Description
Learn how to make One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese—a delicious, easy comfort food dish made in just over 20 minutes with ground beef, chili spices, and melted cheese. Perfect for busy weeknights!
Ingredients
Main Ingredients:
-
1 tbsp olive oil
-
2 garlic cloves, minced
-
1 onion, finely chopped
-
1 red bell pepper, chopped
-
500g (1 lb) ground beef (lean)
-
800g (28 oz) crushed canned tomato
-
420g (14 oz) can red kidney beans, drained
-
2.5 cups (625 ml) beef broth (chicken broth also works)
-
250g (8 oz) elbow macaroni pasta, uncooked
-
2 cups (200g) shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, or tasty cheese)
-
1/4 cup fresh coriander or cilantro, finely chopped, for garnish
Spices (Homemade Chili Powder Mix):
-
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or pure chilli powder (adjust to taste)
-
2 tsp paprika powder
-
2 tsp cumin powder
-
1.5 tsp onion powder (can substitute garlic powder)
-
1 tsp dried oregano
-
1/2 tsp black pepper
-
1.25 tsp salt
Instructions
Put olive oil in the pot on high heat. Add your garlic and onion and cook it for about a minute until it smells good—that’s when you know you’re at the right temperature. Then throw in the bell pepper and let it all cook together for another couple minutes until the onion looks soft and kind of glassy. This should take about 3 minutes total from when you added the garlic.
Your whole kitchen is going to smell like garlic and onions now. If it doesn’t, your heat isn’t hot enough.
Add the ground beef and break it up as it cooks. Don’t just leave it in a big chunk—use your spoon and keep moving it around and pushing it into smaller pieces. This takes about 5 to 7 minutes depending on how hot your stove is. You’re waiting for it to go from that raw red color to a nice brown with absolutely no pink anywhere.
I rush this sometimes when I’m hungry and the flavor is noticeably worse, so just let it do its thing. Stir it around. It will get there.
Dump in your crushed tomatoes, drain and add your kidney beans, and pour in the beef broth. Now add all your spices—the cayenne, paprika, cumin, onion powder, oregano, black pepper, and salt. Stir it really good so you don’t end up with a pocket of straight cayenne somewhere that makes one bite inedible.
Get it bubbling, then turn your heat down to medium. You want to see gentle bubbles breaking the surface, not a rolling boil that splashes everywhere.
Add your pasta right into the pot and stir it around so it’s under the liquid. Put the lid on and set a timer for 12 minutes. Now you can actually take a breath and sit down for a second.
When the timer goes off, grab a piece of pasta and bite it. It should be soft but still have that tiny bit of firmness. The whole pot is going to look really saucy, which freaks people out the first time, but that’s correct. It will absorb.
Turn your stove completely off. Not lower heat. Off. Leave the pot right where it is.
Stir in half your cheese and watch it melt into this creamy sauce. Taste it. Add more salt or pepper if you need to. Then dump the rest of the cheese on top, put the lid back on for about 2 minutes. The heat in the pot will melt that top cheese and the pasta will soak up any extra liquid.
Take the lid off, give it a gentle stir, sprinkle cilantro on top if you have it, and eat it while it’s hot.
Notes
Adjust Your Spice Level: The 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper creates a warm, gentle hum of spice—it’s noticeable but not overwhelming. If you love heat, bump it up to 3/4 or 1 teaspoon. If you’re sensitive to spice, start with 1/4 teaspoon and taste as you go.
Broth Choice is Flexible: While the recipe calls for beef broth, chicken broth works beautifully too and creates a slightly lighter flavor. Vegetable broth works in a pinch if you’re out of beef or chicken.
Common Mistake to Avoid: Don’t skip the step of draining the kidney beans. Canned beans are packed in liquid that can dilute your sauce, so always drain them well.
Smart Shortcut: If you don’t have fresh bell pepper on hand, frozen diced red bell pepper works perfectly and saves you chopping time. Just add it straight from the freezer—it will thaw in the hot oil.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: American