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.
Jessica says
A great thing to throw together with stuff you have. I omitted the beans; I only had chickpeas and I feel that pasta, meat and cheese is filling enough on its’ own! I can’t believe some of the people on here had room for cornbread with such a heavy meal! I didn’t have any crushed tomatoes, so I used an adobo sauce chili/tomato mix I was using for fish along with more tomato sauce. It gave it a unique complexity.
Kiki Plesha says
I add some frozen corn to the recipe. My family loves the added crunch and the sweetness of the corn. I also will add some Jalapeno Juice (from the jar of sliced Jalapenos I have in the fridge) to give it added kick. My son likes to crush Doritos over it. There are many variations, but we always have corn kernels in our Chili Mac. I serve Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Cornbread with this.
Jenny R says
Definitely my new favorite chili mac recipe! I made a couple of changes but only in quantities. I’m in the US and used full 14 oz cans of beans, 14 oz diced tomatoes instead of purée (couldn’t find a small enough can), 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes and extra beef broth because I added the uncooked pasta with the beans to save a bit of time and let it cook in the same pot. Left the other ingredients the same and it was sooo yummy!
Lydia says
Love love love love it!!!
Keener says
Made this tonight, very good. I used shaved steak, for the cheese used 4 blend Mexican cheese. Use all spices definitely a great kick of flavor. Keeping this one.
S. Evans says
This was very good. I followed it almost exactly. I didn’t have any paprika so I omitted that. I added a little bit of sugar to cut the tartness of the tomatoes. Used sharp cheddar and mozzarella for my cheeses. So good
Lydia Rhoads says
I’m having it for dinner tonight! So easy to make and it tastes sooo good as you must sample as you go! I made some corn bread to go with!! Thankyou for the delicious recipe!!!❤
Clynnf says
This was delicious! The whole family scarfed it down lol..made it exact, wouldn’t change a thing! Thanks!
Lizze Lynne says
I made this tonight for dinner and It’s really good and super easy to make! I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I added an entire tablespoon of cayenne and it was a bit too hot for me. I was able to reduce the heat by adding some more broth and tomato sauce, along with a couple pinches of sugar. I’ll use a combination of chili and cayenne next time.
This is the first time I’ve been to your website and I subscribed to your RSS feed. Thanks for sharing so many delicious recipes with us! 🙂
Brett says
Pretty damn good, only thing I would add next time is a small drained can of corn and a diced jalapeno. Give a little something extra.
Karina says
That is great to hear! Thank you so much!
Alexis says
Very easy to make (my chili is super simple). Who knew pasta and lots of cheese would be such a yummy transformation to chili. I’ll be making this again!
Karina says
That is great to hear! Thank you so much for sharing! XO
Abby says
Oh my gosh this looks SO delicious! My whole mouth just filled up with saliva! I will definitely have to make this on our next rainy day here! Thanks so much for sharing