I make this Chili Mac for dinner often, but it’s also great served to friends when watching football! Use my homemade chili seasoning mix, your favorite elbow macaroni, and hearty ground beef (or turkey, chicken, etc) to make this delicious comfort food meal!
Homemade Chili Mac
This chili mac recipe is one that my family loves, and truthfully I love it too. Why? Because it’s so fast and easy to make and it saves me time from running around trying to figure out what I’m going to make for dinner.
I keep a big jar of my chili seasoning mix in the cabinet because we eat chili quite often around here. However you can certainly measure out the ingredients every time you want to make it, either way works!
How to Serve Chili Mac
This is one of our favorite winter time meals. I often serve it with warm cornbread topped with a thin pat of butter and drizzled with honey. Yum! I would definitely recommend adding this to your must-make ground beef dinner ideas!
For a little added color, especially if serving this to guests, sprinkle your chili mac with sliced green onions and shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
Ingredients for Chili Mac
For the Homemade Chili Seasoning
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp dried minced onion
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
For the Chili
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup elbow macaroni
Helpful Kitchen Tools
- For the Chili Mac, mix together flour, dried minced onion, chili powder, salt, crushed red pepper, dried minced garlic, sugar and ground cumin.
- Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain off fat from ground beef and return beef to pan.
- Add seasoning mixture, water, beans and tomatoes and stir to combine.
- At this point, you can add in anything else that you want to personalize the recipe.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Prepare elbow macaroni per package directions. Drain and stir into chili.
I love a good comfort food. This Chili Mac recipe is definitely one of those! I hope you all enjoy! The noodles in this recipe pair perfectly with this 3 Bean Chili served up with some delicious Sweet Cornbread on the side! If you still need more ideas for ground beef, be sure to try my Salisbury Steaks. This version of Hamburger Casserole is served over egg noodles and makes a hearty dinner!
More Chili Recipes
- Chili and Cornbread Stuffed Peppers
- Make Your Own Homemade Chili Seasoning
- Chicken Chili with Black Beans & Corn
- Instant Pot Chili
- Crockpot Chili
This post was originally published on this blog on Nov 18, 2011.
Chili Mac
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp dried minced onion
- 1 ½ tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- ½ tsp dried minced garlic
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 pound ground beef
- 15 oz can dark red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup elbow macaroni
Instructions
- Mix together flour, dried minced onion, chili powder, salt, crushed red pepper, dried minced garlic, sugar and ground cumin.
- Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain off fat from ground beef and return beef to pan.
- Add seasoning mixture, water, beans and tomatoes and stir to combine. At this point you can add in anything else that you want to personalize the recipe. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Prepare elbow macaroni per package directions. Drain and stir into chili.
Nutrition
Amanda Davis
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Ann says
Thank you for the giveaway – the pasta sounds terrific! I’m always looking for ways to save on time!
I would make the Penne pasta with tomato sauce (I keep a stash frozen) add some sliced green olives, ground meat and garlic and top with salty pecorino. DELISH!
Leann Lindeman says
I would want the elbow cut of pasta and would want to try the no bake Mac and cheese.
SuzyQ says
I would like the rotini to make good old fashioned mac & cheese!
Sheila Shapley says
I would use the Penne Rigate in a Pasta Salad.
Amanda S says
I would love to try the Elbows and make some Bacon & Blue Cheese Mac & Cheese – yum!
Cheryl R says
I’d choose the elbow macaroni and try your Chili Mac recipe with it. The recipe sounds good and picture makes me know I need to try it.
dan says
what a great idea.
I JUST put our chili in the freezer this morning after two days of eating leftovers. I’ll definitely try this when we pull the leftovers out of the freezer.
too bad I don’t have a US shipping address :-(
Cheers
Trisha says
I would like the penne it goes with my homemade red sauce :)
Louis says
Rotini for a pasta salad with tomatoes, onions, black olives, red bell pepper, Parmigiano Reggiano, etc.
Meryl says
Penne rigate. I’d cook penne with sauteed garlic, sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese.
Pat says
I would love to try the elbows and make our family’s traditional “pot cheese and noodles”. My grandmother used to make this comfort food and each generation has been learning how to make it. We sauté onions and add cottage cheese and serve warm…yum!
Amy J says
I would try the rotini while preparing my homemade macaroni and cheese for my kids and hubby! Thank you for the chili mac recipe – I love to make chili many different ways and look forward to trying it this way! :-)
Jessica says
I’m a rotini or elbow kinda gal; I have a few dozen pasta recipes to try (now including this Chili Mac!), so….I would start with Enchilada Chicken Rotini :)
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
Just tweeted about your giveaway, too!
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
I’d definitely want to try the elbows. And, of course, I’d make a classic macaroni and cheese with them!
Amanda W says
I would like to try the rotini and make the cheeseburger mac and cheese.
Katrina says
We love penne and the kids all prefer a tomato/spaghetti sauce, which I always make homemade.
Charissa says
Elbow noodles so that I could make a homemade mac and cheese…for some odd reason, I’m craving it! All those happy childhood memories, I guess! :)
I love your spin on it with the chili!
Desi says
I’d get rotini… I love the shape of it! And I’d love to make a homemade version of the broccoli and cheese rotini I like that’s boxed and Velveeta makes it.
Rachel says
That sounds fantastic. The elbows are needed in my house. Anything that convince the fiance that homemade mac and cheese is just as quick (and even tastier) than the box stuff wins in my book.