I don't love making dinner, so I'm thrilled to have recipes that make weeknight meals easy - like this Homemade Chili Mac. It's hearty with beef, beans, and pasta, made with simple freezer and pantry staples, and is ready in just 35 minutes!
This cozy meal hits the spot when you want weeknight comfort food. It's tomatoey, a little spicy, and easy to customize. My husband and daughter stir in shredded cheese, but I skip it for a cheese-free, dairy-free chili mac. I love that it's made from real food, not ultra-processed mixes.
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Why You'll Love This Chili Mac
I love making this hearty meal for dinner because it's:
- Only pantry and freezer ingredients.
- Whole ingredients - no canned chili or packaged macaroni and cheese.
- Ready in 35 minutes - so it's weeknight friendly.
- Dairy-free!
Ingredients You'll Need
I developed this recipe so I didn't have to cut vegetables. There's no ultra-processed food here - just some basic freezer and pantry staples.
- Ground beef
- Pasta
- Tomato paste
- Beans
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder and salt
- Water from cooking pasta
I used 80% lean ground beef. Ground turkey would work equally well.
Macaroni elbows are the traditional shape for mac and cheese, so that's the pasta I use. Any small shape pasta should work. Gluten-free pasta should also work here, with a couple of cooking adjustments.
I use canned tomato paste for concentrated tomato flavor, even though we thin it out with water. I have not yet tried tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes; if substituting them, skip the water, only adding a little if the dish seems dry.
I use canned red or white beans for maximum convenience. You can double the quantity easily. I substitute unseasoned, leftover cooked beans when I have some.
Chili powder is a seasoning blend that contains chili peppers, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. It is not the same as single ingredient chile powder. Every brand differs as to how spicy and salty it is. You may need more or less than I do, and may need to adjust the amount of garlic powder and salt as well.
I add the pasta water to the pot to soften the tomato paste to get it to the right saucy consistency. You may need more or less, depending on your tastes. If trying tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, don't add water unless the chili mac seems dry.
My family likes shredded cheese in this, but it's optional. It melts best if the chili mac is very hot.
How to Make Homemade Chili Mac - Step-by-Step
You'll need to get two pots going immediately when you start cooking this: one for boiling pasta, and for ground beef and the final product.
Start heating the water immediately. I use a small, 2-quart saucepan to boil pasta for this recipe, and it consistently takes 12-13 minutes to come to a boil.
- While your water heats to boil pasta, brown the ground beef in a large pot. Turn off the heat, drain it, then return it to the pot.
- Boil the pasta for 1 minute less than the cooking time recommended on the package (8 minutes for a recommended cooking time of 9-10 minutes).
DO NOT DRAIN. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta to the pot with the ground beef.
- Add the remaining ingredients, and 1 ½ cups of pasta water. Stir to combine, then cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes until hot, adding extra pasta water as necessary to keep anything from sticking.
Adjust the spices and salt, and serve.
Serving and Storage
Serve immediately. If you're topping yours with cheese, it melts best if the chili mac is piping hot.
Leftovers are great for lunch. Store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat them gently, adding a splash of water if necessary.
Try It Gluten-Free
I think this could easily be made with gluten-free pasta, but gluten-free pasta is fragile and can break down when stirred too much. To try it with gluten-free pasta:
- Boil the pasta for 1 minute less than the cooking time on the package (8 minutes for a 9-11 minute range).
- Remove the pasta from the water, but do not add to the pot yet.
- Stir the cooking water into the ground beef and tomato paste mixture. Heat, and adjust the spices and the amount of water until you like the taste and consistency of the sauce.
- Gently stir in the gluten-free pasta, and heat gently until hot.
If you're using gluten-free pasta, be sure to check the other ingredients (like chili powder) to be sure it doesn't contain any gluten ingredients.
Tasty Add-Ins and Variations
I like the straight-forward, tomatoey flavor of this chili mac, but it's also a versatile meal. Here's a few ways you can change this dish up:
- Saute chopped onions and peppers with ground beef.
- Add diced tomatoes for a chunkier chili mac, using the liquid in place of some of the pasta water.
- Heat some frozen corn to stir in after you've made the sauce.
- Substitute extra beans for the ground beef to make it vegetarian.
Why Does Mine Take Longer To Cook?
How long it takes for you to make this chili mac recipe depends on how long it takes water to boil on your stove. I boil my pasta in a 2-quart pot, which is on the small side; still, I often find I've drained my ground beef before my pasta has started to boil.
Recipe FAQ
Yes! My homemade chili mac can be made with gluten-free pasta. However, gluten-free pasta can be fragile and become mushy after cooking. After cooking the pasta, remove it from the water and set it aside. Stir it into the chili mac after you've made adjustments to the sauce, just immediately before serving.
And, be sure that all your other ingredients are gluten-free.
It's very easy to turn this chili mac recipe vegetarian or vegan. In fact, it's even easier since you skip the step of cooking ground beef. Simply substitute an extra can of beans for the ground beef, adding it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients. When serving, use your favorite dairy-free cheese to make it vegan, or skip cheese entirely.
Yes! I developed this chili mac recipe to exclude packaged macaroni and cheese and canned chili. You use minimally processed tomato paste, pasta, and spice blends instead, and stir in shredded cheese at the end so you taste the cheese directly, without it getting hidden in sauce.
When this chili mac tasted flat during testing, it needed more tomato paste, chili powder, or salt. It might taste flat if you use tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes. Since chili powder blends all differ, so you may need more chili powder than I do; the amount I include isn't spicy, but the heat does build up. Canned chili and boxed mac and cheese often contain a lot of sodium; I had to add more salt than I'd normally prefer to get the chili mac to pop with flavor.
My Other Favorite Quick Meals
Here's some of my other favorite meals to make on weeknights when I don't have much time or desire to cook.
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Homemade Chili Mac
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 8 ounces dry pasta
- 12 ounces tomato paste
- 2 cups beans (rinsed and drained; from a 15-16 ounce can)
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- 1 ½ cups pasta cooking water
- shredded cheese (optional; for topping)
Instructions
- Start heating water to boil your pasta. Meanwhile, brown and drain the ground beef.
- Return the ground beef to its pan, with the heat off. Add tomato paste, drained beans, 2 tablespoons of chili powder, garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Wait for the pasta to be done cooking.
- Boil the pasta, cooking it 1 minute less than the minimum cooking time on the package. (If the package says 9-11 minutes, cook it for 8.)
- Once the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta (but not much liquid) to the pot with the ground beef.
- Add 1 ½ cups of the pasta water to the ground beef mixture. Mix to combine and soften the tomato paste into a sauce.
- Heat gently over medium heat, until everything is well mixed and hot, adding more pasta water as necessary. Taste and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of chili powder and ½ teaspoon salt if needed.
- Spoon into bowls and serve. Stir in shredded cheese while hot, if desired.
Optional Additions
- Saute chopped onion or peppers with the ground beef while you brown it, if desired.
- Add corn or extra beans to increase this to serve 5 or 6. As a bonus, this adds more vegetables to make it a healthier meal.
Gluten-Free Option
- Boil gluten-free pasta for 1 minute less than the package says. Remove the pasta from the water, but do not add to the pot with the ground beef.
- Stir pasta water into the ground beef mixture. Heat and adjust the water and spices to the right consistency.
- Once the sauce is how you'd like it, add the cooked pasta to the pot. Reheat and stir gently; gluten-free pasta can turn mushy. Serve immediately.
Leona Konkel says
I developed this recipe so we could have homemade comfort food for dinner. We love it and I hope you do too. Let me know how it turns out when you try it!