Easy Skillet Cheese-Topped Chili Macaroni

"This is a quick and easy recipe for a weeknight meal. Its very tasty and very filling. DH loves it when I make this and always takes leftovers to work!"
 
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photo by *Parsley* photo by *Parsley*
photo by *Parsley*
photo by lazyme photo by lazyme
photo by Karen Elizabeth photo by Karen Elizabeth
photo by Mamas Kitchen Hope photo by Mamas Kitchen Hope
photo by Charmie777 photo by Charmie777
Ready In:
30mins
Ingredients:
12
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • In a large skillet, brown onion and garlic with ground beef.
  • Drain and return to pan.
  • Add kidney beans, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, and salt.
  • Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  • Add cooked macaroni and stir.
  • Add grated cheddar to top, cover and simmer just until cheese melts.

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Reviews

  1. Realizing this is a homemade Hamburger Helper, I didn't pre-cook the pasta to al dente. Just throw it in with a little more water. It worked great and WAY less effort than boiling them first. Family loved this!
     
  2. It's a good recipe, one you could make quickly to please the whole family. It does need more spice, chili powder and garlic. It is a homemade hamburger helper, which is great. Thanks for sharing!
     
  3. Some people are such food snobs, it's incredible! Obviously, this is not a 50th wedding anniversary party main course, and this is how I will review it. This was incredible for a quick, easy (for Martha's sake, my guy made it while I was at rowing practice and it came out beautifull)and tasty weeknight evening meal. Bravo for a great addition to my personnal list of regular (as in done regularly, not as in "just a regular meal") weeknight meals!
     
  4. Very good skillet dish. Everyone at our table enjoyed it very much. Nice mexican-style flavor; perfect after-work meal or anytime you want a quick, easy to prepare meal that is not too spicy for the kids. The only adaptation I made was to use pinto beans I prepared from scratch with onion, garlic, and boullion. I used a mexican blend of cheese and small shell macaroni as that is what I had available. For those of us who enjoy more spice, this could easily be adapted with the addition of chile peppers or an increased amount of chili powder and cumin, which I did add to this dish and I recommend it highly. I did not add the salt as my beans had enough salt in them. This will have a regular place on our meal rotation. Thanks Little Bee for bringing another lovely addition to our menu.
     
  5. Yum, very nice. I made this exactly as per recipe, my only change was to actually cook the pasta in with the other ingredients, other than pre-cooking. So I probably needed a bit more liquid, adding as I thought necessary, but didn't use that much more. Even though we don't like overly spicy food, we both agreed that I could have added more chilli to this, other than that, super recipe that was very much enjoyed, I suspect leftovers will be even better :) Thanks, Little Bee, this recipe was made for I Recommend, tag game.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This really lacked flavor for us, in spite of using fresh garlic, smoked paprika, and canned refried beans instead of kidney beans. I like that it's different than other skillet meals I make, so I will try to spruce it up in the future.
     
  2. Had 2 cups of pinto beans, 1/2 cup of green beans, 1/2 cup beef stock, and 2 cups shredded cabbage that I didn't want to go to waste in the frig. This recipe was perfect. I followed the instructions with what I had and added more cumin, used a little cayenne pepper, more ancho chili pepper, and used leftover beef stock instead of water. I also used 1/2 cup mozzarella & 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. It was very easy and very delicious! Thanks!
     
  3. Good quick meal! I used the following substitutions because this is what I had on hand: cannelli beans, tomato paste thinned w/ beef broth instead of tomato sauce & water. Good stuff! Easy, affordable, quick, family loved it!
     
  4. This recipe was really great. For any Canadians out there, I used a can of President's Choice Southwest Bean Medly in place of the kidney beans. I also used 2 tsp of chili powder and 1 tsp cumin. I also added 2 cloves of chopped garlic in place of the powder. Excellent - I will definitely make this again!!
     
  5. I made this for dinner last night. The kids couldn't get enough. Instead of tomato sauce, I did use canned tomatoes and a combo of colby jack, cheddar and mozzarella, just because I had little bits left in each bag to use. I served each topped with a scoop of sour cream. Definitely a keeper, thanks for sharing!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am happily married to my best friend and we just bought our first house! No kids but we have 2 little dogs that we think the world of. I was born in California and although I have been on the East Coast for most of my life I am still displaced! I love the beach and hate the cold! In our free time we love to go to the beach or the mountains and hike or intertube down the lazy Shenendoah River. It is so beautiful there! I have loved to cook all of my life and will read cookbooks like they are novels! Participation & Awards: These are some of the fun games and clubs here at Zaar. <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/berriesblinkie.gif" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/World%20Tour/ZWT2.gif"> <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t237/akplongmeadow/ZWT3b.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket">
 
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