After going through a week of hunger in week one of the SNAP Challenge, I knew I had to rethink my strategy. Luckily, the hunger allowed me to pinpoint certain ingredients that really keep me full and satisfied for a large part of the day. For me, that’s pasta, beans, and cheese. I wanted to do a “one pot” dish because they’re easy and I don’t have to bother planning side dishes. Everything that I’m eating is in one easy-to-reheat bowl. So, the first thing that came to mind was my Chili Cheese Beef n’ Mac. I love that stuff, but decided to add a few extra ingredients, like beans, diced tomatoes, and corn, to make it more chili-like and a little more well rounded as a meal. The result? This DEEE-LICIOUS One Pot Chili Pasta.
And after eating this all week, I’m a happy camper this week, for sure.
P.S. Click here for a vegetarian version of this recipe: Cheesy Vegetarian Chili Mac
Can You Freeze One Pot Chili Pasta?
Yes! I find that this dish freezes very well. I suggest dividing the recipe into single-serving portions first, then cooling completely in the refrigerator before transferring to the freezer. Once frozen, you can keep this One Pot Chili Pasta for about three months.
How to Reheat One Pot Chili Pasta
To reheat from the refrigerator I suggest using the microwave, heating on high for 30-60 seconds at a time, stirring between, until heated through. To reheat from the freezer, either first let it thaw in the refrigerator over night, then use the refrigerator reheating instructions, or reheat straight from the freezer using your microwave’s defrost function.
One Pot Chili Pasta
Servings 9 1 cup eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.42)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.46)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce ($0.79)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.79)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.99)
- 1 15oz. can kidney beans ($1.09)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.60)
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni ($0.85)
- 2 cups beef broth* ($0.08)
- 1 cup shredded cheese ($1.00)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Cook both in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until soft and transparent. Add the ground beef and continue to stir and cook until it is fully browned. If using a high fat ground beef, drain off the excessive after it is browned.
- Add the flour and chili powder to the pot and stir to coat the meat. Continue to stir and cook the coated meat for 1-2 minutes more. The flour and chili powder may coat the bottom of the pot, but that’s okay. Just be careful to not let it burn.
- Drain and rinse the black and kidney beans. Add the beans, tomato sauce, diced tomato, and corn kernels to the pot. Stir well and dissolve the flour/chili powder mixture from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the dry macaroni and two cups of beef broth to the pot and stir to combine. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and let the pot come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir to loosen any pasta stuck to the bottom of the pot, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the pot simmer on medium-low for about 15 minutes, or until the pasta is soft and has absorbed most of the liquid. Stir the pot one or two times during the 15 minutes to loosen any pasta stuck to the bottom.
- Once the pasta is fully cooked, turn the heat off and add the cheese. Stir the cheese into the pasta until it has melted in and become slightly creamy. Serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make One Pot Chili Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Start by dicing one medium onion and mincing two cloves of garlic. Cook the onion and garlic in a large pot with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until softened.
I used 1/2 lb. of ground beef and promptly froze the other half for later use. Add 1/2 lb. to the pot and continue to sauté until the beef is fully browned. If you’re using a higher fat beef, drain off the excess fat after it is browned.
To the browned ground beef add 2 Tbsp all purpose flour and 2 Tbsp chili powder. The flour will help thicken the sauce later. The chili powder is NOT cayenne pepper or hot chile powder, it is a mild blend of spices that is sold in the U.S as “chili” powder, not “chile” powder. If they don’t sell that where you’re at, you could actually also use a single packet of chili or taco seasoning.
Stir and cook the flour and chili powder with the browned beef. It will begin to coat the bottom of the pot, but that’s okay because it will dissolve off in the next step. Just be careful that the heat is not so high that it will burn it. Cook this mixture for about two minutes more (this cooks out that raw flour-y flavor).
These are the canned goods that go into my chili (no time to cook my own beans this week). It’s one 15-oz. can each of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans, and kidney beans. Drain and rinse the beans before adding to the pot.
Add the drained and rinsed beans to the pot along with the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and one cup of frozen corn kernels. Stir this mixture well and dissolve the flour off the bottom of the pot as you do so.
At this point you already have a pretty damn good lookin’ chili, but we’re going to go one step further and add some pasta to help make it an entire meal in a bowl.
I used whole wheat pasta just to add a bit more fiber. You’ll need to add 2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni and 2 cups of beef broth. I was out of my beloved Better Than Bouillon and a recent price hike meant that it didn’t fit in my weekly SNAP budget. Luckily, this powdered bouillon was on clearance and I got it for $2! Score.
Add the pasta and broth to the pot, place a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and let it come to a boil. Once it reaches a bowl, give it a quick stir to loosen any pasta stuck to the bottom, then replace the lid, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. You’ll want to stir one or two times during the simmering, too, to keep the pasta from sticking.
This is what it will look like once the pasta is cooked. Still a little liquidy, but it will continue to absorb the flavorful liquid.
Add one cup of shredded cheese and stir it in until melted and creamy. I just happened to have “taco cheese”, but plain cheddar or monterey jack would also work well. Just avoid mozzarella, which tends to be more stringy when melted.
And this delicious one pot chili pasta is what has been keeping me full and satisfied all week. I love it! :D
Looks good!
Beef is expensive around here so I’d likely use turkey (1.49/lb from Aldis).
This dish looked delicious immediately! Any recommendations if I were to be making it without meat?
Thank you for taking the time to participate in the SNAP challenge!
You can just leave the beef out and use vegetable broth instead. :)
If doing vegetarian chili you might consider something to add a bit of protein… I’ve even done peanut butter before to add some protein for vegetarian soups and such.
Just made a “vegan” version. Added extra can of black beans instead of ground beef and vegetable broth vs beef broth. Omitted the cheese. Turned out great!
Thank you for doing this series!!! I consider your website a amazing find since I’ve started my postdoc in new york and now have less disposable income than when I was a grad student. Adding this meal to my planned meal schedule in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again!
this is definitely a great way to go on about it.
Pssst. The link to the Chili Cheese Beef n’ Mac leads to the SNAP challenge page.
Oh, thank you!! I wish I would have seen that earlier. :P
That looks and sounds wonderful and filling, especially as it is 28F at my house this morning!
I am not on SNAP and my food budget is more than adequate, but I do get paid once a month. I understand SNAP benefits are paid once a month also. I like to have a once a month prep day after a payday shop and I would deconstruct this a bit: make a big batch of tomato sauce (with or without the ground beef or a mix of both), make a big pot of beans from dried. Then freeze the sauce(s) in 1 or ?? servings. Freeze each bean variety in servings…WITH their cooking liquid (a nicely seasoned bean liquor can sub for the beef broth). I also bake a large batch of brown rice and freeze that in servings. With the pieces you can make spaghetti or chili or lasagna rollups, burritos/enchiladas or a rice and bean dish, i.e. easy to pull out the pieces and assemble through the month and a bit of variety. Or you could assemble various things and freeze. I happen to like having most of the prep done and then fixing what sounds good, but everyone’s different and not everyone likes to do a mega-cook-prep :)
Looks delicious! Glad you found a good recipe to keep you from being hungry this week :)
I loathe corn. Do you think green bell pepper would be a good substitute?
I wouldn’t really call it a substitute, but it would probably be pretty good in there, too. :) Or, you can just leave the corn out and it will still be great!
This dish looks fantastic .. and sounds delish! I’m gearing up for a few weeks where I work full-time during the week and volunteer on weekends for our local film festival. I need easy meals to come home to that I can just dish up, nuke and enjoy! And with cooler weather just around the corner, this is likely going to be making it into regular rotation … among many others I’ve already added from your wonderful repertoire!!
Love following this series! Have you considered buying dried beans and rehydrating them? I believe it’s a lot cheaper, and tastier, too!!
Yep! I did that in week one with my chickpeas and I do it with black beans often, but unfortunately I didn’t have time this week. :)
Looks great! If I wanted to leave out all of the beans, should I just double the meat?
Yep, that would work! :)
I do not like ground meat or ground meat substitutes. Can I make it and just omit the meat?
Yes, absolutely. :)
I plan on doing this over the weekend!! This looks amazing and you can’t beat the price. Thanks for the constant budget friendly ideas. You are so inspiring!!
Another option would be to use an inexpensive steak cut and then dice it. Would also be good with diced chicken breasts or thighs.
This looks like a delicious dinner on a cold night. Thanks for sharing it. The corn sure does give it a pop of color.
Do you think this would freeze well? I’m only one person & can’t eat it all in one week- but it would be great to have single portions leftover to take for lunch. I don’t think I’ve ever frozen pasta before.
Yes, this type of dish usually freezes really well. :)
When freezing should the pasta be left out? Or will that freeze well?
I regularly make double- or triple-batches whenever I make pasta and freeze it with the pasta. I probably wouldn’t do it with spaghetti, but it works out really well with macaroni, cavatappi, or penne- any nice, sturdy noodles.
Thanks Christine!
I think it freezes just fine with the pasta in, but some people seem to be very sensitive to soft pasta. It doesn’t bother me a bit, though. :)
This looks soooo good! I can’t wait to whip it this weekend.
My only tip is to pre-cook the pasta, rinse cold, then add back to the pot of chili so it won’t get mushy.