A childhood comfort food – made lighter! This Lighter Chili Mac Recipe takes a favorite from everyone’s childhood and turns it into a delicious dinner.
For some reason, ever since 2015 started, I feel like I can’t even keep track of the days. Like most of the time, I honestly don’t even know what day it is. I sat in the parking lot at Target the other day for several minutes, trying to figure out if it was Monday or Tuesday. (And I must have been really tired because it didn’t even occur to me to check my phone!)
I blame it on being a work at home mom. Sometimes, what day it is just doesn’t really matter. Most days are pretty much the same, so it really doesn’t matter if it’s Monday or Tuesday.
But seriously – how hard is it to remember what day of the week it is?
All I know is that any night calls for this lighter version of a favorite comfort food. This lighter Chili Mac Recipe has all of the flavor, but clocks in a little healthier than the regular recipe. This cuts back on the pasta portion of most chili mac recipes. You get more chili, less mac. At first I thought I was going to hate that, but as it ended up, I really loved this Lighter Chili Mac Recipe. You still get all of the flavor.
I love it when a lighter recipe is just as good as – if not better than – it’s original counterpart. This is a delicious recipe that belongs on the rotation!
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Lighter Chili Mac Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup short cut pasta
- 1 4 oz can diced green chiles, drained
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook the ground beef and the onion until the beef is no longer pink. Drain off any excess grease. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pasta, green chiles, chili powder and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and then cover the pan. Cook an additional 20 minutes, or until the pasta is tender, stirring often.
- Top with the Monterey Jack cheese and let sit until the cheese has melted.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information
Leon Jones says
Recipe sounded great, but turned out to be the worst Chili-Mac I ever tasted! The nasty school lunch Chili-Mac I had as kid was better and had more flavor. Very bland for a chili dish.
Jennifer says
reading the directions, when is the pasta added to the skillet?
Deborah says
It is added in after the ground beef has cooked, with the beans and most of the remaining ingredients.
Joanne says
The days run together for me and I DO physically go to a job every day! Last week I swore every day was Thursday.
Somehow we never had chili mac when I was a kid and I am definitely regretting it. Love your lighter version!
Laura says
What do you think about using turkey instead of beef?
Deborah says
I think turkey would work just fine.
Chels R. says
I’m having that problem too. It feels like a Thursday, but I know its a Wednesday. This looks perfect and love that it is lower in calories, too.
Sandy_of_WV says
Need to correct recipe…
Ingredients say – chili powder
Directions say – garlic powder
Deborah says
Ooops – thanks for catching that!!
Sandy_of_WV says
🙂
Marla Meridith says
This skillet pasta looks delish!!