Slow Cooker Chili Mac

Ingredients

• 1 lb / 450 g Lean ground beef
• 4 Garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium Yellow onion, chopped
• 1 can (28 oz / 794 g) Crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups Beef broth
• 16 oz / 454 g Elbow macaroni
• 1 Tbsp Chili powder
• ½ tsp Ground cumin
• 30 oz / 850 g Chili beans, with sauce

Method

1. Set a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the beef, onion, and garlic together, breaking the meat into small crumbles, until the beef is browned and the onion is soft. Pour off the fat. The comment puts the raw beef straight into the cooker. This version browns it first so the pot is not greasy.
2. Scrape the skillet into a slow cooker that holds at least 6 quarts. Add the crushed tomatoes, beef broth, chili powder, and cumin. Add the chili beans, sauce and all. Do not drain them. The comment says a 28 oz can of tomato. This version uses crushed tomatoes. Stir.
3. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. The beef should be cooked through, with no pink left in the crumbles.
4. Stir in the dry macaroni. If the pot looks dry before the noodles go in, add a splash of water. That splash is extra. It is not in the measured ingredients. Cover and cook about 30 minutes more, until the elbows are tender. Check them early. They turn soft if they sit in the pot. For leftovers that stay firmer, boil the same 16 oz of macaroni in a separate pot and stir it into a bowl when you eat.
5. Taste. This list has no added salt. The broth, the tomatoes, and the chili beans are already salty. Cheese on top is extra. It is not in the measured ingredients. Spoon out 8 bowls. The post does not number the bowls. Eight is the cut used here. The chili keeps covered in the fridge for a few days. Reheat it, and boil a fresh pot of macaroni if the first noodles went soft.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. Counted as 1 of 8 bowls: the browned beef after the fat is poured off, the garlic, onion, crushed tomatoes, beef broth, macaroni, chili powder, cumin, and chili beans with their sauce. Extra water, cheese on top, and a separate pot of noodles for leftovers are not in the count. The post does not number the bowls. Eight is the cut used here. The comment said lean beef and did not name a ratio. The count uses 85% lean. The comment said canned tomato. This version uses crushed tomatoes. Chili-bean sugars are not split into added and naturally occurring on the USDA row.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Gluten-free style

  The wheat is in the macaroni. Use 16 oz / 454 g of elbows from a box that says gluten-free, and boil them in their own pot if you want them firmer. Read the chili powder, the broth, and the chili beans. Beef, onion, garlic, crushed tomatoes, and cumin do not call for wheat. This is a kitchen note, not a gluten-free certification.

• Dairy-free

  The pot is beef, tomatoes, broth, spices, beans, and macaroni. There is no milk, butter, or cheese in the list. Leave cheese off the top. Read the broth and the bean can. This is a kitchen note, not a dairy-free certification.

• No beef

  Brown 1 lb / 450 g of ground turkey instead, and pour off the fat the same way. Or skip the meat and add another 15 oz can of chili beans. The plate is no longer a beef chili.

• No pork

  This pot is written with beef, not sausage. Some cans of chili beans list pork. Choose a can that does not. This is a kitchen note, not a diet certification.

• Lower sodium

  Use a beef broth labeled less sodium, and no-salt-added crushed tomatoes if you can find them. The chili beans are still salty. Rinsing them would throw out the sauce this recipe uses. This is a kitchen note, not a low-sodium diet.