A Black Bean Pasta recipe (or chili mac and cheese) made with only 5 ingredients in about 15 minutes. You can cook this on the stovetop, slow cooker, or pressure cooker. It is comforting, mildly spicy, cheesy, and so delish!
Don’t you just love mac and cheese? How about chili beans?
If your answer is yes and yes… well, then this is THE DISH for you. 😉
It combines the great cheesy goodness of mac and cheese with the spicy and earthy yumminess of chili beans. The result is a MUST HAVE dinner.
Besides, you can easily make this recipe using pantry staples, and come out with a complete meal on a budget.
If prepared on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot, it also serves as a one-pot meal which is mess-free.
So let’s wait no longer and make this family favorite!
What is Black Bean Pasta?
This black bean pasta recipe is also known as chili mac and cheese because it combines the ingredients of a Tex-Mex chili, such as beans, ground beef and chili seasoning, with the main ingredients of mac and cheese– namely, elbow pasta and cheese. The result is an earthy, mildly spicy, and comforting dish that the entire family will love!
I am proud to say that chili or chilli, also known as chili con carne, is a Texan dish that has been very popular in my hometown of San Antonio ever since the 1890’s.
Interestingly, the original chili recipe didn’t include beans. But commercially-prepared canned chili usually does include beans – hence the name ‘chili beans,’ as opposed to the less common “chili, no beans.”
Any variety of beans, such as black beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, or navy beans, may be used to prepare chili beans.
What goes in this Black Bean Pasta recipe?
This pasta dish is made with only 5 ingredients: ground beef, chili seasoning mix, canned black beans, elbow pasta, and cheese.
If you’d like to, you may add diced tomatoes (either fresh or canned) and chopped herbs such as green onions or cilantro.
Because it contains pasta and beans, the recipe follows a similar concept as the Italian pasta e fagioli, although ours is more of a pasta dish than a soup.
Is Black Bean Pasta healthy?
Our chili mac and cheese recipe doesn’t incorporate black bean noodles. Instead, it is made with canned black beans, elbow pasta, chili seasoning mix, ground beef, and cheese. It contains carbs, fiber, and protein. Therefore it is a healthy-ish dish, but as with any food should be eaten in moderation.
How to make Black Bean Pasta (Chili mac and cheese)
There are 3 ways to cook our Chili Black Bean Pasta:
STOVETOP
- Brown the beef: In a large nonstick saucepan, brown the ground beef over medium-high, stirring every now and then, for about 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir in the chili seasoning mix and let cook for about 1 minute.
- Cook the pasta: Stir in water, pasta, drained black beans, and add salt, if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and allow pasta to cook for 8-10 minutes or just until al dente. If desired, stir in diced tomatoes. Stir in cheese and then sprinkle the herbs on top.
- Serve: Serve while hot.
SLOW COOKER
- Cook the beef and stir in chili seasoning mix as stated in the stovetop directions above.
- Then combine the water, pasta, tomatoes (optional), drained black beans, and salt (optional) in the slow cooker and cook on high for about 2 hours, or until pasta is al dente. If needed, cook longer or until pasta is al dente, checking every 20 minutes after those initial 2 hours have elapsed.
- When pasta has cooked, stir in the cheese until melted. Garnish with herbs and serve hot.
PRESSURE COOKER
- Turn on the sauté function and let heat enough to brown the beef for about 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir in the chili seasoning and let cook for about 1 minute (SEE PIC. 1).
- Then stir in water, pasta, tomatoes (optional), and drained black beans (SEE PIC. 2)
- . Turn off the sauté function, lock the lid, turn the valve, and set to cook at high pressure on the pasta mode or manual mode for 3 minutes. The pasta will be al dente!
- Do a quick release and remove the lid. Taste and adjust the salt if needed, stir in the cheese until melted (SEE PIC. 3), garnish with herbs, and serve hot (SEE PIC. 4)!
Curious about how does a pressure cooker work? Get our cooking time charts!
Can you freeze Black Bean Pasta (chili mac and cheese)?
Yes! Store cool leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or freeze for up to one month. Make sure that the pasta was cooked al dente– otherwise it can become soggy after thawing.
Reheat in the microwave until hot. If you’d like to, add more cheese to make it cheesier. 😉
Other One-Pot Meals:
- Minestrone (Brazilian black bean and pasta soup)
- Shrimp in Coconut Sauce
- Shrimp Scampi Pasta
- Coconut Noodle Soup
- Feijoada Recipe
- Brazilian Shrimp Stew (Ensopado de Camarao)
- Seafood in Pesto Sauce
- Sausage Pasta
- Vegetarian Feijoada
- Shrimp spaghetti
PIN & ENJOY!
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5-Ingredient Black Bean Pasta Recipe (Chili Mac and Cheese)
Equipment
- slow cooker
- stovetop
- pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef 80% lean meat and 20% fat (at room temperature)
- 1 2.5 oz chili seasoning mix
- 4 cups water
- 1 16 oz elbow pasta FOR A GF MEAL, USE A GLUTEN-FREE PASTA
- 1 16 oz can black beans drained
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese mild
Instructions
- STOVETOPBrown the beef: In a large nonstick saucepan, brown the ground beef over medium-high, stirring every now and then, for about 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir in the chili seasoning mix and let cook for about 1 minute. Cook the pasta: Stir in water, pasta, drained black beans, and salt (if desired). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and allow pasta to cook for 8-10 minutes or just until al dente. If you’d like to, stir in diced tomatoes. Stir in cheese and then sprinkle the herbs on top. Serve while hot.
- SLOW COOKERCook the beef and stir in chili seasoning mix as stated in the stovetop directions above. Then combine the water, pasta, tomatoes (optional), drained black beans, and salt (optional) in the slow cooker and cook on high for about 2 hours, or until pasta is al dente. If needed, cook longer or until pasta is al dente, checking every 20 minutes after those 2 hours. When pasta has finished cooking, stir in the cheese until melted. Garnish with herbs and serve hot.
- PRESSURE COOKERTurn on the sauté function and let heat enough to brown the beef (about 5-6 minutes) or until no longer pink. Stir in the chili seasoning and let cook for about 1 minute. Then stir in water, pasta, tomatoes (optional), and drained black beans. Turn off the sauté function, lock the lid and turn the valve, and set to cook at high pressure on pasta mode or manual mode for 3 minutes. The pasta will be al dente! Do a quick release and remove the lid. Taste and adjust the salt if needed, stir in the cheese until melted, garnish with herbs, and serve hot!
Recipe Notes
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (fresh, or canned and drained)
- 2 tbsp chopped green onions or cilantro
- Salt to taste (1/2 tsp or more)
- It's essential that the ground beef has at least 20% fat since we are not using vegetable oil to brown the meat and also that the meat is at room temp in order to not stick in the bowl of the pressure cooker. BUT if you have a ground beef leaner than that, you'll need to add about 1 to 2 tbsp oil to brown the meat.
- You can use a taco seasoning mix to replace the chili seasoning mix, adding about 1/2 tsp chili powder.
- If desired, replace black beans with canned kidney beans or pinto beans.
- If you don't have elbow pasta at home, use another type of pasta. If thicker than an elbow pasta, cook for 5 minutes in the pressure cooker instead of 3 minutes.
Reheat in the microwave until hot. If desired, add more cheese to make it cheesier. 😉
Raymund says
For a five ingredient recipe, this looks loaded and delicious! Nice one
John / Kitchen Riffs says
What a great dish! Tons of flavor, easy to make. And delish t eat. Sold!
2pots2cook says
5 star office lunch !
Denise Browning says
thank you for rating our black bean pasta recipe five stars. It is indeed super easy to make in the pressure cooker yet so flavorful. A complete family dinner!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
Thanks for sharing directions on how to make this in the Instant Pot. It looks so yummy!
Denise Browning says
We use a lot our pressure cooker and this black bean pasta is made quite quickly and is so delicious.
Dennis Yannakos says
I can’t resist this temptation! I’ll definitely make it soon!