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 great. I froze 5 containers of this and when I reheated it was still tasty!
This looks really taste, need to try it out as soon as possible! I was wondering, though, would you consider adding a “one-pot” tag to your recipes? I love that you mention this (most recipes don’t and it’s my preferred way of cooking), but searching is kinda hard. Thanks for all the awesome recipes!
Yes! I plan to do that soon! :)
I don’t usually comment on recipes but I have to say I was really pleased with this one – I made a lot of changes that most likely made the dish LESS tasty and it’s still really good! I’m on a really tight budget this week so I used brown beans instead of kidney beans even though I like kidneys better – I skipped the corn completely and only added about ½cup of shredded cheese. And I’m a vegetarian and didn’t use meat or substitute it with anything.The batch made less than yours (I got about 5 meals out of it) but it was an awesome recipe!
I just recently found your site, so far I’ve tried this and the red lentil stew, they were both great! I don’t like to spend too much money on food so you’re blog is one of my favorites right now for browsing recipes on a budget. Thank you so much!
Beth, do you think this would freeze well? It makes much more than my family needs for one meal, I’d love to get another meal out of it.
Yes, this should freeze very well. :)
Does the pasta get mushy when reheated?
thanks
A little, yes, but it’s still delicious.
This looks super yummy! Any suggestions for a different type of meat? I’m a carnivore, but I don’t love ground beef. Thanks!
Ground turkey or pork would also work. :)
One pot pasta? I’m in!
Big thumbs up from my 7-year-old, even though she was a bit leery at first. This is definitely going in the rotation.
Made this tonight and it was fantastic. Made the following changes :
Ground turkey instead of beef
Vegetable broth instead of beef broth
Diced tomatoes with green chiles
Added cilantro on top
Such a great recipe that can be tailored anyway you need. Highly recommend and one pot prep is the best!!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was YUMMIE. Really filling and satisfying.
As I didn’t have any chili powder, I seasoned with cumin, paprika and a little salt and black pepper (as I would do if I was making a regular chili).
It yielded five huge portions, but if you don’t run out of plastic containers while portioning, like I did, you could get at least six portions worth. At least.
This is a new kid favorite in our house! I made a few modifications. I cooked the pasta separately so I could freeze half of the chili and I’m glad I did because this makes a TON! With the pasta cooking while I made the chili, it only took 20 minutes.
I made this tonight. Really easy and came out very well. I had to add some salt and red pepper flakes because it came out initially tasting very ‘beany’ for lack of a better word.
I might try subbing lentils for the meat next time and adding some cumin. I’m always looking for new meatless recipes. Nothing against meat, it’s just really expensive.
On an unrelated topic, I picked up a spaghetti squash today and I have no idea what to do with it. Any suggestions?
I just picked up a spaghetti squash, too, so maybe I’ll have a recipe to post soon! :)
This was so, so delicious!! I only had half an onion, so I also added a diced red bell pepper, and used 1lb of ground turkey instead of beef. I threw in a few shakes of cumin, because I pretty much love cumin in everything, and this was truly delicious!! I love your recipes, and I appreciate all your hard work!!
Thanks for this recipe! Have you considered adding a tag for your one-pot recipes? I’ve come to the site specifically looking for them a few times, and while I do love scrolling through other things, it’d be nice to see them all on one page.
I do need to do that, yes. :) I’ve only recently gotten on the “one pot meal” train, so I should adjust the labels accordingly.
Beth – I think you’re at a whole new level with this recipe. I am stunned at how delicious this tastes, and for such little effort! Absolutely one of my favorites from your blog. My fiance will be pleasantly surprised when he tries this for lunch tomorrow. :)