Chili Mac and Cheese

So, this is another recipe created by those people who I worship over at America’s Test Kitchen (from their skillet suppers magazine). It cooked up so nice and quick, had the perfect amount of spice, wasn’t over powering at all for Bo who isn’t a big chili fan, and best of all, Oliver liked it and actually ate a decent dinner!

That’s something which never seems to happen these days.

 

Let’s get to it.

Heat up some oil in a skillet and cook your onion, chili powder, cumin and salt until the onion is nice, soft and brown. About 5 minutes.

Add some brown sugar and garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

Add your ground beef and cook until nice and brown., about another 5 minutes.

This looks good.

Pour in the tomato sauce and water.

Add the uncooked macaroni and give it all a stir

Cover it and let it cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes

Stir in some cheese

Throw some more cheese on top

Cover it until the cheese melts, maybe 3 minutes.

You’re done!

Come on, how do you not want to dig into this?

I ate it last week and nice now I’m wishing I was cooking this again tonight instead of spaghetti and meatballs. SO good!

Here’s your printable:

Chili Mac and Cheese

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, minced
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• salt
• 1½ tsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 cups water
• 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, chili powder and cumin and cook until the onion is softened and browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and brown sugar and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking apart, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the water and tomato sauce, then stir in the pasta. Cover, increasing the heat to medium-high, and cook until the pasta is al dente, stirring often.
9. Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese and season with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining shredded cheese and cover, letting stand until the cheese melts, about 3 minutes.