Chili Mac and Cheese tastes like your favourite Chili – with the added cheesy goodness of Mac & Cheese! Sensational ground beef dinner recipe that’s on the table in just over 20 minutes – and it’s all made in one pot. It’s truly fabulously delicious!
On the table in just over 20 minutes, made with beef mince, pasta, beans, canned tomatoes, everyday spices, and some kind of cheese, it’s sinfully scrumptious!
Chili Mac and Cheese
There’s plenty of food mash ups in the world. Like pizza – it seems like there is a pizza-everything: tacos, casserole, dips, soup, pie, pasta, cake.
I’m not above doing mash ups. I’ll do them when combining two recipes brings something else to the dish, rather than doing them just for the sake of being “cool” or “out there”. I’m beyond the years of playing with food for the sake of being trendy, I just want it to be tasty!
So – Chili Mac and Cheese. A cross between Chili and Mac and Cheese, all made in one pot. The sauce flavour is like beef Chilli Con Carne, with the addition of macaroni and cheesy goodness stirred into it as well as on top.
SO GOOD!!!
Yes, you can freeze Chili Mac!
Cool, then freeze in airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in fridge then reheat in microwave until steamy, stir well. I like to sprinkle extra cheese on then pop it back in the microwave. This Chili Mac recipe freezes well because it’s a saucy, juicy version!
What goes in Chili Mac and Cheese
Here’s what you need. Nothing unusual here!
My Chili Mac is made with a homemade Chili Powder. What’s known as “Chili Powder” in the US is actually a spice mix, not just pure chili, and it varies from brand to brand. It’s not sold here in Australia, though I’ve always got a stash because I stock up when I travel to the States.
So I prefer to make my own – for consistency of flavour, no matter where you are in the world!
How to make it
Chili Mac and Cheese is completely made in one pot. Start the usual way – sautéing garlic and onion to create the flavour base – add the beef, the spices and everything else. The pasta will cook while the sauce thickens, and a mere 15 minutes later, you’ll have dinner on the table!
I love a cosy one-pot pasta like Chili Mac. It’s a firm favourite alongside Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper!), One Pot Vegetable Pasta and One Pot Spaghetti Bolognese!
I love how the macaroni sucks up all the flavour as it cooks in the sauce. And the fact that there’s only one pot to clean up is certainly a big plus!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper , chopped
- 500g / 1 lb ground beef (mince) , I use lean
- 800g / 28 oz crushed canned tomato
- 420g / 14 oz can red kidney beans , drained
- 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) beef broth (chicken broth also ok)
- 250g / 8 oz elbow macaroni pasta (elbow pasta), uncooked
- 2 cups (200g) shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, tasty cheese)
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro finely chopped, for garnish
Spices (Homemade Chili Powder):
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper or pure chilli powder (adjust spiciness to taste) (Note 1)
- 2 tsp paprika powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder (can sub garlic powder)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat oil in large pot over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 1 minute. Then add capsicum and cook until onion is translucent.
- Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go.
- Once the beef turns from red to brown, add remaining ingredients except cheese. Stir, bring to simmer, then turn the heat down to medium.
- Cover and cook for 12 minutes or until the macaroni is al dente, meaning just cooked, still a tiny bit on the firm side. It should be saucy but not tons of liquid (see video).
- Turn the stove OFF but leave the pot on the stove. Stir through half the cheese – it should be a bit saucy. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Top with remaining cheese, put the lid back on and leave until the cheese melts - about 2 minutes (sauce will absorb further during this period).
- Sprinkle with coriander, if desired, and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Chili Mac recipe originally published October 2017. Updated October 2019 with new photos, brand new video and spruced up the writing. No change to recipe – I wouldn’t dare!
Life of Dozer
The other day, he spent the better part of the morning buried under the blanket like this. Whether he was cold, or trying to hide (I can’t see you, so you can’t see me….)?? 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
And Life of Dozer from the first time I published this recipe in 2017:
{I was in Fiji with friends at the time!} Usually when I travel, Dozer goes to stay with his “family” with a golden retriever boarder. He thunders around the house, rumbles with his friends, and generally completely forgets all about me.
Unfortunately, he’s a bit lame at the moment (nothing serious, just pulled a muscle from excessive beach craziness) so I left him with my mother for some quiet healing time.
Apparently, this is how he’s spending his day. 😢
What a perfect recipe for a chilly Friday night. I read the ingredients wrong and only got 15 oz canned tomatoes. This recipe is so forgiving, all I did was add a little extra water and spices, and it worked out just fine. Also used impossible meat. So grateful for you and your recipes Nagi! Xoxo
Can I make this with GF pasta? I was considering making the pasta separate so I can control the texture. GF pasta cooks differently than normal pasta and gets gross when mushy. I guess I would just either omit entirely the beef stock or cut it down to 1/4 the amount called for. Not sure though. Thoughts?
Excellent as written. No need to change one thing about it. It was delicious, could eat the whole pot in one sitting! Lol.
I make a version of this all the time – it’s a favorite of ours. I usually use ground lamb, and I use pinto, black, and kidney beans (I like beans). Comfort food at its finest! Generally, I make the chili as a separate meal, then use the leftovers to make chili mac on another day. Foodies might turn up their noses at it, but it’s delicious!
As always with Nagi’s creations, I know it’ll be a delicious recipe. I only did a couple of slight changes as I needed it gluten-free. I cut it down to 400g tomatoes and 1.5 cups stock. I simmered everything except pasta for a while til thickened a bit – it needed a tbsp of tomato paste. Meanwhile I cooked the pasta separately (I find GF pasta doesn’t behave in one-pots) and then mixed it in with the cheese. YUMMO thanks.
I absolutely loved this dish so quick and easy to prepare and very spicey just a tad too spicey for the family so second time I made it I only added 1/4 tsp of the cayenne pepper did the rest as per recipe and BINGO got a sure winner stilll heaps of flavour just not sooo intense to turn others off will be a regular for sure
Fairly quick and super tasty. Whole fam loved it and a few leftovers for lunch. We served it with sour cream and avocado slices.
I’m not a fan of mac and cheese but I love chili! This was the perfect combo!
I used double the beef mince (1kg) and 2 cans of kidney beans. I needed to use up some passata (about 350g) so added that and one 400g
tin of tomatoes. Kept the
spice amounts, stock and pasta amount the same.
Delicious, easy one pot meal with plenty of leftovers to freeze for later.
This stuff is beyond amazing! Except for one glitch … it seems most people prefer noodles “al dente” where they are considered overcooked if they ever get closer than 1,000 miles from water. I like them cooked through so 30 to 40 minutes works on the time.
I doubled the recipe but only added 4 cups of stock and there was enough liquid. I also reduced the cooking time as 13mins would have made the pasta too mushy. I felt that it needed some tomato paste too so I added it.
I made this according to recipe except I doubled pasta/fluid to cook pasta. It was VERY good. my husband said this is definitely a keeper.
If you have american chili powder already, how much of that should you put in in total? Thanks in advance!
Ok, to answer my own question for future readers, I used 3 TBSP of US chili powder and it turned out amazing!
Well Nagi, the whole family abs very very very much LOVED it! My teenager son’s friend was over for dinner and he abs loved it and asked if I can leave my husband and go live at his house and be his mum and cook for him because it was the best thing ever!!! I couldn’t tell u JUST HOW amazing this dish is, but that’s a pretty good compliment! Thank you! 😁 This was sooooo yummy!!!!
Well Nagi, the whole family abs very very very much LOVED it! My teenager son’s friend was over for dinner and he abs loved it and asked if I can leave my husband and go love at his house and be his mum and cook for him because it was the best thing ever!!! I couldn’t tell u JUST HOW amazing this dish is, but that’s a pretty good compliment! Thank you! 😁 This was sooooo yummy!!!!
Delicious, quick and one pot – all my favourite words in one recipe!
I’ve used several recipes for chili mac over the years but this is by far the best! Tons of flavor. This will definitely be one of my go-to recipes!!
This was delicious and so quick to throw together. A huge hit!
Easy one pot meal that was delicious. (Substituted spices with 1 teaspoon Aldi Chilli powder).
This was a hard “yes”! I’ve been following you Nagi, since preparing your juicy crockpot turkey breast some years back and love your tutorials!
This was the flavorful delight of chili, coupled with the decadence of mac&cheese, but without the calories of butter! Yum!!! I’m a relatively advanced cook and the only adjustment I made was to substitute 14 oz of petite diced tomatoes and 14 oz of tomato sauce for the 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes. It was simply a texture thing.
What a quick, delish one pot meal!
This is an excellent and easy recipe. Granted I substituted spices with Dan-O’s seasoning. Chipotle, Spicy, Premo, and Cheesoning. Added jalapeños and celery with onions. Cheesy with mozzarella and Colby. It was tasty! Thanks for the recipe! We enjoyed it last night.