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
So good! I made this tonight and it was excellent and very filling! I was only able to eat one little bowl and I still have so much left over! This is a lifesaver for a college student like me! Excellent recipe!
I absolutely love this recipe. I probably make it at least once a week. It’s my go to “Oh s**t meal” for when I have absolutely no idea what I’m making. I also love that it only takes 1/2 lb ground beef! 2 meals out of one pound. =D
Have I told you lately how much my kids and I love this? For sure a fall/winter staple in my house!
This was really good! These are the changes/additions I made and they all worked really well:
– I used peas because I forgot to get corn at the store
– I added diced red jalapeños (not spicy) because I had them available and didn’t want them to go bad
– I added a sprinkling of brown sugar to each serving
I just had to tell you how much I LOVE this dish. I literally made it about once a week last fall/winter – it is so delicious. I use ground turkey instead of beef and we have this ghost pepper salt (we like spicy around here) that we use to season each bowl to taste and it is AMAZING. Thank you!! This is a comfort food staple!
This dish shouldn’t be so delicious considering how easy and inexpensive it is, but it is! I loved every bite of it. I used a touch more beef, 0.8 of a pound, and the ratio of pasta to beans to meat was just perfect. It’s so satisfying, filling, tasty, but also well-spiced, and not bland or one-note at all. I had just bought new chili powder, which I was happy about using here. I had an old jalapeno lying around which I threw in (after removing the seeds), and that slightly bumped up the heat in a nice way (I don’t have much of a hot tolerance). All in all this hits all the notes for me (inexpensive, delicious, easy, filling) and I will be making this time and time again.
This was good, very inexpensive, and a great mix of flavors. I did add more chili powder and cheese than called for and also added cumin. I inadvertently only put about a cup of a half of macaroni as I was looking between this and another recipe on Pinterest. My only criticism is the noodles do get soggier than I would like. I might change it in the future by making the chili and the Mac and cheese separately (using less liquid in the chili) and just spooning the chili over the Mac and cheese.
FAN-TAS-TIC! Excellent budget meal. Thank you!
I just made this and it is fabulous! So filling and flavorful. Thanks :)
This dish was awesome and filling! It served as a great weeknight dinner for several days!
Haha, hello! I’ve trying recipes from your site on and off for a few months now and OMG you make cooking on a budget a cinch – my days of stirfry are in the past! Ahaha, so back to the topic at hand, I gave this chili a whirl and got into a bit of a fight with it: added the beans before the flour, had tomato paste instead of tomato sauce (which water helped solve), and used chicken broth instead of beef. But overall it was still uber delicous! Thank you so much for being so epic!! :D You make this poor college student’s tummy and wallet full as well
So good! My picky 8 year old even liked it! My 10 year old said it’s like chili and goulash had a baby, haha. We’ve got tons of leftovers, too, which is great!
I tried this recipe last night and discovered I didn’t have a big enough pot to put everything in! But I remembered my crock pot and put everything in there and added the onions, garlic, and pasta last and let it cook for an hour and it was perfect! Even my best friend’s wife who doesn’t like beans enjoyed it! Love your recipes, Beth! Thank you!
I made this for supper tonight and it reminded me of Hamburger Helper :) I love the pasta recipes on your site! They taste great and I aways have leftovers.
Delicious and filling! I used a can of Rotel in place of plain diced tomatoes since I had it on hand and it added a great little kick.