One Pot Chili Mac n Cheese Recipe – A Weeknight Dinner Favorite

Faribault Foods sponsors this post, and has paid me to write about its Mrs. Grimes Beans products. Faribault Foods provided samples of products. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and based on my own experiences.

Dinner’s done folks!

We’re talking about a delicious meal that is full of fantastic nutrients. We’ve included three types of beans in our One Pot Chili Mac n Cheese recipe, so this pot of yumminess is full of Mrs. Grimes Dark Red Kidney Beans, Black Beans, and Chili Beans.

How to Make Chili Mac n Cheese

Added to the soupy pot of goodness are a few other essential ingredients that make this recipe the amazing thing that it is. And what it in fact is, is the perfect comfort food recipe ideal for serving on busy school nights and weekends alike.

We’ve provided step by step photos to show just how easy this recipe is to make, and to show you why you shouldn’t be overwhelmed at all…even if you’re new to cooking.

Saute Onions and Bell Pepper

For the first step, simply heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and add in green bell pepper and onion. Stir and  cook for a few minutes.

Brown Lean Meat

Add in lean ground beef.

You can certainly use something other than lean ground beef, but regarding lowering calories, we thought we’d stick with lean meat. You could also try using half beef and half ground turkey. Both are good and flavorful choices.

Drain Grease from Meat

Brown the meat and mix together with the onions and peppers, letting the flavors meld together. Once the meat has finished browning, drain the grease.

We love using this combination of beef, onions, and pepper with other recipes too. It is delicious to add on its own with a box of mac and cheese for a fast meal, not to mention is the optimal combination of starter ingredients for our favorite chili recipe.

Add Mrs. Grimes Beans – Yum!

After draining the grease from the browned, it’s time to add the beans. We love the flavor of Mrs. Grimes Beans!

Dark Red Kidney Beans, Black Beans, and Chili Beans make up the base for our tasty Chili Mac and Cheese recipe.

It’s delicious!

Time to Add Seasonings and Diced Tomatoes

After adding the beans, it’s time to add in diced tomatoes and all the seasonings. And we all know, the seasonings can make or break a recipe.

The seasonings in our Easy Chili Mac and Cheese recipe help to bring it all together.

We also add in chicken broth instead of water, which adds another level to the flavors that combine to form this great recipe.

Add PASTA and Cook!

Adding elbow macaroni to this delicious pot of goodness is another essential step in the recipe process.

Once you’ve added the macaroni, bring the pot of chili mac to a boil and then reduce heat to low and allow the pasta to cook and the flavors to all meld together over the next 13-15 minutes.

Occasionally stir the chili mac to allow the ingredients to mix and mingle and the seasonings to hug onto every elbow macaroni in the pot.

Do You Love Recipes with Cheese?

Finally, the step you’ve all been waiting for, and one of the steps that set this Chili Mac recipe above and beyond others that we’ve tasted, is the addition of two types of cheese.

We’ve added both shredded Cheddar cheese and a shredded Hot Jalapeño & Habanero Jack Cheese cheese…both of which add distinct flavors to the Chili Mac and Cheese that you’ve got to taste to believe.

Stir, Cook and Smell the Aroma

Stirring together these yummy ingredients and scooping them into a bowl shows an aroma of spices and other ingredients that make this recipe the complete one-pot meal that it is.

Weeknight meals need to be time-savers, and this meal can feed a crowd and takes just 25 minutes to throw together from start to finish.

This is also a recipe that is full of health benefits. Its ingredients include Mrs. Grimes Beans, which are high-fiber, low fat and all natural. We consider ingredients like those a win all around.

Added to those tasty beans are other tasty and nutritious ingredients like tomatoes and lean meat.

Delicious Toppings Add to a Recipe

We decided to top our Chili Mac with just a little bit of cilantro and additional shredded Cheddar cheese.

Sour cream would be another amazing topping for it and is something that we often use to top our other chili recipes.

And if you’re looking for more chili recipes, we’ve got them! We use Mrs. Grimes Beans in a lot of our chili

Here are a few of our favorite recipes…some of which have beans: Weight Watchers Chili, Crockin White Chicken Chili, Black Bean Chili, and Best Slow Cooker Texas Chili.

Mrs. Grimes Beans are available at select Walmart Stores, HyVee, and Fareway stores. You can get a coupon here for Mrs. Grimes Beans.

$1.00 off two cans of any size is a pretty good deal!

One Pot Meals Equal Easy Clean-Up

We love making one-pot meals for a variety of reasons, but the one we come back to again and again is that we love to save time cleaning up the kitchen.

Seriously, who doesn’t?

No one–at least not anyone we know–looks forward to standing at the kitchen sink rinsing dishes to put into the dishwasher OR better yet, washing a sink full of dishes. Sure there are probably some people who relish that daily duty, but why bother with using boatloads of pots and pans when you don’t have to?

Meals to Feed a Crowd

Another thing we LOVE about this pot of yummy Chili Mac n Cheese (we kind of think it deserves a blue-ribbon), is that it makes enough to feed a crowd.

So, whether you’re feeding a group of rowdy fans before heading down to the local Friday night football game, have a family gathering, or unexpectedly are hosting a huge group of your kid’s friends…this is a quick and easy meal that is affordable and delicious.

On that note, if you’re cooking for 2-3 and don’t want a lot of leftovers, you’d be fine cutting this recipe in half.

Serve this scrumptious Chili Mac n Cheese up with a side salad for even more nutritious flare. Or, if you’re the type who enjoys bread served with every meal, you might enjoy adding a loaf of Rosemary Bread to the table.

Whatever side dishes you choose to compliment this pot of Chili Mac n Cheese, we’re pretty certain that every bowlful scooped out of the chili pot will be the main attraction.

Easy Recipes for Weeknight Meals – Dinner is Done!

This emboldened recipe is full of flavors of our Chili Mac (our most popular recipe of all time) and the gooey goodness of Mac n Cheese. Added to that is the slightly soupy broth and there is no doubt at all that you’ll want to ladle up a bowl full of this delightful recipe.

We’ve got the full recipe for you below. Go ahead and save it, print it out or pin it, so you’ll have it ready to use on all those busy nights when you’re looking for the perfect recipe to save time getting dinner on the table.

In our humble opinion, this is certainly one of the good ones.

Get the Recipe:

One Pot Chili Mac n Cheese

One-Pot Chili Mac n Cheese is an easy recipe that is perfect for serving up as a weeknight dinner or food to feed a crowd. Great school night dinner ideas.

• Author: Jessica McCoy

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 red onion, medium, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 pound ground lean meat (we used ground beef)

1 (15oz) can each, Mrs. Grimes Chili Beans, Dark Red Kidney Beans, Black Beans

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

32 ounces chicken broth

4 teaspoons chili powder

3 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles

3/4 cup shredded cheddar

3/4 cup Hot Jalapeño & Habenero Jack Cheese

Instructions

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and add in green bell pepper and onion. Stir and all to cook for a few minutes.

Brown the meat and mix together with the onions and peppers, letting the flavors meld together. Once the meat has finished browning, drain the grease.

Add in Dark Red Kidney Beans, Black Beans, and Chili Beans, mixing all the ingredients together.

Combine seasonings, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Add in uncooked macaroni.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and cook for 13-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and add cheese.

Serve and enjoy!