Recipe category
Chili mac is a favorite comfort food for my family, I eat the leftovers for lunch the next day or I freeze them for a quick meal another night.
Preparation Time
- 5 minutes
Cooking time
- 20 minutes
Number of servings
- 10
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup vegetables of your choice, fresh or frozen, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. ground cumin or oregano
- 1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni
- 2 15-oz. cans small red beans, kidney beans or pinto beans
- 2 14.5-oz. cans diced no salt added tomatoes with juice
- 1 6-oz. can tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
Directions
- Wash hands with soap and water.
- Put ground meat in a 6-quart saucepan or soup pot or 12" skillet. Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Cook meat over medium heat. While cooking chop meat and stir until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Ground turkey will turn white.
- While meat is cooking, gently rub any fresh vegetables under cold running water.
- Chop onion and fresh vegetables.
- Add onion, vegetables, chili powder and cumin or oregano and continue cooking until onions are tender. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
- In a separate pot, cook the macaroni following package directions, but omit salt and oil.
- While the macaroni cooks, drain and rinse the beans. Add beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce to the ground meat mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water if sauce is too thick.
- Stir cooked macaroni and cheese into pot. The heat of the food will melt the cheese.
Nutrition Facts Label calculated with ground beef and kidney beans.
Number of Servings 10, Serving Size 1 1/2 cups, Calories 390, Total Fat 8 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 35 mg, Sodium 580 mg, Total Carbohydrates 51 g, Fiber 11 g, Total Sugars 6 g, Includes 0 g Added Sugars, Protein 27 g, Vitamin D 0 mcg, Calcium 254 mg, Iron 5 mg, Potassium 516 mg
