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
This recipe is delicious! I used 1 lb of ground venison because that’s what was defrosted and needed to get cooked. I bumped up the chili powder and flour to 3 Tbsp and didn’t alter anything else. I love it, especially the addition of the corn for a nice sweet note. Thanks so much Beth – this will definitely be a go to recipe!
Made this for dinner tonight. Loved it! I used a lb of ground turkey and doubled the noodles/water, and extra black beans (a bag I cooked and froze that had extra in it). Plenty of leftovers!
Thanks for a great recipe! It turned out deliciously even though I bought beef stock instead of broth and forgot to buy tomatoes. Made a ton and I’m stuffed! I am also making your chorizo, sweet potato enchiladas this week which I have made several times and love. Apparently it’s a budget bytes week for me !!:)
I just bought 5 lbs of ground beef because it was on sale. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to try out this chili :)
Great! I used 2 lbs of chicken instead of beef and increased the (chicken) broth to 3 cups. Will definitely make again.
Do you think this would turn out okay without meat/meat substitute in it?
Yes, absolutely. I think it would be great even without meat or a substitute.
I made a vegetarian version using Tofurky chorizo instead of beef, and Better Than Bouillon mushroom base as the broth. Soooooo good!
I made this about a half hour ago and I have a new favorite go-to recipe. I’ve already shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest in the last five minutes, because in my opinion, everyone needs to know about this little spoonful of heaven.
One question — I would love to use whole wheat elbows, but my local store doesn’t carry them. They do have other whole wheat pastas however, so is there another pasta that might work as well?
You can pretty much use any shape you’d like. Just keep in mind that some shapes that are more “dense” may absorb more liquid and make the chili thicker.
This was delish! I used lentils (1/2 cup dry cooked in beef broth) in place of the beef since that’s what I had on hand. It was really good and I didn’t miss the meat. My toddler liked it as well.
Oops, I forgot to rate it.
Made this yesterday for my grandkids. It was delicious but I think I’ll use less pasta next time. Mine soaked up all the juice. I like mine a little thinner.
OH i FORGOT TO MENTION: I did use 2 lbs of ground beef from Walmart, cheap….
Thanks for all of your amazing recipes! I love the one-pot dishes. For this one, I don’t have beef broth, but I do have a jar of beef gravy. Do you think I could substitute it or possibly combine it with water?
Hmm… I don’t know about that. It might work to thin it out with water, but I think I’d probably just use water in place of the beef broth and add extra salt and maybe a few extra herbs (oregano, cumin, pepper).
Made this tonight….yum! Added the corn to my bowl since hubby doesn’t like it & was fine. Thanks!
This looks so yummy, do you think this is freezer friendly? Or freeze before adding the pasta?
Yes, it’s very freezer friendly. :) I freeze pasta all the time with no problems.
so glad you asked this; I am making a batch of this so I can freeze some for later! I will post my opinions after making it..I am making it in crock pot however.
oh my GOSH this was GOOOOOOOOOD!!!! I adapted it a teensy bit, because as I mentioned, I was doing it in crock pot, and freezing some. I sauteed the onion and garlic (used a 2-3 cloves, and 1 onion),browned the ground beef, put in crock pot sprayed with Pam or no-name version, washed, drained and added 2 cans red beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can Hunt’s tomato sauce (with some spices in it) added cumin seeds and chili powder and salt and pepper, added some beef broth for right consistency, some frozen corn (about 2 cups, then added more–went by how it looked)…didn’t have can of diced tomatoes so did without…cooked macaroni separately (A 500 G BOX of elbows) when crock pot was nearly done. then mixed it all together, put in 3, COUNT’ EM THREE casserole dishes, topped with shredded cheddar, put under broil in oven just to melt cheese, and froze 2 of them for later.. it was REALLY REALLY GOOD!!!! I will DEFINITELY make this again and again, and would use for company dish… DELISH!!!!
Excellent!! I used a whole pound of meat (although I totally appreciate this SNAP challenge – I could have easily stretched it even more with more corn, beans, or pasta). It is so yummy.