Chili Mac and Cheese is the ultimate mash up of TWO favourites — Chili PLUS Mac and Cheese!
Easy Homemade Chili Mac and Cheese loaded with beans is the ultimate casserole, ready and on the table in less than 30 minutes! A pasta recipe with a KICK of spice and incredible flavours that the whole family will go crazy for! Great for using up leftover chili OR make straight from scratch!
How To Make Chili Mac
Two comfort foods combine together in one pan for the best thing you’ll ever eat in your life — well apart from this Tuscan Chicken Mac and Cheese. This one is on a whole other level of greatness.
With many one pot Mac and cheese recipes on the inter-webs, this recipe is different in that you have the option of using leftover chili (something like this Beef Bean Jalapeño Chili recipe, for example), OR make an incredibly tasty chili from scratch! This Chili Mac is RICH with favour! There’s so much of it in this casserole we found ourselves eating it straight out of the pan! Plates are way overrated with something like this.
Chili Mac Ingredients
First, you’re going to get your pasta boiling while you start on your Chili. Lord help me this Chili is so good! The main ingredients in this recipe is the usual:
- Ground beef — I use lean beef in this. You can also use ground chicken or turkey.
- Beans — Both red kidney beans and black beans, but you can substitute with any you like.
- Tomato based ingredients for the best Chili sauce — crushed tomatoes AND tomato puree (aka Passata in Australia). I also add in tomato paste in this recipe to get the thickness and richness happening faster without having to wait hours!
Seasonings:
- Ground cumin
- Smoked paprika (or hot or sweet paprika also taste good in this)
- Red chili powder (or Cayenne)
The ingredients list may look a little long BUT you can’t have a really good flavoured Chili and skimp out on seasonings!
Cheese
I used a mixture of American cheddar and mozzarella in this recipe just for the flavour and texture of those, but you can use Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend. You could also use Provolone or any other cheese you love!
Once you’ve mixed your cooked pasta together with your chili, broil (or grill) the cheese topping for a couple of minutes to get it bubbly and melted!
Garnish with some jalapeno slices and chopped cilantro, and ENJOY!
Looking for more spice? Try these:
Spicy Garlic Sun-dried Tomato Shrimp
Grilled Chili Lime Fajita Salad
Ground Beef Chili Mac And Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces macaroni pasta dry, cooked to al dente and drained
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion large, diced
- ½ green pepper seeded and diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced, or 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin or Cayenne, adjust to your tastes
- 1 tablespoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika or sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 oz crushed tomatoes
- 7 oz tomato puree or Passata, condensed tomato soup for Aussies
- 1 cup beef broth or chicken
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 14 oz red kidney beans drained
- 7 oz black beans drained
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese or Monterey Jack
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Heat oil in large heavy-based pot (or casserole pot) over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until transparent, then add the green peppers (or capsicum) and garlic, sautéing for a further minute until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add beef and cook until browned, breaking up any big chunks with the end of your wooden spoon. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, paprika and salt and mix through until beef is fully coated in the seasonings.
- Mix in the crushed tomatoes along with the juices, tomato puree, broth, tomato paste and beans. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and allow to simmer while stirring occasionally, until the chili thickens (about 10 minutes).
- Preheat oven broiler (or grill) on medium heat.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss well to combine. Top with cheese, transfer to oven and broil for 2 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and melted.
- Garnish with sliced jalapeños and chopped cilantro (optional). Serve with sour cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Sylvia Stanisa says
Absolutely grand! The perfect comfort food that’s easy to make & fills your up! Great spices & flavor!
Kristine Mathews says
This was absolutely delicious, I will be making it again for sure
Fred Stovall says
Girl, this chili mac & cheese looks so doggone good, makes me wanna come through the screen. Good Jesus! I’ve gotta try this, have most of the ingredients except the crushed tomatoes, but this is a MUST TRY! Might wait until it gets colder, there isn’t but one of me and I’m a loner so might have to invite a couple of folk over so I don’t kill myself trying to eat it all. 🙂
Maureen says
Made this tonight and it was Delicious!! If I could give it 10 stars I would. I adjusted the serving size to use a 16 oz box of pasta and we’ve got a lot of leftovers but it certainly won’t go to waste! The ingredient list is kinda long but it went together really quickly and tastes out of this world! I”m not a big fan of chili but this dish is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I just subscribed to your email list and can’t wait to try more of your creations!
Felicia Thayer says
Really really good! I let my chili simmer for 1 hour though. 10 minutes is never enough time for all of the flavors to meld, in my opinion.
End result…scrumptious!
Jen K says
My boyfriend has been talking about me making chili Mac for a while. When I saw your re pie I thought I’d give it a try. It was sooo good! A little spicy for me, so I’ll cut that back a little next time. But not so spicy I couldn’t eat it.
Only one problem. For some reason I decided I should double it??? There are only two of us. Soooooo much leftovers! Good thing we loved it! 🤣🤣🤣
Mellisa Bradley says
This will be my second time preparing this meal… it’s The Bomb! PERIOD