This Chili Mac is delicious family friendly comfort food in a half hour! Quick and easy homemade chili with macaroni a creamy cheese sauce.
Kid-favorite Cheesy Taco Pasta is one of the most loved fast Dinner Recipes on this site! This Tex-Mex chili and macaroni pasta is another great recipe for busy weeknights.
When it comes to combining comfort foods, you can’t get much more retro and old school than a hearty Chili Mac recipe. Just like American Goulash, this classic dinner recipe was born in a time where meals needed to be budget friendly and canned food was king.
This is not your average retro Chili Mac recipe, there’s no canned chili and no blocks of Velveeta cheese to be found. The cheese sauce is creamy and full of real cheddar cheese and the chili is made from scratch with just a few pantry ingredients. It may not be the processed Chili Mac you grew up with but it’s every bit as easy and delicious!
Homemade Chili Mac is a quick and easy weeknight dinner but you can make it even easier. This Chili Mac recipe is made on stove top. Just simmer, covered, over low-medium heat for about 15-20 minutes before adding the cheese. We also included slow cooker and Instant Pot variations so you can make it however is easiest for you!
One of the best things about this Chili Mac recipe is it is simple to adjust with what you have on hand. If you don’t want to make a special trip for the stewed tomatoes, just use diced tomatoes. To make it heartier, add a can of drained and rinsed kidney beans. Check out more variations and substitutions for Chili Mac below.
This Chili Mac is made in two pans, cooking the macaroni separately. You can make this a one-pot meal by cooking everything in a large dutch oven and using 4 cups low sodium broth and a can of tomato sauce. Add uncooked macaroni to the sauce, bring to a boil, and cook until sauce is absorbed and pasta is tender.
A kid-friendly dinner like Chili Mac goes great with easy sides like Roasted Broccoli or Sautéed Green Beans, both made in about 30 minutes. Make Chili Mac a future go-to dinner by freezing in a casserole dish and heating in the oven from frozen.
More Fun Family Favorite Recipes
Big Mac Sloppy Joes (w/ Secret Sauce!)
Super Crispy Chicken Tenders
Chili Cheese Sloppy Joes
Cheesy Taco Pasta
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Frequently Asked Questions
You can use ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground sausage instead of the ground beef. Smoked sausage or diced Grilled Chicken would also taste delicious!
Make this Chili Mac more hearty and saucy by adding crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, or tomato paste. Give it a little kick by adding a jar of salsa.
Add canned beans or dried beans like kidney beans (red or white), black beans, or pinto beans. Drain and rinse canned beans. To use dried beans, you’ll need to cook the dish longer and add 3 cups beef broth.
You can use any smaller pasta for Chili Mac like penne, rotini, small shells, or rigatoni. Smaller pasta makes the bites more balanced with chili, cheese sauce, and macaroni.
To make a one dish meal, add veggies like spinach, corn kernels, and diced red peppers. For some heat, add a can of diced green chiles or jalapeños.
Instead of the store bought kind, try Homemade Taco Seasoning or substitute Chili Seasoning Mix. You can also keep your Chili Mac simple by just using cumin, chili powder and paprika.
Slow Cooker Chili Mac
- Do not cook the pasta beforehand. You will need 4 cups low sodium chicken broth or beef broth.
- Brown ground beef with the onions and bell peppers until no longer pink. Drain grease and add to slow cooker.
- Add all ingredients, except cheddar cheese, to the slow cooker including the uncooked macaroni and 4 cups broth and stir.
- Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or low 6-8 hours, until pasta is tender.
- Stir in shredded cheese until combined and cheese is melted.
Instant Pot Chili Mac
- Do not cook pasta and use 4 cups low sodium chicken broth or beef broth.
- Turn Instant Pot to Sauté function and cook ground beef, onion, and bell peppers until beef is no longer pink.
- Use 1 cup broth to deglaze pot and scrape off any browned meat from sides and bottom.
- Add remaining ingredients, except cheese, to the Instant Pot including uncooked pasta and broth.
- Close lid and seal valve. Set to Manual High Pressure for 5 minutes, then quick release pressure.
- Stir in cheese until melted and sauce is creamy.
More Deliciously Easy Dinner Recipes
Baked Spaghetti
Cheesy Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Classic Goulash
One Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice
How to Store Chili Mac
- Serve: You can keep Chili Mac at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it needs to be chilled.
- Store: Refrigerate Chili Mac in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave, adding a little broth or milk to make creamy again.
- Freeze: Freeze Chili Mac in a casserole dish for up to 3 months. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and reheat in the oven from frozen to serve.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef , 85/15
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 1 green bell pepper , chopped
- 1 can Mexican or chili-style stewed tomatoes , undrained (14.5 ounces)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Homemade Taco Seasoning , or 1 packet of taco seasoning mix
- 2 cups elbow macaroni , or small shells
- 2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
Instructions
- Cook the pasta two minutes shy of the package instructions, rinse and let cool.
- In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion, and green pepper over medium heat 5 minutes, or until beef is no longer pink; drain.
- Stir in tomatoes, water and taco seasoning. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add pasta back into pot, stir well to combine and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in cheese, stir well and serve.
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Loved this chili mac! The kids and my husband all devoured it! Definitely going into our monthly dinner rotation!
Chili mac is one of my and my kids favorite comfort foods. This is one of the best recipes we’ve had! Definitely adding it to our recipe box, thanks!
this chili mac is so good and uses the macaroni I have in the pantry with a decent amount of protein! thank you for sharing
This is a fantastic recipe I’ve been making it for over a year now, however I believe that you cannot truly rate a recipe if you do not follow the recipe exactly per instructions…I also use the homemade taco seasoning on her website as well. I would like to know why the recipe calls for dividing the cheese? I did not see any instructions for that. However I just throw all the cheese in the pot….Again this a wonderful recipe full of flavor. My family and I really enjoy it. Thank you for sharing with everyone. ? ?
Oops, that “divided” was a typo. Thank you Barbara for bringing it to my attention. I’ve corrected the recipe and SO glad your family enjoyed the recipe. Appreciate your kind words.
WOWZERS! this recipe instantly made it into our family recipe book. SO GOOD. Now a weekly staple in our home.
I just made this today and it was delicious. I put the taco packet in and then put a good dose of every seasoning mentioned in the recipe. If you don’t season it, you will probably get “bland”. I also used turkey meat instead of ground beef. My kids 15 & 18, love it as well.
Thank you for the recipe!!
I want ur cookbook! email to me please
It would also be a good idea to know the types of peppers that you are looking for before you start shopping. There are many types of chilies out there, and they all have different flavors, depending on where they were grown and what season they are, so it is a good idea to do your research before you start cooking.
Made this tonight for the first time and it is just blah, no flavor. My kids didn’t like. I don’t know what happened
Did you use a seasoning packet? Feel free to play around with spices to adjust it more to your liking for next time.
Looking forward to trying this! Perfect comfort food for the winter.
Where are the oven instructions?
I thought this was a casserole.
This is made on the stovetop. I did include slow cooker and instant pot directions as well. I hope you enjoy it!
This was a huge hit at my house!! My kids loved it!
Thanks for coming back to let me know.
Chili and Mac n Cheese! Sign me up, haha. So yummy and easy to make.
A winning combination, right?!
This recipe is so delicious and tasty! My family and I love it! My picky son even loves it! Can’t wait to make this again!
I know how hard it is to win over picky eaters!