Smoked Brisket Mac and Cheese is my favorite side dish. This smoked mac and cheese recipe is so hearty that it could even be a main course!
There are many ways to make mac and cheese. In this recipe and video we add several smoked elements to the dish, plus add a toasty, buttery crunch element at the end that really completes it.
This is a 4 cheese mac and cheese that uses my secret ingredient, smoked cream cheese! You can use your favorite cheeses for the other 3 cheese, but the smoked gouda, sharp cheddar, gruyere in this recipe are excellent. Pro tip: shredding your own cheese is preferred over buying packaged shredded cheese. It melts better and tastes better.
Bonus, everything including mac and cheese is better with brisket! Be sure to check out all of our brisket recipes here as well!
Meat Church How To YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/NXD9BBuFhfU
All Brisket Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLlcC6gl4PGL-ZU6o3AAiVKt5d50n4HzL
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 C half and half
- 1 C chopped brisket, cooked
- 1 lb macaroni pasta noodles (we used cavatappi in this video)
- 1 8 oz block smoked cream cheese
- 1 C smoked gouda, shredded
- 1 C sharp cheddar, shredded
- 1 C gruyere, shredded
- 1 T hot sauce
- 1 T Meat Church Holy Cow
- 1 t ground mustard
- 1 C panko
- 1/2 stick melted butter
Prepare smoker or pellet grill
Prepare your smoker at 180. In this video we used a Traeger Timberline XL with hickory pellets.
Prepare the cream
Combine the half and half, smoked cream cheese, Holy Cow, hot sauce and ground mustard in a dish to smoke.
Place the dish in the smoker for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
Make the mac and cheese
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil while the cream smokes.
Boil the pasta to al dente which is 2 minutes less than package instructions. Drain the pasta and return to the pot.
Shred 1 C of the smoked gouda, sharp cheddar and gruyere.
Add the 3 shredded cheeses and stir to combine.
Add the smoked cream cheese mixture and at least 1 C of chopped brisket and stir to combine.
Pour mac and cheese into a well seasoned 12" skillet or comparable pan.
Combine the melted butter and panko. Top the mac and cheese with the buttered panko.
Increase the temperature of your smoker 350 (or as high as 400).
Place the skillet in the smoker for 30 - 40 minutes to brown the topping.
Remove from the smoker and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
