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Leftover BBQ Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

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Take mounds of leftover pulled pork and heap it on top of creamy homemade mac and cheese, bake it, and top it with BBQ sauce! What you have is Leftover BBQ Pulled Pork Macaroni and Cheese! A fabulous comfort dish the whole family will love.

A few weeks ago we had a big family reunion. We divide up the dinners for our family reunions by family units. So our family had Sunday dinner.

Leftover BBQ pulled pork Mac and Cheese

I went with a Hawaiian themed menu. It was a great dinner and everyone loved the food. What’s not to love when mounds of pulled pork is the star attraction!

However, we had a lot…and I do mean A LOT, of delicious moist pulled pork leftover! You can only eat so many burritos and pulled pork sandwiches before you’re looking at shredded pork with hostility and loathing!

That’s when it’s time to come up with another way to use up that pulled pork and save the ol’ grocery budget!

I decided to combine two southern comforts and create one great casserole!  Leftover BBQ Pulled Pork Macaroni and Cheese! It’s such a fun way to use up leftover pulled pork and one I know your family will love as much as mine did! 

How To Make BBQ Pulled Pork with Macaroni and Cheese

Prepare pasta by bringing 4 cups water to boil in a large pot. Add 2 cups elbow macaroni. Cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Tip: Always cook your pasta “al dente” when combining with sauces. The pasta will absorb all that delicious warm sauce and continue to cook. Nothing worse than mushy pasta!

cooked elbow macaroni

How To Make Homemade Cheese Sauce

In a large sauce pan, over medium heat, melt 1/4 cup butter. Every good Macaroni and Cheese dish starts with buttah! Lots of delicious buttah!

Large deep skillet over medium melted 4 tablespoons butter

Add 1/4 cup flour and…

adding flour to melted butter

Whisk the two together! You need to do this quickly…1,2,3…let’s do this! Go, go, go! (This is my Mom drill sargent voice!) 

blending flour and butter together

Time to kick in those multitasking skills y’all have! While whisking slowly add 2 cups milk. The mixture will begin to thicken. How ya doing? This is a two-handed job. Stir with one hand…pour with the other…while you’re at it help little Joey with his science fair project and there’s that load of laundry. You got this!

Tip: Combining flour and butter is what is commonly known as making a “roux”.  If you’ve never done this before…congratulations! You just made your first roux! Roux is really just a fancy name for creating the thickening base for a sauce. 

Add 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or regular salt, and 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper. Stir to combine. (Good News! You only need one hand for this part!)

adding milk and seasonings to flour and butter mixture

Let’s get cheesy! Really cheesy! Add 2 cups grated cheese blend. Stir until cheese melts.

Add two cups grated cheese to roux.

Next up…my secret weapon.  I know! Don’t y’all go hating on me! Velveeta Cheese sauce packets are my secret weapon for extra creamy macaroni and cheese! It works! 

Stir in one pouch of cheese sauce. 

Package of Velveeta

Add 3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese! I told you I was getting cheesy! 

As your sauce is coming together it may get too thick for your liking. If this is the case…slowly add more milk, a little at a time, until you get to your desired consistency.

Adding Mozzarella Cheese to cheese sauce in skillet.

Add pasta directly into the skillet with the cheese sauce. No sense getting another dish dirty! Unless you L.O.V.E. doing dishes…then don’t let me stop ya!

Macaroni added to cheese sauce in skillet.

Stir pasta into cheese sauce until well coated.  Look how rich and creamy that cheese sauce is! Liquid gold.

Mixing pasta into cheese sauce in the skillet

Baking Macaroni and Cheese

Prepare a baking dish by coating it with non-stick cooking spray. I used my cast iron skillet. You can use a regular 9 x 13 baking dish. Any type of casserole dish you have will work. Don’t let the cast iron skillet scare you off. It’s not a requirement for this recipe.

Cast Iron Skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray.

Pour macaroni and cheese into your baking dish. Spread evenly.

Did I mention this is a Macaroni with LOTS of cheese! Sprinkle the top of the macaroni and cheese with MORE cheese! About 1 cup of grated cheese. You can add more or less depending on your personal taste. I love cheese. So more cheese was called for. Basically I should call it Cheese and Macaroni!

Additional cheese on top of macaroni and cheese

Add 3–4 cups leftover pulled pork on top of the macaroni and cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes in preheated 350° oven in the center of the rack. 

Zoom in for a closer look! Isn’t it awesome how the cheese sauce sneaks into the elbow holes and snuggles down in there. It’s a thing of beauty!

Adding shredded pork on top of macaroni and cheese

After the 25 minutes of baking time turn the oven on to broil. Broil for 5 minutes until the cheese turns a beautiful golden brown on top and the meat tips begin to crisp up. Those crispy bits are amazing! 

close up of baked leftover BBQ pulled pork macaroni and cheese

Finishing Off The Pulled-Pork and Mac-n-Cheese

Finish this dish off with a drizzle of your favorite BBQ sauce. My favorite is Sweet Baby Ray’s! I love the balance of BBQ spice and southern sweet. It’s great on pork! You use the BBQ sauce your family likes most. In other words…you do YOU!

Drizzle BBQ sauce over macaroni and cheese with pulled pork

That’s the extent of this dish! Easy right? I love an easy comfort dish with a down home twist!

Basic homemade Macaroni and Cheese topped with leftover pulled pork and drizzled with BBQ sauce.

Leftover BBQ pulled pork with macaroni and cheese.

All that’s left is to grab yourself a big ol’ scoop of this yummy macaroni and cheese.

There’s something about forkfuls of creamy mac-n-cheese topped with tender moist smokey pulled pork and hints of BBQ sauce. 

Serving of Macaroni and Cheese with Pulled pork

Serve with a side garden salad and corn on the cob, and you’ve got a complete dinner! One that will make everyone at your Nest happy! 

Other Family Favorite Comfort Food Recipes

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thanks so much for stopping by! Have a GREAT day!

Happy Nesting!

Norine's signature and photo
Yield: 8 servings

Leftover BBQ Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

Leftover BBQ Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

Creamy homemade macaroni and cheese topped with leftover pulled pork and drizzled with BBQ sauce. A comforting down home dish that's quick and easy to make.

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 cups water
  • 2 cups elbow pasta
  • 1/4 butter
  • 1/4 cup All-purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 2 cups grated blended cheddar cheese
  • 1 - 4 ounce packet velveeta cheese sauce
  • 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 3-4 cups leftover pulled pork
  • 1/2 cup BBQ sauce for topping

Instructions

  1. In large pot bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add elbow pasta and cook until al dente. Rinse and Drain. Set aside.
  2. Preheat over to 350°
  3. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Sprinkle flour over top of melted butter and whisk together to combine.
  4. Slowly add 2 cups milk while continually whisking until mixture thickens. Add onion powder, garlic salt, and coarse black pepper. Mix well. Add additional salt to taste.
  5. Add 2 cups grated cheese. Stir. Add velveeta cheese and mix until well combined. Add 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese and continue stirring until everything is well blended and creamy. Add additional milk if sauce is too thick until desired consistency is reached.
  6. Add cooked pasta. Stir pasta into cheese sauce until completely coated. Pour into a 9 x 13 prepared baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
  7. Spread Macaroni and cheese evenly in baking dish and sprinkle with 1 cup grated cheddar cheese. Top with 3 -4 cups left over pulled pork.
  8. Place on center of oven rack and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes bake time, increase temp to broil high, and broil for 5 minutes until pork tips are crispy and cheesy is golden brown.
  9. Remove from oven and drizzle with BBQ sauce.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 1/2 cups

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1025Total Fat: 38gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 198mgSodium: 3388mgCarbohydrates: 100gFiber: 6gSugar: 65gProtein: 69g

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Amy

Tuesday 17th of October 2023

We smoked a huge pork butt on Sunday & had a ton of leftovers. Found your recipe on Pinterest, made it for dinner tonight. It turned out great, and was soooo good! The only tiny tweaks I made was to use a cheese mix of sharp cheddar & mozzarella (along with the genius Velveeta), and I added a teaspoon of dry mustard and a pinch of cayenne to the spice mix. This is a permanent recipe addition for my BBQ leftovers! Going to try it with leftover smoked brisket next time!

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Wednesday 18th of October 2023

Hi Amy! You have me drooling!! The thought of this dish with Smoked Brisket sounds AMAZING! I love your additions to the cheese sauce as well! I get so excited when someone takes one of my recipes and puts their own twist on it! Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us. I gotta run. I suddenly need to make a brisket. Happy Nesting! Norine

Mrs. Bohall

Sunday 4th of September 2022

I Just made this for the family using box mac-n-chz (I used what I had available) with my leftover shredded pork smushed on top and cooked it for 15min @ 350 degrees. It turned out great! I also drizzled ranch dressing the opposite direction of the bbq sauce on top. Ranch and BBQ sauce are delicious together! Thank you for this recipe! I'll be doing this again for sure!

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Wednesday 7th of September 2022

Hi! LOVING this idea of using boxed Mac-n-cheese! Brilliant!!! I'm a huge fan of using what you have on hand. I love your other suggestions too with the ranch and BBQ sauce!! I'm coming to your house for dinner! Thanks for sharing and for taking the time to stop by and visit with us. Have a Great Week! Norine

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Brenda

Thursday 10th of September 2020

This was delicious! I loved having raw onion to add to the top. I will definitely make this again!

But, please fix the recipe. No where in the recipe does it say to add the 2 cups of the grated cheese. I was at step 7 when I realized that I had all of this grated cheese out yet! I looked back then at all of your post to find out when it was supposed to be added.

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Monday 14th of September 2020

Hi Brenda! I'm so very sorry! I had no idea I missed that 2 cups of cheese. I have fixed the recipe. Also I have hired a new assistant to help with proof reading for me. I obviously need it! Ugh!!! I can read something a million times and miss it a million times. Not good when writing recipes. I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe. It's one of my favorite's to make during the summer with my leftover pork roast. Thank you for pointing out my mistake, I sincerely appreciate it. I hope you'll come back again and give me another chance! Happy Nesting! Norine

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