Chili Mac and Cheeze (Nacho Cheeze + Vegan Chorizo)

This dish was amazing! SO good! I love mac and cheeze and I love chili so naturally you'd put the two together! We used the leftover nacho cheeze from these nachos and I think it worked awesomely! It worked even better than just a regular cheddar because it complimented the chorizo.  

The chorizo we used is by Helen's Kitchen and it really added something special to the entire dish. It's finely ground which is nice so it's not like you have these big chunks of chorizo going on because, ya know, there's a lot going on here. The flavour is great, probably the best of any soy chorizo we've had before. It was kinda sweet too, which was really nice. 

If you've never combined chili with mac and cheeze before, you really should try it! It's amazing! But I really love mac and cheeze so.. maybe I'm a bit biased. It's a much more interesting take on the traditional, for sure!

Nacho Chili Mac and Cheeze

Adapted from Yegan Yack Attack

Ingredients

Chili

1 tsp olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 ½ tsp Spanish paprika

1 ½ tbsp tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 package of veggie chorizo, like Helen’s Kitchen

Mac and Cheeze

1 bag of pasta, cooked according to instructions

1 ½ to 2 cups of cheese, grated; we used the leftover Nacho cheese alt. From these plus some Cheddar Style Daiya cheese shreds

2/3 cup – ¾ cup unsweetened original almond milk, like Silk

Directions

Heat olive oil in saute pan over med-high heat. Once hot add onion. When the onion is translucent add in the pepper and zucchini. Let the veggies brown a little, about 5 mins, then add in the tomatoes and beans. Add the tomato paste. Make sure the paste is dissolved before adding all the spices plus salt and pepper. Lower the heat and cover. Cook for 10 -15 mins, stirring every once in a while. Add the chorizo and cook until everything is warmed through. Turn heat on low.

You can also heat the chorizo in a pan separately, making sure to add some oil to the pan to prevent sticking.

When your pasta is cooked and strained, add it back to the pot it was boiled in and add the cheese plus the milk. Keep stirring until the cheese has melted.

Layer the chili and chorizo on top of the mac and cheeze. I find it tastes best when you mix it all together once you've got it in your individual bowl.