This pulled pork mac and cheese is a fantastic dish; cavatappi pasta smothered in a decadent smoky cheese bechamel sauce and topped with tender BBQ pulled pork. Lightly baked to heat it and dry out and crisp the pork gives this dish a great texture balance of creamy and crisp. This mac and cheese is SO good that my sister has requested a pan of it for her birthday meal this year!
Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese
Pulled pork isn’t the first thing that you think would go with mac and cheese, but it should be! The mac and cheese is made with sharp cheddar cheese and double-smoked cheddar giving this dish that extra level of flavor—the smoky cheese pairs perfectly with the smoky BBQ sauce in the pulled pork.
Can I Make The Pulled Pork Spicy?
Yes, you can! For those of us who love a little bit of heat in our meat, It is as easy as adding a few basic ingredients. You can add 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or more to taste. Or you can always make it a little bit easier and buy a bottle of spicy BBQ sauce from your local grocery store.
How to Make the Cheese Sauce
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk into the melted butter until smooth. Cook, stirring, until the butter mixture turns golden brown.
- Whisk in one cup of the milk, adding very slowly to avoid clumps, whisking continuously. Once combined, whisk in the rest of the milk slowly, until all of the milk is whisked into the mixture.
- Mix in the garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper.
- Simmer, slowly while stirring, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue simmering for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from burning on the bottom, until the mixture is smooth and the flour is no longer gritty in the mixture. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon when done.
- Remove from heat and stir in the sharp cheddar and smoked cheddar, adding by handfuls, until it’s all melted into the sauce.
Homemade Cheese Sauce
A basic béchamel sauce amped up with any flavor of cheese that your heart desires is the key to a great mac and cheese dish. In this recipe, I used sharp cheddar and smoky cheddar to match the flavors of the pulled pork.
Crisping up the Pulled Pork
For a nice texture contrast, crisping up the pulled pork on top of the mac and cheese at the end is key. Simply broil the dish at the end of the baking time and you’ll have crispy-tipped pulled pork on top. It’s okay if the pork dries out a bit as the mac and cheese is SO creamy that it helps cut the richness a bit.
More Great Pasta Recipes
How To Store Leftovers
This recipe may not have any leftovers as it is so delicious! But if you do have some left, you can put it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. It can also be put in an airtight container for up to one month but not much longer as it easily will get freezer burn.
I hope you can enjoy this pulled pork mac and cheese as much as our family did – we already have requests for this to be made again for dinner it was loved so much!
Happy Cooking!
Love,
Karlynn
Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups pulled pork
- 1 bottle barbecue sauce
- one 454 grams box cavatappi pasta (elbow can be used as well)
Cheese Sauce
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 ½ cups grated smoked cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix some of barbecue sauce and pulled pork together until all of the pork is coated in sauce. This works better if the pulled pork is warm and not cold, so if needed microwave the pork a little to warm it up.
Pasta
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Once boiling add the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package directions. Start the Cheese Béchamel Sauce while the pasta is cooking.
Cheese Béchamel Sauce
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk into the melted butter until smooth. Cook, stirring, until the butter mixture turns golden brown, around 5 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in one cup of the milk, adding very slowly to avoid clumps, whisking continuously. Once combined, whisk in the rest of the milk slowly, until all of the milk is whisked into the mixture.
- Whisk in the garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a low simmer, not boiling, stirring, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue simmering for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from burning on the bottom, until the mixture is smooth and the flour is no longer gritty in the mixture. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon when done.
- During this cooking time for the sauce, the pasta will be done. Drain the pasta well and place into a large bowl and set aside for a few minutes.
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the sharp cheddar and smoked cheddar, adding by handfuls, until it's all melted into the sauce.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta in the large bowl stirring to coat the pasta completely.
- Spoon the pasta and sauce into the prepared 9×13 baking pan in one layer.
- Spread out the pulled pork on top of the cheese sauce and noodles. Drizzle some of the BBQ sauce on top of the pulled pork.
- Bake the mac and cheese in the oven for 20 minutes, until warmed through. Broil for the last 3-4 minutes at the end to brown the top if desired.
- Remove from the oven, cool for 5 minutes to let the sauce set, then serve.
Notes
- Play around with the cheese flavors if you like adding other types of cheese.
Nutrition
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