High Protein Chili Mac Recipe is the ultimate weeknight high protein dinner. It’s delicious, filling, and makes the best leftovers.
Quick
Easy Cleanup
You’ll Learn: How to make a creamy sauce without heavy cream
Worth It: It’s a satisfying, protein-forward option that actually keeps you full
Bonus: Freeze before baking to save time later
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy weeknight eating – This chili mac recipe comes together in under 30 minutes for the perfect weeknight meal!
- High protein favorite – With the meat, beans, and cottage cheese in this recipe, it is packed with protein for a super satisfying meal.
- Great leftovers – Baked mac and cheese makes for great leftovers! You can heat it up in the oven or microwave for an easy and delicious lunch.
Serving suggestions
This chili mac recipe is great on its own, but I love adding some greens on the side for a few more veggies. You could make air fryer asparagus or brussels sprouts to go with it.
For a salad option, you could have a simple kale caesar, or make up a quick salad with some mason jar salad dressing.
For another side, you could serve this chili mac with some cornbread.
If you are looking for one pot recipes with chili, try this pumpkin chicken chili for a one-pot meal! Or for another high protein pasta, make this baked manicotti.
Ingredients
- Macaroni noodles – I love using macaroni noodles for a classic mac and cheese dish
- Ground beef – I used ground beef for a traditional chili, but you can sub in your favorite protein
- Chili powder, ground cumin, salt, dried oregano, smoked paprika – this spice blend gives the recipe its chili flavor. For extra smokiness, you can increase to one and half tablespoons chili powder
- Cayenne pepper powder – if you like some heat in your chili mac, you can add some cayenne. I just used a quarter teaspoon
- Tomato paste – the tomato paste intensifies the tomato flavor
- Fire roasted petite diced tomatoes – I love using fire roasted for an extra hit of smoky flavor in the dish. You will use the whole 15 ounce can, liquid and all!
- Red kidney beans – these are my go to beans for this chili mac recipe, but you can use any beans you would like
- Cottage cheese – the cottage cheese provides a creamy texture and some extra protein
- Milk – I like to use Fairlife milk for even more protein!
- Cheddar cheese – you can grate your own or buy pre-shredded cheddar cheese for this recipe
Ingredient Substitutions
There are plenty of variations on this chili mac. To make this a one pot chili mac, boil your macaroni over medium-high heat according to package instructions, then set it aside while you cook the rest of the meal.
If you would like, you could also add some garlic and yellow onion sautéed in olive oil to your beef. To incorporate more veggies, add some diced carrots or mushrooms. For some additional liquid to deglaze the pan, you could add a splash of beef broth of chicken broth to supplement the tomato sauce.
In place of ground beef, you could also use ground chicken or ground turkey. For the cheddar cheese, you could substitute a Mexican cheese blend. Instead of kidney beans, you could use black beans.
How to make
Step 1: Brown Your beef and Cook Macaroni
Preheat oven to 375F. Boil uncooked elbow macaroni in salted water according to package instructions. Once cooked drain water and set aside.
While macaroni cooks, brown ground beef in a large oven safe skillet or dutch oven (Image 1). Once crumbled and browned, season ground beef with chili powder, cumin, salt, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika (Image 2).
Step 2: Add tomatoes and blend Sauce
Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and kidney beans to the pan (Image 3). Stir and allow to simmer for 5 minutes (Image 4).
While that simmers, blend cottage cheese and milk until smooth.
Step 3: Add sauce and cheese
Pour pasta and cottage cheese sauce into the pan with the beef mixture (Image 5). Toss to combine evenly. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the shredded cheese on top (Image 6).
Place in the oven and bake until cheese is melted – about 10 minutes. Top with anything you would like: green onions, sour cream, or jalapenos.
Storage, reheating and Freezing
Store this chili mac recipe in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can reheat a serving in the microwave or toaster oven. If you have a larger portion to reheat, you can place in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes until warmed through.
I recommend freezing this chili mac just before baking. Store a freezer safe dish and cover with plastic wrap and foil. To bake from frozen, bake covered at 325F for a cooking time of approximately 1 hour.
You can also freeze your leftovers after cooking this meal. Store in a freezer safe dish for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, defrost and warm in the a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes.
Check out these other macaroni recipes!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
High Protein Chili Mac Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz macaroni noodles
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper powder optional
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 15 oz fire roasted petite diced tomatoes 1 can, do not drain liquid
- 15 oz red kidney beans 1 can, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Cook macaroni noodles in salted water according to package instructions. Once cooked drain water and set aside.
- While macaroni cooks, brown ground beef in a large oven safe skillet. Once crumbled and browned, season ground beef with chili powder, cumin, salt, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and kidney beans to the pan. Mix and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- While that simmers, blend cottage cheese and milk until smooth.
- Pour macaroni noodles and cottage cheese sauce into the pan with the beef mixture. Toss to combine evenly. Turn off the heat and top with the shredded cheese.
- Place in the oven and bake until cheese is melted – about 10 minutes.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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