Crock Pot Chili Mac - The Dump - And - Simmer Dinner That

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Crock Pot Chili Mac - The Dump - And - Simmer Dinner That

★★★★★ 4.8 · 47

Nate Calloway15.07.2026ZUM REZEPT

I loaded this crock pot chili mac before a 7 a.m. Zoom call and forgot about it until Maya asked why the kitchen smelled like a chili cook-off. That's the whole pitch: twenty minutes of real work in the morning, then the slow cooker does the rest while you go live your actual life. It's not traditional chili and it's not traditional mac and cheese — it's the weeknight mashup that happens when both are in your fridge and you're too tired to make two pots.

The Raw Dump-In Temptation

Photo one is basically a confession: raw ground beef and diced onion, sitting glistening and un-browned right in the crock pot insert. I get emails asking if you can just dump it all in raw and let the slow cooker handle everything, browning included. You technically can. You shouldn't.

Ground beef cooked from raw in a slow cooker steams instead of browns — no Maillard reaction, no fond, and the fat doesn't render out cleanly. You end up with grayish crumbles floating in greasy liquid, which is a texture I associate with my early cooking years and do not recommend revisiting.

• Swap zone: ground turkey or chicken works, but brown it a touch longer since it releases more moisture.
• Skip at your peril: the skillet step is five minutes, not an hour — it's worth the extra pan.

Browning Beef the One-Skillet Way

This is the fix for photo one, happening in photo two: beef and onion in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, broken up with a wooden spoon for 7 to 8 minutes, until the meat is deeply browned and the onion has gone soft and translucent at the edges.

You'll know it's ready when the sizzle quiets down and the beef stops releasing liquid into the pan — that's your cue the water's cooked off and actual browning is happening, not just simmering. Drain excess fat if your beef runs fattier than 85/15; I don't rinse it, just tilt the pan and spoon it off.

This is the one skillet the recipe dirties, and it's non-negotiable. Everything after this goes straight into the crock pot.

Everything Goes In, Unstirred

Photo three is the moment before the moment — browned beef in the bottom of the crock, with diced tomatoes, kidney beans, green chiles, and a dusting of chili seasoning all sitting in their own little piles, not yet touching. It looks chaotic. It's supposed to.

The crock pot doesn't care what order things go in — it only cares that they all get there before you put the lid on.

I dump in this order out of habit, not necessity: beef first (it's heaviest), then the canned stuff, then seasoning on top so it doesn't clump against the metal. What goes in here:

• Two cans of diced tomatoes, juice and all — that liquid is doing real work later.
• One can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed so the sauce doesn't turn starchy-thick before its time.
• Diced green chiles for a mild background heat, not a five-alarm one.

Low and Slow, Lid On

Stir everything together and you get photo four: a deep, brick-red chili base, chunky with beans and beef, steam curling up as it simmers under the lid. This is the part where the slow cooker earns its keep and I earn my afternoon back.

Set it and mean it

Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours, lid on the whole time — every time you peek, you're adding roughly 15 minutes of lost heat. By the end, the tomatoes have broken down into the meat, the chili powder has bloomed into something rounder and less raw-tasting, and the whole kitchen smells like it's been at this a lot longer than it has.

If it looks thin at this stage, don't panic — the macaroni is about to fix that.

Macaroni Goes In Raw — Yes, Really

Photo five is the part that surprises people: pale, dry elbow macaroni, poured straight into the bubbling chili, no boiling pot required. This is the whole reason this recipe exists as one pot instead of two.

1. Stir it in fully so every noodle is submerged — dry pasta poking above the liquid line will cook unevenly and go chalky.
2. Switch to high heat if you were cooking low, and put the lid back on.
3. Cook 20 to 30 minutes, checking at the 20-minute mark for tenderness.

Failure rescue: if the mac is still firm after 30 minutes, it needs more liquid, not more time — stir in a splash of broth and give it another 10 minutes. If it's already gone soft and mushy, you let it ride too long; next time, pull it the moment the noodles bend without snapping.

Ladled, Topped, Actually Done

And here's photo six — the payoff. Tender macaroni coated in thick, beefy chili sauce, kidney beans and diced tomatoes visible throughout, ladled into a white bowl and finished with a dollop of sour cream slowly melting into a snowdrift on top, plus shredded cheese going soft and shiny from the residual heat. The crock pot in the background, half-scraped, tells you people went back for seconds.

The topping short list:

• Sour cream — cools down the chili heat and adds tang.
• Shredded cheddar — added right on the hot bowl so it melts without extra steps.
• Sliced scallions or crushed tortilla chips, if you're feeling ambitious on a Tuesday.

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This is dinner straight from the crock pot to the table — one pot, one skillet, and a spoon for stirring. Dish debt: two.

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Crock Pot Chili Mac - The Dump - And - Simmer Dinner That

★★★★★ 4.8 · 47 ratings

My Mediterranean hummus bowl turns canned chickpeas into a creamy, cumin-dusted dip in one food processor, one bowl, in about 15 real, timed minutes flat.

Main DishAmericancrock pot chili mac

PREP TIME15 min

COOK TIME390 min

TOTAL TIME405 min

SERVINGS6 servings

CALORIES480 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• For the chili base
• 1 lb (450g) ground beef, 85% lean
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
• 2 tbsp chili seasoning (store-bought packet or homemade blend)
• 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
• For the mac-in
• 8 oz (about 2 cups) elbow macaroni, uncooked
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, for topping
• 1/2 cup sour cream, for topping
• 2 scallions, sliced, optional

Method

1

Brown the beef and onion

In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and diced onion for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking up the meat, until browned and the onion is translucent.

2

Drain and transfer

Spoon off excess fat if needed, then transfer the beef and onion mixture into the crock pot insert.

3

Add the canned goods

Pour in the diced tomatoes with their juice, the drained kidney beans, and the diced green chiles, then sprinkle the chili seasoning over the top.

4

Stir and add broth

Stir everything together thoroughly and pour in the beef broth so the mixture is loose enough to simmer evenly.

5

Cook low and slow

Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until deeply simmered and thickened.

6

Stir in the macaroni

Add the uncooked elbow macaroni directly into the bubbling chili, stirring until fully submerged in liquid.

7

Finish on high

Switch to high heat if not already there, cover, and cook 20 to 30 minutes, checking at 20 minutes until the pasta is tender.

8

Serve and top

Ladle into bowls and top each with a dollop of sour cream and a scattering of shredded cheddar; add scallions if using.

Hi! I'm Nate

Hi, I'm Nate! Self-taught home cook, former project manager, and the dad behind The Weeknight Plate. Every recipe here is timed with an actual…

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Final Thoughts

This is one of those recipes that does the actual math right: low effort in, real dinner out, minimal dishes, and a bowl that looks like the photo because it basically is the photo. Load it before your day gets away from you and let the crock pot cover for you.