Chili mac and cheese is a simple one pot dinner that combines two of the most beloved, cozy comfort foods: chili and macaroni and cheese.😍
Yes, internet fam, it’s true. Two of your favorite comfort foods had a baby. And isn’t she lovely?! 😍 I am SO. Here. For. It!
As if that deliciousness isn’t enough on its own! I’ve got a little cherry on top for you, friends.😉 It all cooks in one pot. 😎 Yassss. Hallelujah and amen. Fewer dishes means you get to live your best life at dinner time. 👊🏻
👉🏻Side note: check out my entire one pot dinner collection here if you are into that.👈🏻
This chili mac and cheese resembles a casserole type situation, y’all.
But! The entire thing is made on the stove top. It is kind of like one of those store bought boxed helper thingies, but waaaay tastier. And no ingredients you can’t pronounce. 🙌🏻
It makes a huge batch too. It will easily feed eight hearty servings. If you have some kids or light eaters, you could get away with feeding several more than that.
I thought about halving this chili mac and cheese recipe. But this is the cozy season where lots of gatherings are happening. So I made it a big batch.
If you are feeding four or fewer, and you don’t want to have leftovers, you could totally half this recipe using the slider in the recipe card below.
Quality ingredients, y’all
As always, use the best ingredients you can find.
We buy as manny organic things as we can find, within reason. Super chill over here.
We also LOVE ButcherBox (affiliate links) ground beef. It is grass fed, grass finished, raised humane and tastes better than any ground beef we’ve ever had. They are running a special where you get a FREE 10 to 14 pound Thanksgiving turkey in your first box. What?! Yes.
How to make one pot chili mac and cheese
Start with a large pot or Dutch oven. Sauté up the beef and onions until the beef it done. Then add garlic, and cook a minute more.
After that, you just add the remaining ingredients (except the cheese!), and cook it until the pasta is done. It should look like this.
I used regular elbow macaroni, which took about 8 minutes. You can use larger macaroni or a different type pasta, but it might require a little longer cook time (and possibly an extra splash of broth).
After that, I taste it for saltiness. I add more salt until it tastes good. I give it a good stir, and then sprinkle cheese on top.
If you are one of those people who chooses to measure cheese with your heart, I feel ya! 😂👌🏻 Knock yourself out. If you are more into measurements, I recommend anywhere from a cup to a cup and a half of cheese. I used a cup and a half here.
If you want even more cheesy goodness, feel free to stir some into the mix first (about a half cup, or more if you measure with your heart😜). Stir that to combine, and then add your cheese topping after that.
Finally, just put the lid back on for another 3 to 5 minutes until the cheese melts. I topped mine with green onion, but honestly I only do that for blog photos. So you get to choose if you want to bother with a sprinkle of green. Cilantro would also be good on this.
Now you are ready to dig in to the glorious chili mac and cheese!
I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! The leftovers are fantastic too.
Chili Mac and Cheese Recipe
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Chili Mac and Cheese
Chili mac and cheese is a simple one pot dinner that combines two of the most beloved, cozy comfort foods: chili and macaroni and cheese.😍
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 onion diced
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 4 ounces green chilies (small, 4 ounce can)
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 16 ounces elbow macaroni pasta
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
Instructions
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Brown the ground beef and onions over medium high heat until crumbly, about 8 minutes.
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Add garlic and cook one minute more.
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Drain off grease, if desired. I sometimes skip this step if I use extra lean (85/15 or leaner).
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To the meat mixture, add the tomatoes, beans, green chilies, beef stock, cumin, chili powder and pasta; stir together, and bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat.
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Once the mixture starts to simmer, stir it, reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot with a lid, and cook until pasta is tender, about 8 minutes*. Stir and recover several times (2 or 3 times) to prevent pasta from sticking to the pot.
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When the pasta looks done, remove the pot from the heat, stir it one last time to mix it all together. If it looks too liquid-y, leave it uncovered a few minutes and stir to allow some of the liquid to evaporate/ absorb into the pasta.
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Top with cheese, and re cover to allow the cheese to melt for 3 to 5 minutes.
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Serve immediately.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- I used small elbow macaroni. You can substitute large elbow macaroni (or other pasta shape), but it will need to cook longer (see pasta package instructions), and it may or may not need an extra splash of broth.
- Recipe makes 10 regular servings or 8 large, hearty servings. Nutrition information is for 10 servings.
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Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
Stefanie says
Would you suggest swapping out the beef with ground turkey to make it healthier or do you think it’ll effect the taste of the dish?
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Great question! I think ground turkey would still be really tasty in this recipe.👌🏻