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 was so good! I used ground turkey and no cheese, and it turned out great.
I just started cooking after having lived off of 3 basic dishes I knew how to make for years! This was super simple to make, and tasted delicious! The fact I can have leftovers for 2 days is perfect for my college student budget =]
Thank you so much!
I made this last night for dinner and my husband’s reaction was “…Oh…oh my God.” That good.
I’m eating it right now. I love this recipe because it is filled with so many pantry staples. I didn’t have macaroni on hand, but in my grocer’s bulk section, 2 cups was $.37. Amazing.
Two modifications: Had chicken broth so I used it.
And second, I’m only admitting this with the anonymity of the internet—I used chunks of leftover velveeta instead of the shredded cheese (I just popped the squares in when I set it to low-medium). SO GUILTILY GOOD.
Loved! I made this and ate off of it for 4 days straight. It was filling and delicious!
I thought I’d post here for anyone who’s interested that I veganized this and it was awesome. I put in fried tofu for the ground beef, nutritional yeast rather than cheese, and thickened it with a bit of corn starch at the end (I left off the flour because I was out). Great recipe!
Made this as filling thing to have around the week before we close and then move into a house. Last time we moved we ended up not being prepared with food and blowing too much $$ in the process.
Its been delicious! reheats great, and the hubby said, “I’ve eaten this for lunch and dinner on the same day and I’m still not tired of it” which is great!
Also – just to use up things in the house we used a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, whole wheat penne pasta and added a touch more water and sprinkled just a touch of brown sugar in it during the simmering phase to help make the crushed tomatoes a touch more ‘saucey’.
Great recipe! I added a pureed can of stewed tomatoes in place of the tomato sauce–didn’t realize I was out–and also added fresh cilantro and a splash of apple cider vinegar to brighten the flavor. Still came out phenomenal and made enough to feed an army! Thanks for another keeper!
What is “single packet of chili” or “taco seasoning”?
I thought chili powder is cayenne pepper?
Or do you mean this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_powder ?
Is you your chili powder a mix of cayenne peppers, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and salt?
In the U.S. “chili powder” (not “chile powder”) is a mild blend of spices used primarily to season the dish called chili. It’s definitely different than cayenne, which confuses a lot of people. :) They also sell single packets of premixed spices just for making one batch of chili or tacos, so that could also be used. The premixed packets are usually a mix of chile powder (mild), cumin, oregano, garlic powder, sometimes cayenne, and other spices. Each brand is unique.
I JUST finished this tonight and it was incredible. I followed the directions exactly and the dish turned out amazingly! I have so much left over, I’ll be set for lunch this week. I can’t wait to make this again for family get-togethers… more one-pot recipes, please! :-)
I made this a bit ago and have been craving it ever since! I actually made a double batch of this for around only $8! And it tasted great chilled, so it made it even easier to pack for lunch as I didn’t have to have a microwave. An A+ in my book.
Made this tonight! Tastes like more of a goulash than chili, but either way it’s great. This will definitely last us a couple of days for lunch and dinner. Inexpensive and easy. I used ground turkey instead of beef.
So good! We made this today FOR LUNCH with a toddler on hand. We did sub lentils for ground beef (1/2 cup dry lentils precooked in beef broth), as another reviewer suggested, because that’s what we had on hand, and ground beef is expensive. Didn’t even miss the beef – and sometimes, lentils as a beef substitute can be a little dicey and weird, but they worked really well here. Toddler approved (with a heavy hand on plain greek yogurt) and parent verified as delicious. I have to say, my husband and I used to follow your site 3-4 years ago when we we were childless and living in San Diego with astronomical rent, and MAN – hard work pays off, your recipes were good before, but now, they are phenomenal, count us impressed! Is there a way to donate to the blog? I’ve gleaned you have a job outside of this blog, and running a blog, especially one like this, is an astronomical amount of work. We’re long time followers and would love to support :). Thank you so much for being amazing and dedicated to providing cheap, delicious recipes – especially ones with portioning enough for families, including leftovers.
Thank you Sarah! Your willingness to give back is so touching. :D All of my hard work has paid off, though, and I was recently able to switch to blogging full time. Just by visiting my blog you’re helping to support me, so that’s more than enough. I appreciate it greatly! :D
Your book is on my TO BUY list as a way to support as well. My family has loved every recipe I’ve made from this site. This is my third go on this chili.
Thank s for this great recipe, made it today and I really enjoyd it!
I just made this tonight and while I liked it, especially the one-pot aspect, mine came out bloody spicy! I’m going to freeze the leftovers and try cooling it down by doing something else with it, maybe adding cream to cut the heat. It did make heaps though which I also love!
Your chili powder may have been different than what I used. :) Mine has no heat. At least it was still tasty! :)
This looks amazing! If I cooked this ahead time, could I put a
slow cooker for a couple hours for a potluck in the afternoon?
Thanks!
You could, but you have to remember that keeping it in the heated slow cooker will make the pasta continue to cook. So, the pasta will get quite a bit softer and it will soak up more of the liquid. That sort of thing doesn’t bother me, but some people are rather sensitive to soft pasta. :)