese and macaroni noodles. If I have leftovers, can I freeze it?
Yes, it freezes pretty well, but I do recommend leaving any dairy out prior to freezing and adding when reheating. But as always, please use your best judgment when freezing and reheating.
Loved this …thank you
This looks tasty and easy. I wonder if it can be frozen in portions.
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Another lovely “concoction” which I will duplicate. Love the puppy! Keep the good stuff coming!
The recipe for the Chili Mac and Cheese is not showing up in the link – just and FYI!!! ( I want to make it this weekend, so . . .)
Thanks,
Alixe
My apologies. The website is undergoing a system update. The recipes will be available very soon! Thank you so much for your patience.
yes….I almost started crying…i hope to make it this weekend
Wow I just made this recipe and it’s delicious! My fiance said he’d marry me today but of course I couldn’t take credit. Thank you!!
This is AMAZING! My family loved it! It is super filling and there was even leftovers.
Have made it several times… love it!! I use one pound of spicy pork sausage, two onions, and brown it very well. Then the garlic and spices, so every layer is seasoned. I used the Rotel original diced tomatoes with green chilies, and dreamfields macaroni. We love it spicy!
I’ve also made it early in the day without the macaroni, so the flavours can meld, then bring it to a boil and add the pasta. It tends to be thicker that way. Then cilantro instead of parsley just before serving. Yummmmm!
There is nothing better on earth than a 1 pot meal. This was delicious. And I love this blog!! I made two adjustments because I like a heartier flavor to my chili– I start the recipe this way so the meat looks more like chili meat and less like hamburger meat: : Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add 3T tomato paste, 3T chili powder, cumin and and cook, stirring, until the oil is brick-red and the mixture is dry, about 2 minutes. Then I add the onion and then the ground beef. The amount of chili powder in this recipe wasn’t enough so I increased from 1.5 Tsp to 3 Tablespoons.
Thank you, Kate!
I just made this recipe. Is it supposed to be runny?
The consistency should be between a chili soup and macaroni & cheese. Hope that helps, Jill!