This delicious Southwest Chicken Chili Mac is easy to make in a skillet and perfect for picky eaters! It’s packed with chicken, pasta and delicious chili flavors the whole family enjoys!
Southwest Chicken Chili Mac
It’s time for chili night! Break out your cast iron skillet or favorite pot, dinner is about to be served. This is a flavorful chicken chili seasoned with fragrant southwest ingredients along with some fun wagon wheel pasta. My boys went nuts for this dish. Top with a little sour cream and enjoy!
Try my Taco Turkey Chili Recipe too! Be sure to follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration.
What You’ll Need
- small pasta shells– Use any small pasta shape you like. The wagon wheels are fun if you can find them.
- extra virgin olive oil– Olive oil is used to saute the vegetables.
- onion– I like to get a white onion. Finely chop before adding to hot pan.
- bell pepper– Finely chop and de-seed bell pepper.
- fresh garlic– Mince the garlic before adding to pan.
- cooked chicken breast such as rotisserie– I use rotisserie chicken often for quick dinners.
- diced tomatoes– Any canned diced tomatoes work great.
- chicken broth– Look for reduced sodium chicken broth.
- corn– Drain the can of corn before adding to chili mac.
- white beans– You can substitute for any white beans you’d like.
- chili powder– Chili powder adds that great chili flavor to the dish.
- ground cumin– Cumin is smoky and aromatic. Great in chili recipes.
- Ranch Dressing Seasoning mix– Find the Ranch Dressing seasoning mix in the dressing isle of the grocery store.
- fresh cilantro– Fresh cilantro adds color and freshness to the chili.
How To Make Chicken Chili Mac
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cool water to stop cooking.
- Heat oil in 9 inch deep cast iron skillet. Stir in onions and peppers, cook stirring until softened about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook stirring for 1 minute. Add chicken, tomatoes, broth, corn, beans, 1 cup wagon wheel pasta, chili powder, cumin, Ranch seasoning and cilantro.
- Stir until well combined. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.
Saute your onions and sweet peppers. I get a nice big bag of sweet peppers from Costco. They are really mild and great in about everything. Saute for a good 5 minutes then add your minced garlic and stir. Add your shredded chicken. Add your diced tomatoes, chicken broth and corn.
Then add your white beans and wagon wheel noodles. Add the seasonings and cilantro, simmer for 15 minutes and enjoy!
How To Serve
Serve Chili Mac hot, in individual serving bowls. Top with shredded cheese and more cilantro if desired.
How To Store Leftovers
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Recipe Tips For Success
- Be careful not to overcook your pasta, it will continue to cook some in the hot chili. I like to check my pasta 2 minutes before the package recommends. Once it’s al dente drain immediately.
- Use different variations of pasta if you’d like. The wheels are fun, but any small shaped pasta works great.
- You can substitute the beans for other varieties. Black, kidney and pinto all work well. You can even omit the beans.
- Try using cooked beef instead of chicken for another varation.
Southwest Chicken Chili Mac
Equipment
- Skillet
- Stove
- Dutch Oven or large pot
- can opener
- measuring spoons
- mixing spoon
- strainer for pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz wagon wheel pasta noodles
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped white onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet peppers or bell peppers
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
- 10 oz can rotel diced tomatoes mild
- 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup corn fresh or canned
- 1/2 cup white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dry ranch seasoning from packet
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cool water to stop cooking.
- Heat oil in 9 inch deep cast iron skillet. Add onions and peppers, cook stirring until softened about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook stirring for 1 minute. Add chicken, tomatoes, broth, corn, beans, 1 cup wagon wheel pasta, chili powder, cumin, Ranch seasoning and cilantro.
- Stir until well combined. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Welcome to my online kitchen! Picky Palate is where you’ll find family friendly recipes along with the best Disney eats, tips and copycat recipes! 
I finally gave in and made this recipe and although I’m not a huge fan of Chili, my boyfriend absolutely loved it. It was soo easy && healthy, which is a plus!It had a bit of the kick to it so I will have to adjust the seasoning for next time but still very good! This is a good recipe I can make and put in the fridge for whenever my boyfriend plans to be home for lunch–Thanks for the recipe!
Def.trying. Where did you find the mini rosella wheels?
How many does this recipe serve?
Made this for dinner last night and it was AMAZING!! So fast, so easy and definitely full of flavor! We topped the bowls off with shredded co-jack cheese and sour cream! Served with a sweet corn bread. This will be a regular at our house this winter!!
Looks like a great meal to try and I must say that your pictures are gorgeous! 🙂
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this looks yummy! can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Tried making it tonight and it turned out really good!
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I think i’m going to make this tonight. Going ot use one of the readers advice and add some cream cheese to “tone down the spice” since I have a 3yo. Can’t wait!
Well my 3yo wanted mac-n-cheese so…. there was more for my husband and I to eat. Loved it–had 2nds and will add to our rotation!
A chicken tip–i’ve been buying a package of bone-in chicken breasts each week (they are like $5 for 2 huge pieces). I bake them on Monday (with some poultry seasoning etc.) while im preparing another dinner. Then I shred it after it cools. I can usually get 2 meals out of all that chicken!
I did not have any sour cream so I decided to throw some heavy cream in at the end and it is delicious. I also tried it with a little parmesan cheese on it and it is oh so good! Thanks for the recipe!
What an adventure this recipe was! Right after I began preparing a storm swept in and kept the electricity flickering in and out about 5 times. In the end I had a wonderful result of very yummy chili and a happy husband. I did add more broth since my husband loves broth.
So glad you enjoyed it Diana! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
this was most excellent and super easy!!! I used spicy ranch and also a tex mex rotel, and it gave it an extra kick!! So YUMMY!! Thanks for this great recipe!!
This looks amazing! Can you tell me how many portions this recipe is? I have a family of 8…three of which are teenage boys. I just wasn’t sure if I needed to double or triple!?!
The chicken chili looks great, but with wagon wheel pasta there’s a lot of difference between 8 oz (all of a small box) and a cup. Which is it? I assume it goes in raw.
Hi Carol,
Yes, it goes in raw 🙂 Thanks!
Made tonight and my family loved it! Easy recipe!
Great recipe! Someone had included a link to this post with their Plan It, Don’t Panic menu plan at Keeper of the Home last week, and I put it on my plan for tonight! My family loved it! Definitely a winner!
I made this tonight, and my husband and I loved it. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes 🙂
Made this for dinner last night, doubled the recipe for everyone to have leftovers today, and it was GREAT!
The only changes I made was since 2 cans of Rotel made it a tad spicy, I stirred in a half block of cream cheese to “cool” the spice, plus I added cornstarch to thicken it up a bit into a more “stewy” consistency.
SO GOOD.
Thanks for sharing. Love your blog and am sharing it with friends who are looking for good recipes as well 🙂
OH, and I added a can of black beans too!
Perfect addition 🙂 Yum!
This was really good! I did brown rice instead of the pasta (because I was out of pasta). I cooked the rice in the chicken broth then added all the other ingredients. Really good flavor and seasoning was perfect! I think I’ll use black beans next time for a bit more color!
Made this last night and it was a hit! Love that it makes a ton so there is is plenty for leftovers–thanks for sharing the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the dish Sarah! thanks for the feedback 🙂
Thanks Jenny! Just added the link to todays upcoming post 🙂
I have a question….you say to use 8 oz. of wagon wheels pasta, but then you say to use 1 cup of the boiled pasta. What do you do with the rest of the pasta you boiled? If you boil 8 oz. of dry pasta, you get a lot more boiled pasta than 1 cup. ???
Love your site! This recipe is amazing. I am a fan of mexican, southwest, and tex-mex recipes. I followed your recipe, except I made this vegetarian by using vegetable broth with one can white beans and one can black beans.
Thanks for the ideas!!
So glad you enjoyed Christan!
This was AWESOME! My little barely-2-year-old keeps asking for more! He is such a picky eater when it comes to trying new things. I thought it was a little spicy (maybe cut back a little on the chili powder if you are sensitive), but my little boy didn’t seem to care – he just wanted a drink of water after his first bowl (he’s working on his 2nd!). Thank you for the great recipe!
Love to hear it Mindy, thanks so much for the feedback!!
Great recipe! We tried it last night–changed up a few things. It was definitely a winner. http://sfomomfridge.blogspot.com/2011/08/southwestern-chili-mac.html
Great, so glad you enjoyed!!
I made this for our supper tonight and it is delicious, my husband is delighted that there is some leftover for his lunch tomorrow. Thank you Jenny for another wonderful recipe.
Great to hear! We enjoyed the leftovers as well 🙂
This has all the things we like in it. Wife loves the wagon wheels pasta.
Wagon wheels remind me of my childhood….LOVE em 🙂 Great recipe.
Hi everyone, sorry for the website hiccups lately. We just went through a hosting change. Thanks for bearing with us!!
Love your recipes AND your pictures! 🙂
Thank you Cindy!!
This looks awesome! And pretty simple if you get a rotisserie chicken, which is one of the BEST tricks in the book 🙂
I know, I love picking up rotisserie chicken from the store. Dinner is quick and easy!!
What a great kid friendly meal!
Thank you Heather!!
the wagon wheel pasta is so adorable! i want to make this over the weekend 🙂
YES PLEASE! Want want want! Can’t wait to make this!
Hope you enjoy Liz!!
Thniknig like that is really amazing