This Chili Mac and Cheese is loaded with flavour and all made in one pot!
Two of the comfiest comfort foods colliding together. Yes, heaven truly is a place on earth. Follow me…
Chili Mac and Cheese
Firstly, yes I am English and use ‘Chili’ with one ‘L’. This dish is way more American than it is British, so I’m respecting the single L.
Chili Mac and Cheese is exactly what it says on the tin – Chili with Macaroni and Cheese. Typically you’d cook a chili fairly low and slow, but this is a much quicker, carbier version. Perfect for a midweek dinner!
The Beef
I typically go for 10% fat. You want a little bit of fat for flavour, but not so much it turns the dish greasy. You’ll also want to make sure you break it up really well with your wooden spoon as it fries. Because it doesn’t get a huge amount of time to simmer and tenderize, you don’t want long, tough strands of beef. Here we’re just going to fry off some onion, garlic and red pepper before adding in the beef.
Process shots: fry onion and red pepper (photo 1), fry garlic (photo 2), add beef (photo 3), fry (photo 4).
One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
The awesome thing about this recipe is that it’s all made in one pot, meaning you don’t have to simmer the pasta separately – it cooks in the sauce! This not only reduces the washing up, but it’s also a great opportunity for the pasta to soak in all those gorgeous flavours as it cooks.
The Sauce
The base of the sauce consists of two ingredients:
- Beef stock – This is mainly what will get soaked up by the pasta. I highly recommend using beef stock over chicken or veg, just because it stays consistent with the minced/ground beef in the recipe.
- Passata – Tomato passata is great because it’s nice & thick and offers a deep tomatoey flavour. I find that unless you simmer canned tomatoes for a long time, they can sometimes end up giving the chilli a watery consistency.
The Flavour
We really want to pack the flavour into this dish. The main seasonings are paprika, cumin, chilli powder, ground coriander and oregano. Alongside these and the ingredients already discussed, I love adding in some Worcestershire sauce, just to really deepen the flavour.
The Cheese
I recommend using a medium-strength Cheddar. I have used sharp/extra mature cheddar in the past, but I find it doesn’t melt as well and tends to throw off the flavour a little. You could alternatively use Monterey Jack or a Mexican Cheese Blend if you’d prefer! I like to stir half of the cheese through the chili mac, then sprinkle the rest on top.
Process shots: add tomato puree, passata, stock and seasoning (photo 5), add drained kidney beans and macaroni (photo 6), stir then simmer (photo 7), stir through cheese then top with more (photo 8).
Chili Mac FAQ
Once you’ve topped the chili mac with cheese, I recommend popping the lid back on to allow the residual heat to melt it. You could alternatively place the pot under the grill to melt the cheese.
I know kidney beans in chili are somewhat controversial, but they bulk out the dish really nicely. You could sub another type of beans if you’d prefer (black or pinto would be great).
It’s got a nice kick but nothing overbearing. If you’re at all wary just use mild chilli powder.
Allow to completely cool then tightly store in the fridge. From there, I recommend microwaving until piping hot, or you can reheat on the stove over low heat (adding a splash of water to loosen up the sauce if needed). You can also freeze, just thaw in the fridge then reheat.
Serving Chili Mac
From there, I like to garnish with sliced fresh jalapeños and finely diced coriander/cilantro (totally optional though).
Looking for more chili recipes? Check out my Slow Cooker Turkey Chili, Chilli Con Carne and Veggie Chilli!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this chili mac shall we?!
How to make Chili Mac and Cheese (Full Recipe & Video)
One Pot Chili Mac (so easy!)
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Deep Pot & Wooden Spoon (preferably with a lid)
- Jug (for stock)
- Cheese Grater
- Serving Spoon
Ingredients
- Olive Oil, as needed
- 1 medium Onion, finely diced
- 1 medium Red Pepper, finely diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 500g / 1lb Minced/Ground Beef (preferably 10-12% fat)
- 1 heaped tbsp Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste in US)
- 720ml / 3 cups Beef Stock, or as needed (see notes)
- 500g / 2 cups Tomato Passata (Pureed tomatoes in US)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tbsp EACH: Paprika, Cumin, Hot Chilli Powder (see notes)
- 3/4 tsp Salt or to taste (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp EACH: Ground Coriander, Oregano, Sugar, Black Pepper
- 250g / 9oz Uncooked Macaroni (see notes)
- 1x 400g/14oz can of Kidney Beans, drained
- 200g / 2 cups Cheddar, grated (or more to cover the top!)
- finely diced Coriander/Cilantro, to serve (optional, but recommended if you like it)
- thinly sliced Fresh Jalapeños, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- In a large deep pot over medium-high heat add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the onion and red pepper and fry until soft and just starting to pick up colour. Add the garlic and fry for another minute or so.
- Add the beef and break up it with your wooden spoon until well crumbled and browned. Stir in 1 heaped tbsp tomato puree and fry for a couple of mins, then pour in the passata, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and all of the seasonings and spices. Give it a stir, then stir in the kidney beans and dried macaroni.
- Bring to a steady simmer and stir occasionally until the macaroni is about 90% cooked through and the sauce has mostly thickened, but still fairly saucy. If the sauce begins to thicken too much before the macaroni cooks, just gradually add in water or stock as needed until the macaroni is al dente.
- Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup of cheese until it melts. Check for seasoning/spice and adjust if needed, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top (measure with love). Pop the lid on and allow the residual heat to melt the cheese. The pasta will absorb more liquid and finish cooking during this. You can also melt it under the grill/broiler.
- Sprinkle over coriander/cilantro and jalapeños (optional) then serve up and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
Loved this hearty meal. I altered the recipe to teaspoonsful not tablespoonfuls of spices and it worked well for us.
Thanks so much for the review, Janet! 🙂 C.
I wasn’t sure how this would work however the recipe as stated is so easy and it’s a hearty tasty family pleaser… the fact daughter said she preferred this to my regular chilli recipe…. Game Changer many thanks can’t recommend this enough
Awesome to hear, Nick! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
Love one pot meals and we all loved this. I didn’t measure anything, I just added what I thought and it turned out so full of flavour. The only mistake I made was that I added too much pasta and had to decant into two pans to stir in the cheese (made loads of leftovers for the next day though). Will definitely make again and this is quickly becoming my favourite recipe site, so easy to follow and all my meals look exactly like the ones on here.
Great to hear this went down well, Claire! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
What is Hot Chilli powder, do you mean red chilli powder like we get from Indian groceries or the Chilli mix used to make chilli dish. Thank you
If you’re in the UK you’ll find chilli powder in the seasoning section, which is pure ground chilli, and usually comes in a hot or mild variety. Don’t use a chilli mix. If you can’t find pure ground chilli I’d use cayenne pepper and work to taste (I imagine starting at 1/2 – 1 tsp and working your way up would work well). Hope this helps! C.
Best Chili Mac I’ve ever made. So full of flavour. Thank you for recipe!
That’s awesome to hear, Jane! Thanks for the review! C.