Recipe Instructions:
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
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 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 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 2 hours. When pasta has finished cooking, 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 (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
EXTRA INGREDIENTS (OPTIONAL):
1 cup diced tomatoes (fresh, or canned and drained)
2 tablespoon chopped green onions or cilantro
Salt to taste (½ teaspoon or more)
SUBSTITUTIONS
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 tablespoon oil to brown the meat.
You can use a taco seasoning mix to replace the chili seasoning mix, adding about ½ teaspoon 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.
