I make this one-pot healthy homemade chili mac and cheese recipe for dinner on nights that I don't have much time to cook and want a really quick and easy nutritious meal and it only takes about 20 minutes to make!
I make it for weeknight dinners a lot. I love how filling and comforting it is. All my children except one love it - and she doesn't like anything with cheese, except pizza, so she doesn't really count. I love how it's all in one pot and has lots of flavors.
There are tons of variations and tips I can give you:
- You can prepare a lot of this ahead of time if you want to. Either cook up several pounds of ground beef and freeze them in gallon bags or make everything but the noodles, broth, and cheese and freeze it. Then just put the frozen "chili" in a pot, cover it with the broth and go from there.
- You can use any type of onion you want. you can leave it out, but it really does a good job of giving it a little flavor and softening the ground beef.
- The poblano chili may be left out entirely or substituted with your favorite kind of pepper or chili.
- I usually blend my diced tomatoes so it's a bit runnier, but mostly so I don't get big chunks of tomatoes that children and I can see.
- I often buy the Westbrae organic chili beans because they have a nice mix of pinto, black and kidney beans - all in one can.
- If you don't have beef broth or don't like it, you can sub it with chicken broth or water or water with beef seasoning or bouillon cubes.
- Sometimes I put way more liquid in it because it tends to absorb a lot of the liquid as it's sitting there, and the leftovers get especially dry. And the liquid makes it a bit more like soup. I don't know why, but that's a bit more appealing to children.
- I make this for family parties a lot. I have a lot of nieces and nephews and they all love this. I get it all ready and simmering away until everyone is there and almost ready to eat and then I put the noodles in.
I would love to know if you make this recipe and what you think about it and if you made it changes to it. Please comment below!
PrintRecipe
Healthy Homemade Chili Mac Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 20 MInutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Tex Mex
Description
This one pot chili mac and cheese only takes about 20 minutes to make! I make it all the time for weeknight dinners or family parties, because both children and adults LOVE it.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 2 Tbl Olive Oil
- 1 Red Onion (chopped)
- 1 Poblano Chili (seeded and chopped)
- 1 ½ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 - 14 ounce can Fire-roasted Diced Tomatoes
- 1 can Kidney or Red Beans
- 4 cups Beef Broth
- 8 ounces Spelt Macaroni Noodles *, uncooked
- 2 cups Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese (shredded)
- 2 Tbl Parsley (chopped)
Instructions
- Heat a large pot to medium/high. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up into small pieces.
- Add the olive oil, onion, chili, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and cumin to the beef and saute for 4-5 minutes, or until onion and chili have softened.
- Add the beans, tomatoes, beef broth, and macaroni noodles to the pot. Stir to combine and then cover the pot with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring contents every minute or two, until the noodles are al dente.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle the top of the chili mac with the shredded cheese and parsley. Cover until service to allow the cheese to melt.
- Serve!
Karen
Just made this for dinner and it was awesome! Loved it! Thank you very much. Another favorite off your site!
Rebecca Baron
I'm so glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting!
Karly
YUM. Seriously. This. Looks. SO GOOD. Cannot get over how good this stuff looks!
Rebecca Baron
Thanks!
Nancy
This looks really easy since I don’t have to pre-cook the noodles. I love easy!
Pam
Your right. Thanks, I never even tought it about that . I’ll start looking for that now. ?? I didn’t even notice and was still excited to try the recipe. Now I can’ wait to. Thanks again.