Every good BBQ needs some good sides. This smoked mac and cheese is unreal and you can add in any toppings you want!
**Post written by The BBQ Brothers. For all meat prep, grill set up, temperature and humidity control, recommended tools, and techniques for The BBQ Brothers recipes, check out The BBQ Brothers Beginner’s Guide To Grilling first, then get to cookin!
So you have your whole BBQ weekend planned out. You’ve got your meat rubbed and prepped and on the smoker, the beers are cold and the game is going to be on a few hours.
But what are you supposed to do for that friend of yours with the new vegetarian girlfriend??? First, you tell him to rethink his life choices and the types of people he associates with. If that doesn’t work, we have a ton of different sides that will fit for the meat averse people that you let into your life for whatever reason. The first is a guaranteed crowd pleaser for even the pickiest of eaters.
SMOKED MAC AND CHEESE
The first thing we want to do is get our cheese sauce ready for our macaroni. To start we want to make a roux, which is a fancy French way of saying we’re going to combine some flour and butter and cook them gently. We do this to act as a thickening agent for our cheese sauce. 
So add your 1/4 C butter to a medium saucepan and melt, then whisk in your 1/4 C flour and cook for about 2 minutes until it starts to get bubbly and you’ll notice it has turned a bit brown. Once you’ve reached this stage whisk in your 3 C milk and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken. After it has thickened add in your 8 oz of cream cheese cut in small chunks and stir until it’s smooth.
In a large heat-resistant bowl, add all of your 24 oz of cheese. I hand grated mine because pre-shredded cheese has a bunch of weird additives that we don’t need in our lives, and just as importantly it will save you some money which is never bad. Freshly grated cheese also creates a creamier mac and cheese. Plus this site has diet stuff and a little arm workout while you’re grating will help burn off some of the mass amount of calories we’re about to enjoy! And as you can see above….it’s a lot. (Although this was for a double batch so don’t be scared of this cheese mountain.)
Once you have your cheese grated (or dumped out of the bag like a dirty heathen) combine with the cream sauce we made earlier and mix until the cheese is melted and evenly distributed.
If you haven’t done so already, cook your 1 lb of macaroni according to the box instructions. Once done drain and combine with your cheese sauce. All of these steps can actually be done in advance of a few hours to even a full day ahead.
At this point you can get more frisky and add anything that sounds good. If you want to add some heat you can add fresh jalapeños or hot sauce. If you want to add some crunch you can add bacon or breadcrumbs. If you want something more savory you can go with garlic and herbs. Go crazy!! You’ve made a great canvas, now it’s time to paint on it! Or you can even go plain Jane and it will still taste delicious.
Once you have everything mixed together to your liking spray your aluminum tray with cooking spray and spoon in your mixture and even it out. Cheap aluminum trays are fantastic for recipes like this that you want to toss on the smoker since you won’t want to stain a nice pan with smoke.
Throw it on the smoker over indirect heat at 225 F for about 2 hours until its crisped on top but still nice and gooey on the inside. Another thing that’s so nice about this recipe is that since everything is already cooked you don’t have to be exact on times or temperatures and you can pretty much just use whatever temp you’re cooking any other foods at, and you can adjust the time for how smokey you want it to taste.
Are you wondering what that marvelous meat log is on the grill with the mac and cheese? That’s our bacon explosion and the recipe can be found here. If you’re looking for some crazy variations check out the pizza bacon explosion and the Thanksgiving bacon explosion, too!
So that’s it! Once it’s done dish it out and enjoy.
Smoked Mac and Cheese
- Cook Time: 2-3 hours
- Total Time: 2-3 hours
Description
Every good BBQ needs some good sides. This smoked mac and cheese is unreal and you can add in any toppings you want!
Ingredients
1lb (16 oz) Elbow Macaroni.
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
3 cups milk
8 oz cream cheese
24 oz of hand shredded cheese ( I like to use a mix of cheeses. One that is sharp and one that is a bit softer and will get extra gooey. I used 12 oz Colby Jack and 12 oz of Sharp Cheddar. But go crazy it’s hard to mess up your cheese choices!)
Pepper to taste. (We already have loads of salt from the cheese so we don’t want to add any more.)
Cooking spray
Feel free to add in any other ingredients you’d like, such as jalapeños, bread crumbs, bacon, hot sauce, garlic, herbs, etc. Go crazy!
Instructions
- First, add your 1/4 C butter to a medium saucepan and melt, then whisk in your 1/4 C flour and cook for about 2 minutes until it starts to get bubbly and you’ll notice it has turned a bit brown. Once you’ve reached this stage whisk in your 3 C milk and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken. After it has thickened add in your 8 oz of cream cheese cut in small chunks and stir until it’s smooth.
- In a large heat-resistant bowl, add all of your 24 oz of cheese. Combine with the cream sauce we made earlier and mix until the cheese is melted and evenly distributed.
- If you haven’t done so already, cook your 1 lb of macaroni according to the box instructions. Once done drain and combine with your cheese sauce. (All of these steps can actually be done in advance of a few hours to even a full day ahead.)
- At this point you can get more frisky and add anything that sounds good. If you want to add some heat you can add fresh jalapeños or hot sauce. If you want to add some crunch you can add bacon or breadcrumbs. If you want something more savory you can go with garlic and herbs. Go crazy!!
- Once you have everything mixed together to your liking spray an 8×8 aluminum tray with cooking spray and spoon in your mixture and even it out. Cheap aluminum trays are fantastic for recipes like this that you want to toss on the smoker since you won’t want to stain a nice pan with smoke.
- Throw it on the smoker on indirect heat at 225 F for about 2 hours until its crisped on top but still nice and gooey on the inside.
- So that’s it! Once it’s done dish it out and enjoy.
Notes
One thing that’s so nice about this recipe is that since everything is already cooked you don’t have to be exact on times or temperatures and you can pretty much just use whatever temp you’re cooking any other foods at, and you can adjust the time for how smokey you want it to taste.
So let us know what you think….did this recipe smoke the competition or go up in flames?
It would be helpful if there was a printable version.
Hey Mike, thanks for the recommendation! I use a recipe plugin for the non-BBQ recipes that allows you to print them but chose a different layout for these recipes! Maybe I should use it for these too so you can print them out! Great advice! I’ll have to work on converting them!
Hey Mike! This recipe is now printable for you! Let me know if you have any issues with it! 🙂 Thanks again for the recommendation!
What kind of wood chips did you use? It looks and sounds yummy! Can’t wait to try it.
Hey Cindy! We used apple and cherry because we were using it for our bacon explosion that was already on the smoker but really any type would work! (Hickory would also be a good choice if you’re looking for a recommendation!) Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
We were super excited to try this recipe my husband has been all about using the smoker since we got it, I did everything down to the step (even made sure I got the same exact cheese), wasnt too bad before we put it in the smoker not too much of a creamy cheesy taste but after putting it in the smoker the cheese almost curdled and clumped up separating from the macaroni. Any tips as to why?
Hey Kelsie!! I am so sorry to hear your mac and cheese didn’t turn out!! 🙁 We’ve never had our cheese curdle and clump up, that’s so strange. The only thing we can think of is that maybe the temperature got too hot? Did you guys cook over indirect heat? Smoked mac and cheese will be a little drier than standard stovetop or crockpot mac and cheese but it definitely shouldn’t curdle up! Was everything blended well before you put it on the smoker? So odd that it would separate during the smoking process if it was blended before it went on!
Are your cooking temperatures in Fahrenheit?
Yes! Thank you for asking! I will edit the post to reflect that!
I am an inexperienced baker, so I apologize if this is a dumb question. I would love to try this recipe to take to a family reunion. I am thinking I will cook it/smoke it the day of the reunion. The problem is, we will have to leave our house to drive to the location of the family reunion. Do you feel that after it was done cooking/smoking, I transfer it to a crock pot and it keep it on the “warm” setting for a couple of hours? Is it creamy enough that it would be ok that way, or would it dry out in the crock pot on the warm setting? Thank you so much!
Hey Josie! Great question! I’ve never tried it but since the smoked mac n cheese tends to be a little drier than standard you may want to add a little more milk initially or to the crock pot to make sure it doesn’t get too dry! If you’re not going too far you could just wrap it in a towel and put in a cooler as well! Hope that helps! 🙂
About how many people does this serve?
Hi Sara! It depends how hungry the people are! 🙂 It makes an 8×8 pan so I’d say about 10-12 people! (Maybe less if you’ve got some hungry guests!)
Made this recipe exactly as written and it was AMAZING!!!! This will be the only way we make Mac and cheese in this house now! We paired it with smoked brisket and Cole slaw. Thanks for the recipe!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for the great review, Susan! So glad you loved it! Pairing with some brisket and coleslaw sounds AMAZING! 🙂
Had a turkey breast in the smoker and decided to throw this in as well. Everyone liked it and I did as well ( I like Mac and I like cheese, just normally not together)
★★★★★
Awesome, Jeff, so glad you liked it! This would definitely pair perfectly with smoked turkey!
I recently learned how to use our smoker and tried this recipe. It was a HUGE hit. I used apple chips. I will be making this again for the holiday weekend but will add some bacon. Thanks for the recipe! Just fantastic! I use the smoker all the time now. Love it!
★★★★★
Fantastic!! So glad you love it, Dawn! It is perfect for Memorial Day, great idea! (Now I might need to make it this weekend too lol) Also bacon is always a good addition to anything! 🙂
Can you make a day in advance?
Hi Rebecca! Technically you could make this in advance and heat it up in an oven to serve but we would recommend making it fresh so it doesn’t dry out!
Can I prepare the whole thing the day before I smoke it?
Hi Ian! You can. I would cook the macaroni al dente and rinse it under cold water and also cool the sauce before mixing them together (to prevent the pasta from continuing to cook/overcook). You may also want to stir in a little extra milk before smoking to help combat dryness. Let us know how it turns out!
I cannot stand cream cheese…what can I substitute? I made it without and added a tiny bit more cheese…was still awesome. Also added bacon.
Hi Tammy! You could try to swap out for a 1:1 mixture of pureed ricotta and yogurt, add more milk or heavy cream or even add in some Velveeta! Let us know how they are if you give it a try with a substitute! (And bacon is always an excellent addition!)
I just prepared the mac n cheese for a 3:00 smoke 6 hours in advance. I made two mistakes. I mixed the cooked pasta and cream sauce immediately, and I also forgot to spray the pans.
Any suggestions to keep from drying out for 3:00 smoke? Also, will this lack of spray create a mess?
Hey Jimmy! Not spraying the pans will probably be a bigger issue than mixing it still warm because it will probably stick to the pan. I’d transfer to a new, sprayed pan if you can. You could also try mixing in a little milk to add more moisture, or do our favorite “whoops” fix and drink about 6-8 beers so you won’t mind if it’s a little dried out and sticky!
I’ve been looking for a great smoked mac n’ cheese recipe and this is it!
My family loves it. Only thing I added was a crumbled bacon topping as the kicker.
Thanks for sharing what my family now calls “a keeper” in my rotation of sides to accompany
whatever meat I’m smoking at the time!
★★★★★
Hi William! This is awesome to hear, thank you for the great review! So happy your family loves it as much as we do!
Having been a mac&cheese fanatic for many years I was excited to try it on my smoker once I received it.
At first glance, this recipe seemed a little off from my experiences. Significantly less liquid and significantly more cheese. Assuming the proportional differences were needed because it is a “smoked” recipe and not baked.
After mixing the sauce I was left with a consistency more along the lines of cement in it’s liquid form. It could not even be stirred without holding the handle of the pan. Knowing this wasn’t going to work i added another 1/3 (1 cup) of milk. Somewhat better but still thick I proceeded mixing the cheese sauce into the cooked noodles.
Two hours later (at 225) I was left with a pan of mac&cheese that I knew was destined for the garbage can.
Smoke flavor was nice but the consistency was terrible. Very dry and as a previous comment stated, the cheese sauce looked almost curdled.
I’m sure the author will take strong exception with this review. That’s alright. As a very experienced tryer of internet recipes I have found a significant number of people providing the “best ever” recipe for this or that are just trash. Not even close to well documented successful recipes.
I don’t expect all to believe this review completely. I suggest you compare this recipe to a number of others. Just as I noticed, I’m sure you too will notice the differences.
And to those who will say it’s just my new smoker that must be defective. I was smoking a 5lb chicken at the same time. The chicken was done exactly in the amount of time it should have at 225. The smoker is working fine!
★
Hi Steve, I’m so sorry you were disappointed in the mac and cheese! Unfortunately, we are not professional chefs, so we are limited by our available skills and experience but we are always willing to hear input that could help us improve our recipes, especially one of our go-to’s like this one! 🙂
This recipe has been tried and true for us and many others and although it’s admittedly not as creamy as a standard stovetop or slow cooker mac and cheese, we’ve never had it turn out inedible! I’m sorry that happened but would love to help you figure out why!
It sounds as if things went south when making the roux and before it even hit the smoker so I’d be curious to know your technique. It should definitely stir easily, albeit a little thicker after adding the cheese of course. What heat did you use for the roux? In our experience, you’ll want to cook it low and slow (hence gentle) and add the milk slowly while consistently stirring to prevent the sauce from seizing up. If you used low heat and consistent stirring but still felt it was too thick I would have expected whisking in extra liquid to help! Did your roux seize up before or after adding the cheese? Also, did you use pre-shredded cheese or shred it fresh? Pre-shredded can definitely behave differently and result in an unwanted clumping effect. Another technique you could try would be to scald the milk before adding. We’ve never had to do this but it couldn’t hurt!
We would love to hear your input on this advice and if you think it would have helped your situation! The last thing we want is for your hard work to end up in the trash after 2 hours of anticipation! (We feel you, we’ve been there too!) Would definitely love to help you make this dish successfully or hear recommendations on how to make it even better! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, it’s always helpful to get feedback so we can learn how to improve our recipes and techniques!