This Chili Mac is a hearty, cheesy comfort food. Homemade chili and macaroni baked together for a quick, family-favorite meal!
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.
Sabrina’s Chili Mac Recipe
When it comes to 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 when meals needed to be budget-friendly and canned food was king.
Recipe Card
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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Nutrition
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Table of contents
About this Recipe
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!
One of the best things about this recipe is that 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 below.
Serving Ideas
This kid-friendly dinner 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 it in a casserole dish and heating it in the oven from frozen.
How to Store
- Serve: You can keep the pasta dish 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, while adding a little broth or milk to make it creamy again.
- Freeze: Freeze in a casserole dish for up to 3 months. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil, then reheat in the oven from frozen to serve.
Alternative Cooking Technique
Slow Cooker
- Do not cook the pasta beforehand. You will need 4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth or beef broth.
- Brown ground beef with the onions and bell peppers until no longer pink. Drain the grease and add it to the slow cooker.
- Add all ingredients, except cheddar cheese, to the slow cooker, including the uncooked macaroni and 4 cups of 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 the cheese is melted.
Instant Pot
- Do not cook pasta and use 4 cups low low-sodium chicken broth or beef broth.
- Turn the Instant Pot to the Sauté function and brown ground beef, onion, and bell peppers.
- Use 1 cup of broth to deglaze the pot and scrape off any browned meat from the sides and bottom.
- Add remaining ingredients, except cheese, to the Instant Pot, including uncooked pasta and remaining broth.
- Close the lid and seal the valve. Set to Manual High Pressure for 5 minutes, then quick-release pressure.
- Stir in cheese until melted and the sauce is creamy.
Frequently Asked Questions
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 like kidney beans (red or white), black beans, or pinto beans. Drain and rinse canned beans.
You can substitute taco seasoning for chili seasoning mix. You can also keep your Chili Mac simple by just using cumin, chili powder, and paprika.
Variations
- Meat options: 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!
- Pasta options: You can use any smaller pasta for this cheesy dish, like penne, rotini, small shells, or rigatoni. Smaller pasta makes the bites more balanced with chili, cheese sauce, and pasta.
- Vegetables: 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.
Related Recipes
More Yummy Macaroni Dishes
Photo used in a previous version of this post.
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!