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This chili mac is my family’s favorite one-pot meal! Tender pasta, homemade beef chili, and plenty of ooey-gooey cheese. You know this is in our regular dinner rotation! Two of my favorite foods combined. Fusion food never tasted so good!
This is an absolute must-try recipe. Don’t take just my word for it, just check out the comments below. This has been one of my most popular recipes on Pinterest for almost a decade! Pinterest people know.
Not only is this recipe delicious, but it’s also super quick and easy to put together so it’s fabulous for a busy weeknight dinner. All made on the stovetop in one-skillet. No packet of taco seasoning here, this recipe combines a simple blend of spices that knock this recipe out of the park!
Pasta recipes like this are perfect when you need a satisfying meal without a lot of fuss. Chili mac uses pantry ingredients to spice up a beloved, classic meal. Once your family tries our chili mac recipe, you’ll be making it on repeat!
If you love a one-pot meal as much as I do, I hope you try a our American goulash, American chop suey (both these recipes are family recipes and have different flavor profiles!), stovetop mac and cheese, fiesta chicken next! I promise they’re all truly delish!!
Easy Chili Mac Ingredients
- Noodles: We use elbow macaroni because the hollow shape allows the sauce to nestle inside each noodle. Any short pasta with ridges will work, though. Be sure to keep the same ratio of noodles to the sauce if you’re adjusting the recipe. You want to be sure the pasta has enough liquid to cook properly.
- Tomato Sauce: Some types of tomato sauce also have added herbs like basil. We recommend the plain sauce so you can control which flavors go into the dish.
- Cheese: If you don’t have a Mexican cheese blend on hand, shredded cheddar cheese, Monterey jack, or Colby cheese are great substitutes. If your family likes spicier chili, pepper jack cheese would be a fun addition too.
- Meat: Because this dish is so flavorful, ground turkey or a plant-based substitute will be just as delicious as chili mac with beef.
- Onion: Yellow onions have a mild flavor that most kids don’t mind.
- Chili Powder: This is a blend of aromatic dried chiles. My favorite is McCormick-the regular one, not the dark.
- Vegetable Oil: Any neutral flavored oil will do.
- Cumin
- Salt
- Garlic
- Brown Sugar
- Water
- Black Pepper
- Parsley Or Cilantro
Tips
- Toasting the Spices: Don’t forget to add the spices while you’re cooking the onion. Doing it at this point enhances the flavors of the spices and mellows any harshness in the chili powder.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? According to Still Tasty, macaroni in tomato sauce can safely last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days once cooked.
- Can You Freeze This? Most chefs agree that freezing pasta can lead to soggy noodles when they’re reheated. You can avoid this by undercooking the elbow macaroni if you plan to freeze the whole batch for 1-2 months. Try cooking the noodles for just 5 minutes. They will finish cooking when you thaw the chili mac and cheese
- Another option is to freeze the meat sauce by itself and add the noodles and cheese after you’ve defrosted it. If you’re making this recipe as part of your meal prep, either method will work to ensure that your chili mac comes out delicious every time.
- Make-Ahead Tips: If you’re short on time and would like to make this in advance, you can brown the meat and make the sauce ahead of time. Cook the noodles in the sauce right before you’re ready to serve your chili mac recipe.
- Cooking the noodles too far in advance could lead to them getting mushy when you reheat them. Don’t forget to add the cheese – it brings the dish together.
- Food Safety: Here’s an article you might want to check out.
Variations
- Add Beans: As written, this is a chili mac no beans version. Beans do indeed taste great in this, so feel free to add a can of drained and rinsed pinto beans, kidney beans, or black beans.
- Add Some Freshness: I like to add a little more nutrition and freshness by adding some fresh diced tomatoes and chopped fresh cilantro. It’s the perfect way to add some vitamin c and lots of phytonutrients. You can also drain a can of diced tomatoes if you don’t have fresh tomatoes. Add them to the top or stir them into the dish right after the pasta is cooked.
- Make it Spicy: As written this cheesy chili mac is fairly mild because I want to keep it kid-friendly. If you want to spice it up you can add a diced jalapeno (include the seed if you want a lot of heat) and or cayenne pepper.
- Different Cheese: If you don’t like to use prepackaged cheese because of the added cellulose, substitute it with shredded Monterey jack cheese or pepper jack cheese.
Serving Recommendation
I serve this with 1905 salad, strawberry spinach salad, carrot salad, garlicky sautéed asparagus, roasted broccoli, brown sugar glazed carrots, honey glazed carrots, charro beans, Bisquick cornbread, or jalapeño cornbread!
What Is The Difference Between Chili Mac And American Goulash?
Chili Mac has a thicker consistency and more typical “chili” spices and flavors than its brothier cousin American Goulash.
Is Chili Mac A Midwest Thing?
It is very common to find chili mac throughout the midwest, as it’s common to find Johnny Marzetti Casserole. Everyone has their own variation of the recipe.
How To Make One-Skillet Chili Mac
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Saute onion, chili powder, cumin, and salt in a large skillet (I like to use one with high sides).
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Add the garlic and brown sugar and cook.
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Add the ground beef and brown lightly. Remove excess grease it there’s any.
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Add the water, salt, and tomato sauce to the skillet and stir to mix.
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Stir in the pasta and cover, increasing the heat.
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Cook the mixture, stirring often. Continue to cook until the pasta is tender.
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Take the skillet off the heat and add 1 cup of the cheese mixture. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
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Top the skillet with the remaining cheese and rest the mixture off the heat for a few minutes or until cheese melts.
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Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
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Serve.
***See full instructions below.
More One-Pot Easy Recipes
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Chili Mac
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- salt
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 cups water
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 8 ounces about 2 cups elbow macaroni
- 1-8 ounce package shredded Mexican cheese blend
- black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- In a 12 inch nonstick skillet, add oil (1 tablespoon) and heat until it's shimmering. Add onion (1), chili powder (1 tablespoon), cumin (1 tablespoon), and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat until onion is soft, stirring often so spices don't burn, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic (4) and brown sugar (1 tablespoon) and cook, continuing to stir, so garlic doesn't burn, for about 30 seconds. Add the ground beef (1 pound) and brown lightly, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon as it cooks, until there is no pink in the meat.
- Add the water (2 cups), 3/4 teaspoon salt, and tomato sauce (1 (15-ounce) can) to the skillet and stir to mix. Stir in the pasta (8 ounces) and cover, increasing the heat to medium-high. Cook the mixture, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer (not a boil). Continue to cook until the pasta is tender, about 9-12 minutes.
- Take the skillet off the heat and add 1 cup of the cheese mixture. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Top the skillet with the remaining cheese and rest the mixture off the heat for a few minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with chopped parsley (2 tablespoons). Serve.
Notes
- Noodles: We use elbow macaroni because the hollow shape allows the sauce to nestle inside each noodle. Any short pasta with ridges will work, though. Be sure to keep the same ratio of noodles to the sauce if you’re adjusting the recipe. You want to be sure the pasta has enough liquid to cook properly.
- Tomato Sauce: When choosing a tomato sauce for this recipe, be sure to check the label. Many varieties have added salt, so you may want to decrease the amount of salt you add. Adjust the seasoning after you’ve tasted it. Some types of tomato sauce also have added herbs like basil. We recommend the plain sauce so you can control which flavors go into the dish.
- Cheese: If you don’t have a Mexican cheese blend on hand, shredded cheddar cheese, or Colby cheese are great substitutes. If your family likes spicier chili, pepper jack cheese would be a fun addition too.
- Meat: Because this dish is so flavorful, ground turkey or a plant-based substitute will be just as delicious as ground beef.
- Onion: Yellow onions have a mild flavor that most kids don’t mind. If you like a more pronounced onion flavor, red or white varieties will work nicely here.
- Chili Powder: Most pre-mixed chili powders have added salt as one of the first ingredients. However, there are a few brands on the market that don’t contain any salt. Be sure to check the label so you can adjust your added salt accordingly.
- Toasting the Spices: Don’t forget to add the spices while you’re cooking the onion. Doing it at this point enhances the flavors of the spices and mellows any harshness in the chili powder.
Nutrition
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Your dish looks amazing but I’m always sad to see bloggers who encourage the use of pre-shredded cheeses. If you look in a bag of shredded cheese you can see the powdery white stuff clinging to the cheese itself and gathered at the bottom of the bag. This is cellulose. MOST of them contain cellulose, which comes from wood pulp and is used to keep the product from clumping together, repels moisture and lowers fat content as it will naturally absorb some from the cheese. I don’t know about you but that’s just not appealing. A 2 cup bag of pre-shredded is actually MORE expensive versus an 8 ounce bar of cheese. (unless you’re doing coupons or they have a sale) A bar of cheese also will last longer in your fridge since it has less surface exposed to the air to encourage mold. So yeah, you’re doing some grating but you’re not eating wood fibers either.
Hey Jill. Ironically, out of the almost 300 recipes I’ve posted on this blog, I think this is the only one that calls for using pre-shredded cheese. Interesting info thanks for sharing 😉
Yum! I’m a new mother and I love these kinds of meals! So easy. =) But if I were to use Italian seasoning instead of the cumin, would that change the flavor? And how much would I use? Thanks! =)
Hey Charissa. Yes that would change the flavor significantly. I’m not sure I’d like the Italian seasoning combined with the
chili powder.
I just tried this and it was amazing! All the ingredients were perfect. Definitely going to be my go-to quick meal
Hi Yosephine! So glad you enjoyed this! It’s on my go-to list as well! My fam LOVES this recipe!
I made this last night and we loved it! I will make this over and over! And very easy to throw together.
Hi Lianne! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. It’s one I make all the time as well 🙂
made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! I added 1 can of black beans and used turkey meat. thanks for the recipe!
Hey Jen. So glad you enjoyed. I love your changes and additions!
I tried this last night for dinner and you are right, my son (who is 3) ate seconds. He even wanted a 3rd, but I had to cut him off. 🙂 I initially was worried about the Tablespoon of cumin and chili powder, but it was the perfect amount of spice. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Ava! Thank you for your comment! Love that your 3 year old enjoyed it!!!
Wonderful recipe — so much flavor! Perfect work week meal. I got home at 6:30pm and by 7:30pm we sat down to eat. Thank you so much for sharing! I look forward to trying other recipes in the future.
Thanks Peggy! So glad you liked this 😉
This looks delicious and I’m ready to try it but I’m confused about your pasta measurement. You ask for 8 ounces or 2 cups of pasta. 8 ounces is one cup so is it 1 cup or 2 cups of pasta? Thanks.
When I measured out 8 ounces of dried elbow pasta it measured out as about 2 cups(dry measuring cup not liquid cups) of pasta. Because of the shape and volume its different than something liquid or solid.
It has to do with 8 oz of weight vs. 8 oz volume. Somewhere, with some substance (probably water), I’m sure they are the same, but not all things are the same density so usually they don’t match. For instance, 8 fluid oz (in a wet cup) of water would weigh less on a scale than the same cup full of sugar (or salt…or rocks). Pasta is measured by weight on the package so 8 scale ounces of noodles fills about 2 cups.
Would this freeze well? It’s just me and I would like to try it and freeze in individual servings.
Hey Ada. Well, it will definitely freeze but the pasta texture will change quite a bit. It gets mushy. Honestly, a lot of people object to the texture. I happen to not mind it at all and freeze recipes like this all the time and thoroughly enjoy them. So……it’s up to your preferences!
Best Chili Mac everrrrr!!!! Fabulous. Quick, but
so so tasty….thank you!!
So glad you liked it Terry!
I used ground turkey instead of beef in this recipe tonight. It was absolutely delicious! My husband and son (both picky eaters) devoured their servings. I loved how the ground turkey felt like it melted in my mouth from simmering so long. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Jennifer. So glsd it was a hit in your house!
Kathleen, made it tonight. It was delicious, added a little cayenne cause being from Louisiana we like the spices!
Thanks again
Hey Cathi so glad to hear you like it! Thanks for taking the time to report your results!
Going to try this tonight! What about the grease from browning the meat, do you not drain it? You put it in with the onions and spices so I don’t know
Hey Cathi, no this recipe doesn’t call to drain the pan after the meat is browned. If you’d like you can use a low fat content ground beef. Honestly, I generally use 80/20 and have never felt it was greasy at all. Hope that helps 😉
Thank you so much for your quick response, I really appreciate it. I will be making it in a couple hours!
Glad I was able to help!
I loved your goulash so I thought I’d try this. I had some reservations about serving it to my husband, who claims not to like anything “Mexican”, and thinks cumin smells like….well I won’t tell you what he thinks it smells like because I’m a lady LOL. So I was amazed when he said it was “very good – not too spicy” and to “make it again”. Whoohoo! That’s 2 for 2 – next on my list is your Pasta e Fagioli soup – as soon as the weather cools down.
Hi there Marianne! So glad both you and your hubby are pleased! I’m excited your going to try the Pasta e Fagioli soup. We really love it. Just make sure you use a low sodium broth because so many of the ingredients in the soup already contain salt that soup could be too salty otherwise! Hope you enjoy and thanks so much for your comment!
Thank you, my kids had seconds! (and I was able to make this quickly after several after school activities)
Thanks so much Nicola! Love your comment 🙂
Thanks for confirming Kathleen. I will try it soon.
You’re so welcome, Laura ;)!
It looks yummy but are you sure that it is supposed to be Tablespoons, teaspoons on the chili powder and cumin? That seems like a lot for 1 lb of meat.
Hi Laura. Yes I’m sure it’s 1 tablespoon of each. I think that because it’s cooked in the oil with the onion they mellows significantly. I’ve made this recipe quite a few times and really love how it’s seasoned. Hope you give it a try 😉
This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to make it.
Thanks so much Susan. Enjoy!
Oh my goodness Kathleen. This is just the kind of dish I love. And you don’t even have to buy a taco kit or one of those “helpers” to make it. Love your blog.
Delicious, yummy and gooey? Exactly what my sons want all the time. Can’t wait to make them this!
Hey Matt! Hope your son enjoys 😉
Bacillary pasta product of USA, my Doctor tells me if I have to eat pasta to buy a pasta made in Itally since domestic flour is no good for health reasons. I always use DeCecco, it’s made in Italy. Braille is Italy’s best selling pasta made in USA.
Thanks Laura 😉
This recipe was originally adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Best Skillet Recipe cookbook, and is a favorite go to for a quick meal especially on ski trips. I like to use leftovers the next morning and hash it up with eggs. Tastes even better!
Thanks Liz.