Decadent homemade mac and cheese topped with BBQ-flavored pulled pork, then baked to hot cheesy perfection! Great for leftover pulled pork!
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Calories: 755kcal
Author: Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
2-3cupspulled pork
1bottlebarbecue sauce
one454 grams boxcavatappi pasta (elbow can be used as well)
Cheese Sauce
¼cupbutter
¼cupall-purpose flour
3cupswhole milk
1teaspoongarlic powder
½teaspoononion powder
½teaspoonmustard powder
½teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonground black pepper
2cupsgrated sharp cheddar cheese
2 ½cupsgrated smoked cheddar cheesedivided
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x13 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 9x13 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.