One-pot chilli mac’n’cheese

The ultimate comfort food mash-up!

I live for a one-pot wonder! I love cooking, but I also love finding ways top simplify meals and make them easy and hassle-free to make without compromising on taste. Comfort food is my thing, and I always love it when Autumn kicks in and I feel really justified in cooking up big pots of comfort food! Some of my favourites are beef & Guinness casserole, smoky chilli con carne, pork and apple stew and Brazilian pork stew

The brilliant thing about these types of meals is that it’s actually really easy to make them lovely and healthy- you can fit in so many veggies into a casserole or a stew, and the method of cooking often means there’s no need for added fats, so as long as you use a lean meat you can really control how healthy your meal is.

Chilli con carne is a real favourite of mine, and it’s often a Saturday night meal for us, served with some brown rice with lots of lime squeezed over the top and homemade guacamole (or even Brocamole!). I also love toasted seeds on top (sunflower and pumpkin seeds dry-fried for a couple of minutes) and lots of fresh coriander.

I’ve always found macaroni cheese a bit too much on it’s own, as I’m not a huge fan of cheesy sauces- but I loved the idea of making a mash-up of chilli con carne and macaroni cheese! My version doesn’t have a cheesy sauce added in, just cheese stirred through, but you could always add an extra cheese sauce element by using some low- fat cream cheese melted into milk and stirred through.

The result is a big pot of comfort food, perfect for sharing with family or friends, or keeping in the fridge for quick and easy lunches that can be reheated in the microwave in minutes. Not only is this packed with healthy ingredients (and did you know that kidney beans count as one of your 5 a day?!), it’s filling, warming and delicious!