Chili Mac Recipe (Easy One-Pot Dinner)

Chili Mac is exactly what it sounds like: a hearty, chili-style beef and tomato sauce simmered together with tender elbow macaroni, finished with plenty of melted cheddar cheese. It’s a one-pot dinner in the truest sense — the pasta cooks directly in the sauce, soaking up the seasoning as it goes, so there’s no draining, no separate pot, and no wasted flavor.

It comes together in well under 45 minutes with mostly pantry ingredients, which is a big part of why it’s stuck around as a reliable weeknight dinner for so long. This version keeps the classic combination of ground beef, kidney beans, and chili spices, while paying close attention to the two things that most often go wrong with chili mac: mushy pasta and a sauce that’s either too thin or too thick.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• One pot, minimal cleanup. The pasta cooks right in the chili sauce, so there’s no separate pasta pot to wash.
• Ready in well under an hour. From raw ingredients to dinner on the table in about 35 minutes.
• Kid-friendly, adult-approved. Mild enough for picky eaters, with easy ways to add heat for those who want it.
• Built from pantry staples. Canned tomatoes, beans, pasta, and basic spices — nothing hard to find.
• Freezes well. Makes it a genuinely useful meal-prep option, not just a same-night dinner.

Hannah Brooks

Chili Mac Recipe (Easy One-Pot Dinner)

Summary Chili Mac — Ground beef, kidney beans, and elbow macaroni simmered together in one pot with a chili-spiced tomato sauce, then finished with melted cheddar cheese. An easy, budget-friendly weeknight dinner ready in about 35 minutes.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Course: Main dish

Cuisine: American

Calories: 520

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 pound ground beef 80/20
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1 green bell pepper diced (optional)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 8 ounces 2 cups dry elbow macaroni
• 1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese plus extra for topping

Equipment

• Large, deep skillet or Dutch oven with a lid — deep enough to hold the sauce and pasta together while simmering, and a lid is important for even pasta cooking.
• Wooden spoon or sturdy spatula — for breaking up the ground beef as it browns.
• Colander — for draining and rinsing the kidney beans.
• Liquid measuring cup — for accurately measuring the broth, since too much or too little directly affects how the pasta cooks.

Method

 

1. Brown ground beef, onion, and bell pepper in a large pot over medium-high heat, 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
2. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook 1 minute until fragrant.
3. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with chilies, kidney beans, and broth. Bring to a simmer.
4. Stir in dry macaroni. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender and sauce has thickened.
5. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted.
6. Rest 5 minutes, then top with extra cheese and desired garnishes. Serve warm.

Notes

Refrigerate leftovers up to 4 days, or freeze up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of broth.

How to Make Chili Mac

1. Brown the beef, onion, and bell pepper. In a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, diced onion, and bell pepper together, breaking up the meat with a spoon, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the beef is no longer pink. Drain excess fat if there’s more than a couple of tablespoons in the pan.
2. Bloom the spices. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper to the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant. This short step wakes up the spices’ flavor before the liquid goes in, rather than letting them taste flat and dusty in the finished dish.
3. Add the tomatoes, beans, and broth. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with chilies, drained kidney beans, and beef broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
4. Add the pasta and cook, covered. Stir in the dry elbow macaroni, making sure it’s mostly submerged in the liquid. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the macaroni is tender and the sauce has thickened to a hearty, chili-like consistency.
5. Stir in the cheese off the heat. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until it’s fully melted and the sauce looks glossy. Adding the cheese off direct heat helps it melt smoothly instead of turning oily or grainy.
6. Rest, then serve. Let the chili mac sit for about 5 minutes before serving — the sauce continues to thicken slightly as it rests. Top with extra cheese, and any of the optional garnishes, and serve warm.

Recipe Tips

• Stir the pasta occasionally while it simmers. Because the macaroni cooks directly in the sauce rather than in a big pot of boiling water, it’s more prone to sticking to the bottom of the pot if left alone too long.
• Check the pasta a couple of minutes before the timer’s up. Pasta brands vary, and cooking times can differ slightly; start checking for tenderness around the 12-minute mark.
• Add the cheese off the heat, not while it’s still simmering hard. This keeps the sauce from breaking or turning greasy.
• If the sauce looks too thick before the pasta is fully tender, stir in an extra splash of broth or water, a couple of tablespoons at a time.
• If the sauce looks too thin after the pasta is tender, let it simmer uncovered for another minute or two to reduce slightly before adding the cheese.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not draining excess fat after browning the beef. Too much leftover fat can make the finished sauce greasy rather than rich.
• Walking away while the pasta simmers. Since the pasta cooks directly in the sauce, it needs occasional stirring, unlike pasta boiled separately in a large pot of water.
• Overcooking the pasta. Chili mac’s sauce continues to thicken and the pasta continues to soften slightly even after it’s removed from the heat, so it’s better to pull it right at “tender,” not fully soft.
• Adding all the cheese while the pot is still at a hard simmer. High heat can cause shredded cheese to separate or turn oily instead of melting smoothly.
• Skipping the “bloom the spices” step. Adding raw chili powder directly into the liquid without briefly cooking it in the pan first can leave the finished dish tasting slightly flat.

Variations

• Slow cooker chili mac: Brown the beef, onion, and bell pepper on the stovetop first, then transfer to a slow cooker with the spices, tomatoes, beans, and broth. Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours, then stir in raw macaroni during the last 20 to 25 minutes on high, checking for tenderness, before finishing with the cheese.
• Instant Pot chili mac: Brown the beef using the sauté function, then add the remaining ingredients except cheese, using slightly less broth than the stovetop version (about 1¾ cups) since less liquid evaporates under pressure. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes, quick release, then stir in cheese.
• Baked chili mac casserole: Prepare the recipe through step 4, using slightly less broth so the mixture is a little thicker, then transfer to a baking dish, top generously with cheese, and broil for 2 to 3 minutes until bubbly and golden.
• Spicier version: Add a diced jalapeño with the onion and bell pepper, or stir in ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper with the other spices.
• Tex-Mex chili mac: Stir in a cup of corn kernels and swap the cheddar for a pepper jack and cheddar blend.
• Vegetarian chili mac: Swap the ground beef for a plant-based ground meat substitute or an extra can of beans (black beans work well alongside the kidney beans), and use vegetable broth in place of beef broth.

What to Serve With It

• Cornbread or cornbread muffins
• A simple green salad with a vinaigrette to balance the richness
• Steamed or roasted broccoli or green beans
• Tortilla chips on the side for extra crunch
• A dollop of sour cream and sliced avocado

Storage

• Refrigerator: Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
• Freezer: Freeze in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Pasta dishes with a tomato-based sauce generally hold up well in the freezer, though the pasta’s texture will soften slightly after thawing.
• Container tip: Freezing in individual portions makes for faster, more convenient reheating on busy weeknights.

Reheating

• Stovetop (best method): Reheat over medium-low heat in a covered pot, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of broth or water if the sauce has thickened too much in storage.
• Microwave: Reheat individual portions in 60-second intervals, stirring between each, until heated through.
• From frozen: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop as above; add extra liquid as needed since pasta continues to absorb sauce during storage.

Make Ahead

Chili mac isn’t ideal for assembling far ahead of cooking, since the raw pasta needs to simmer directly in the sauce, but it’s very well suited to being made in full ahead of time and reheated:

• Make the full recipe up to 2 days ahead, refrigerate, and reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of extra broth before serving.
• If you plan to serve it more than a couple of days after cooking, freezing (see Storage) is more reliable than refrigerating for an extended stretch.
• If you want to prep components ahead without cooking the pasta into the sauce yet, you can brown the beef mixture and refrigerate it separately for up to 2 days, then bring it back to a simmer and add the pasta fresh when you’re ready to finish the dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between chili mac and goulash? The two dishes are closely related and share a similar method — ground beef, tomatoes, and pasta simmered together in one pot. Chili mac is generally distinguished by its chili-forward seasoning (chili powder, cumin) and the frequent inclusion of kidney beans and cheddar cheese, while American goulash tends to lean on Italian-style seasoning such as paprika, oregano, and Worcestershire sauce, without beans or a cheese finish.

Can I make chili mac in a slow cooker or Instant Pot? Yes. See the Variations section above for both adaptations — the key difference from the stovetop method is timing the pasta so it doesn’t overcook in the appliance’s built-up heat.

Can I use a different pasta shape? Yes, small shapes like shells or ditalini work well. Long pasta shapes like spaghetti aren’t recommended, since they don’t cook evenly when simmered directly in a thick sauce.

Is chili mac spicy? As written, it’s mild to moderately spiced, with most of the heat coming from the diced tomatoes with green chilies rather than the chili powder itself. Use plain diced tomatoes for a milder version, or add jalapeño or cayenne for more heat.

Does chili mac freeze well? Yes. It freezes well for up to 3 months; see the Storage section for details. The pasta’s texture will soften slightly after freezing and reheating, which is typical for pasta dishes in general.

Can I use ground turkey instead of ground beef? Yes. See the Ingredient Substitutions section for the small adjustment needed (a bit of extra oil when browning) since ground turkey releases less fat than beef.

Why did my pasta turn out mushy? This usually means the pasta simmered a little too long, or the sauce was too thin, requiring extra cooking time to thicken. Start checking the pasta for tenderness a couple of minutes before the recipe’s stated time, and remember the sauce continues to thicken as it rests after cooking.