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Easy Monday Night Dinner- Family Favorite Chili Mac


What is it about Monday? The day goes by as slow as anything, but I always feel super rushed, especially at dinner time! Because of how chaotic Mondays usually turn out to be, my plan is always  to make as simple a dinner as possible. This way, as the girls are 'helping' out, I can keep some part of my sanity in tact. 

One of the easiest meals that we all can agree on, and by that I mean we all enjoy it, is chili. We definitely have a few favorite chili recipes, but when we were recently given the opportunity to try a SAUCESOME chili recipe from Ragú®, I was absolutely up for trying something a little different! 





Last Monday, we took on the Family Favorite Chili Mac recipe from Ragú®. It called for 4 simple ingredients, but part of the opportunity to try the recipe involved putting a spin on the dish. I was happy to oblige! Initially, I tried to come up with ideas of what we could use in place of the ground beef that the recipe calls for. I researched a bunch of different recipes, shared ideas with Matt and the girls, and we all agreed that we would add a few ingredients instead of replacing any! 

Check out our spin on Ragú's® Family Favorite Chili Mac!

Ingredients Needed:

1 pound ground beef sirloin (It's 90% lean!)
7 ounce fully cooked ham steak, diced  (or roughly 1 cup leftover ham, diced) 
1 can (14.5-15.5 oz) light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 packet (1.25 oz) chili seasoning mix (we used Aldi's Stonemill Essentials HOT mix)
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked and drained


Almost All of the Ingredients We Used, I Forgot to Take a Picture of the Ham Steak



Step 1- Prepare the elbow macaroni according to package directions. 


Step 2- While the pasta is cooking, brown ground beef sirloin in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until done.


 Step 3- Add in diced ham and cook for another 3-5 minutes, until heated through.


  Step 4- Stir in Ragú®, chili seasoning, and beans; bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 10 minutes.


Step 5- Plate the pasta and serve with chili mixture over the top.

Step 6- Enjoy your SAUCESOME* family dinner!
* Ragú® definitely brought some SAUCESOMENESS to our Monday night family dinner, but what really sealed in the SAUCESOME was the family time together while we prepared and then enjoyed this meal. I think we officially have a new family favorite chili recipe and we'll definitely be making it for our next chili night!


Getting Some Prep Work Done!



Drew Stirring Occasionally!



Reese Wanted in on the Action! 



Drew Couldn't Wait to Dig in!

Reese Loved Her Dinner! 
 
Drew Sharing the Events of Her Day.
Reese Being a Goofball and Sitting Backward at the Table.

Quick note: this recipe calls for elbow macaroni, but you could easily substitute spaghetti or your favorite pasta in it's place. You could also opt to forego the "mac" part of this dinner altogether, and serve the chili on a hamburger bun or between two slices of bread, like I did with some of the leftovers. Trust me, it's just as Saucesome!

A Bit Blurry, but Another Delicious 'Spin' on Ragú's® Family Favorite Chili Mac:
The  Family Favorite Chili Sandwich!


Connect with Ragú®

You can see what's new with Ragú® on  FacebookTwitterYouTube, and Pinterest. Check out the Ragú® Website for a list of available products, to find some new recipes, and even "meet" the farmers that help grow the tomatoes used in Ragú® sauces! 
Make sure you enter their Saucesome Sweepstakes where you can vote for your favorite recipes and earn entries for the chance to win weekly $1,000 prizes and the $12,000 Grand Prize towards a Saucesome kitchen makeover!


Which Ragú® classic recipe would you chose to put a spin on? Share your ideas below. I might try a few out and share them in a blog post! 










1 comment

  1. How interesting and good this chili sounds, I have never heard of using spaghetti sauce for chili but yours sounds great and adding the left over ham and beans would definitely change it up, I would serve over rice, also. thank you for sharing

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