Remember my pumpkin chili? Well I took the leftovers and made it into a baked pasta dish. I love chili and all but having the same thing meal after meal can get boring and monotonous. This is before I learned about freezing chili. I’ll have to try that the next time I make a big pot. You can make this with any chili recipe, even canned ones.
This dish was so quick to put together, that is if you already have chili on hand. Perfect for a busy weeknight meal. Be sure to put this one on your dinner rotation this week and happy Tuesday!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 (16 ounce) package of large elbow macaroni, about 8 ounces cooked until not quite al dente; about 6-7 minutes
- 3 cups of pumpkin chili
- 1/4 cup of sour cream
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- a handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup of shredded pepper jack cheese
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Preparation:
Preheat the broiler. Grease an 8-inch glass baking dish with olive oil or butter.
In a large bowl combine cooked macaroni, chili, sour cream, scallions, cilantro and chopped tomatoes. Mix well and pour pasta into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle cheddar and pepper jack cheese over the top. Then dot the entire dish with butter pieces.
Place the baking dish under the broiler until the cheese melts and the top is slightly brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the baking dish from broiler and let it sit for 5-7 minutes before serving.
uni homemaker 
I’ve heard the mark of a true Good Cook is when they can use whatever they have – and make something fabulous out of it. And this looks fabulous!! Talk about ‘stick to the ribs” and “comfort food”!!
Such a creative idea, here!! Love this one, Anne, and we will be giving it a spot on our evening menu this week! Thanks for the wonderful post.
This looks SO good, Anne!
Chef Anne this looks really delicious,and a lot originality:)
my eyes bugged out of my head a little when i saw the picture — not even kidding. GENIUS 😛
This looks fabulous Anne! I love pumpkin in savory recipes!
Looks so comforting and warming!
This is so smart, Anne. I am no good at twisting and turning leftovers around. My family can expect to see it again in a day..hehe… I have recently discovered that my freezer is a really good friend. I now freeze a lot of things – bread, brownies, stew, pasta sauce…I love having things ready and on hand.
I could eat way too much of this! It looks fantastic.
Love this dish Anne! I was in awe over your pumpkin chili but transforming it into this chili cheesy mac is making me drool even more! Your savory dishes are always so mouthwatering and creative:)
Do you deliver to NY?? This looks amazing!!!
Great idea to transform your leftovers!
I pretty much just fell in love. Goodness!
I love re-purposing leftovers to make something completely different! This pasta dish looks wonderful Anne! I still want to try that pumpkin chili – I need to remember to put it on my weekly meal plan!
Yum, this looks just as delicious as the pumpkin chili did. I have a hard time with leftovers. My husband will eat them, but my kids won’t touch them. I usually just try to make what we will eat with maybe a serving left.
love a good left overs idea! though this looks way better than our reinvented left overs, sigh. Have a good week!
This recipe and the chili recipe need to be filed together so that I remember to make too much chili on purpose! When schedules are hectic, its great to come home to a dinner that is half cooked already!
Mmm, this looks so good, Anne! Nate needed carbs for running so I ended up serving the end of our chili leftovers over pasta…but this looks even better! (maily because of the extra cheese 😉 )
This looks so comforting and delicious! Definitely a good dish to make on a busy weeknight 😀
This looks like the perfect fall meal! I couldn’t think of anything more comforting than this, it looks delicious 🙂
Oh this looks delicious, I really must try to make this!
What a genius idea repurposing your chili! This dish looks just delectable. You’re always serving up such wonderful entrees!
I think Anne’s created my new favorite Fall dish. The chili was really tasty, but the addition of the macaroni gave it a really nice texture…and then melt a bunch of cheese on top?? That’s just brilliant.
When worlds collide! You’ve combined my top food groups of Fall: pasta, chili, pumpkin, and cheese. Food doesn’t get much better that this, Anne. What a great dish!
This is precisely why I love leftovers!
Yummy and delicious–I love the looks of these
I love turning left overs into a new form of mac n cheese! this looks scrummy 🙂
I love a good baked pasta dish too! So quick and simple for busy weeknight dinners. And this is such a creative use for your pumpkin chili!
Great idea for changing up leftovers!
I’m so excited to try BOTH recipes!! 🙂 This looks delicious!
Wow! This looks so comforting. Love the pumpkin here 🙂
This is brilliant Anne!
My chili recipe makes a HUGE batch, so I definitely have to feeze portions of it. But as much as I love it, I’ve been trying to figure different ways to use it too. I’m loving this idea! It’s hard to go wrong with adding it to mac and cheese. Yummo. 🙂
This is purely the light bulb moment… I’m loving how you recreated a new dish with the leftovers. Always a favorite way to do things! But with pasta… my favorite!
This looks DELICIOUS, Anne! Perfect casserole for this time of year. Happy Halloween!
Such a clever idea, I need to remember this.
as others have said – how clever and I’m another fan of using leftovers. I’ll remember this one for when my pumpkins are ready to use. Cheers!
Wow. This really looks like comfort food at its best!
How ingenious of you Anne! Looks perfect for an autumn meal.
This looks SERIOUSLY delicious, Anne! I’ve Pinned it and will definitely be trying it!
I found you on the Show Shopper Saturday link party
What’s not to like??
This looks delicious! I love variations on mac and cheese and pumpkin chili sounds perfect for fall. Pinned!
Love, love, LOVE this idea Anne. It looks so scrummy!
This looks delish! And a perfect fall comfort food! 🙂
Thank you for sharing at Marvelous Mondays this week! Pinned and sharing.
I just love the addition of pumpkin! This is just a great week night meal! Thanks for sharing this at Saturday Night Fever Link Party!
Anne, I wanted to let you know that I’m featuring this awesome chili mac recipe in the morning at the Show Stopper Saturday party! (=
Thank you so much Gloria! 🙂 xo
Pingback: Show Stopper Saturday #13 {Best of Chili Features!}
This is one of those moments when I think, “Why didn’t I ever think of that?!” What a great idea to use leftovers! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
I love Chili-Mac! The addition of pumpkin is really interesting … I’m intrigued 😀