Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned grape that produces light red wines. The best Pinot Noirs are fruity, earthy and spicy and very easy to drink!
Smoked Mac and Cheese Recipe
View more Side Dish Recipes
Prep Time
30 min
Total Time
1.5 hrs
Yield
Makes 12 servings
We are usually in the business of sharing recipes that use meat, but this meatless smoked mac and cheese recipe is the perfect accompaniment to our barbecue recipes, so we have to share it! If you’re making delicious smoked food, you need to have the appropriate side dishes and macaroni and cheese is a staple. How do you make macaroni and cheese even better? You make it smoked mac and cheese!
If you have a smoker, it’s really easy to make smoked mac and cheese. Simply make mac and cheese, then after you pull whatever meat you’ve smoked on your smoker to rest, put the mac and cheese on the smoker. While the meat is resting to get ready to serve, the mac and cheese will be smoking and ready to serve when your meat is sliced and ready to go!
Here are some of our recipes that would love to have this smoked mac and cheese served on the side:
You can make boxed mac and cheese, then put it on the smoker to have smoked mac and cheese. But that’s not fun. Instead, I like to make a homemade cheese sauce for the macaroni. I think it’s more flavorful and coats the noodles better than the stuff that comes out of the powder packets in box.
For my cheese sauce, I like to use a tried and tested recipe that is based on the melting properties of Velveeta. I know some people like to hate on Velveeta, and it’s not the most artisan product, but it has a purpose: to be a perfectly melty cheese. And it does that well. Velveeta is perfect as the base for this recipe, and using a little bit of Gouda ups the flavor just enough to make this sauce special.
If you want to jazz up this recipe, here are some suggestions:
- Add a few spoonfuls of diced sweet red peppers to the mix for a little color, crunch and flavor to the recipe!
- A little chopped up cooked bacon never hurt anything, and would be a delicious addition to this smoked mac and cheese.
- You can add a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies to make this a chili smoked mac and cheese recipe – I really enjoy doing this!
- Or you can combine this recipe with pulled pork to make our Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese recipe!
What do you think of our smoked mac and cheese recipe? Do you like to make mac and cheese on the smoker? We’d love to hear your tips and suggestions on how you bring the smoked flavor to your mac and cheese – you can leave us a comment below with your feedback if you’d like. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Macaroni
- 4 Tbsp Butter
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 3 cup Milk (preferably whole milk)
- 1 lb Velveeta Cheese (cubed)
- 1 cup Gouda Cheese (shredded)
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 cup Bread Crumbs
- 2 Tbsp Butter
Directions
Cook your pasta to al dente according to the directions on the package and drain. Briefly rinse with cold water to stop cooking, because we don’t want overly soft pasta!
While the pasta is cooking make your cheese sauce by following these steps. Pour the milk into a sauce pan and heat to medium low heat. Melt 4 tbsp. butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, then slowly add the flour to the butter, constantly whisking as you are adding. Once the flour is all added in, pour in the milk, continuing to whisk. Add the cubed velveeta and shredded gouda, and let it melt, stirring frequently to prevent lumps. Once the cheese is melted, whisk in the seasonings, and remove from heat.
When your cheese sauce is ready, put the cooked and drained noodles into a large pot, and pour the sauce over the noddles. Stir together and add to a 9 x 13 (or similar size) disposable baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
In a separate small sauce pan, melt 2 tbsp. butter and add the bread crumbs. Stir together and cook over medium heat until golden brown. Spread this topping over the noodles.
Place the baking pan into a smoker that has been heated to 250ºF and smoke for 1 hour.
Serve the mac and cheese warm and bubbly on the side of your favorite BBQ dishes – enjoy!
