Brisket Mac and Cheese

Brisket mac and cheese is one of our favorite recipes with leftover brisket ever. Creamy homemade macaroni and cheese with beef. A hearty meal that is out of this world flavorful.

Brisket Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Maybe you made our air fryer brisket last night, smoked one or brought some home from your local bbq joint. You’re in for a treat with this one for sure. The base you can make several different ways.

in pressure cooker

Below explains how to make homemade macaroni and cheese with brisket but you could make Ninja Foodi macaroni and cheese and add meat too.

Ingredients

1. Elbow macaroni noodles that will be boiled and cooked to al dente separately
2. A variety of cheeses including parmesan is best for ultimate YUM
3. Heavy cream to make it really creamy
4. Seasonings
5. Then of course your leftover smoked brisket meat

with boxed mac and cheese

If you have only made Kraft mac and cheese in pressure cooker before this is so much better. Believe it or not it isn’t as difficult as you might initially think to make. The cheese sauce is made with just some cheeses, heavy cream, a bit of flour to thicken it up and seasonings. Just taste along the way so you don’t add too much salt and pepper.

with leftovers

You don’t really need to heat your fall apart brisket again. If you just leave it out on the countertop while you’re preparing everything else, dice, then when you add it to the hot cheese it will continue warming until just right. If you wanted to add another layer of cheese on top and brown under the broiler you’d want a baking dish too.

Substitutions

You can use any sort of meat for this really. After the holidays add ham or some nights I have sirloin tip roast so I will dice that up into bite sizes and use that.

We have a printable recipe card at the bottom but let’s break it down real quick so you can see how this mac and cheese is made. The first thing you want to do is take out the meat from the fridge and set on the countertop to get the chill off. You’ll want something with high sides so a large skillet may not be large enough.

How to Make Mac and Cheese with Brisket

• Cook macaroni noodles on the stove as you normally would, keeping a bit al dente and draining when done.
  • Melt butter on medium heat and stir in flour, stirring constantly, to create a thickening roux to make your sauce creamy, stir in dairy to make mac and cheese with heavy cream.
• Fold in shredded cheeses until smooth and melted. Adding seasonings of your choice, taste and adjust. Fold in noodles, stir to coat.
• Pour in your diced leftover beef brisket pieces into mac and cheese recipe and serve.

If your meat already had a dry rub or barbecue sauce on it like our smoked brisket flat then brush that off first. Leave a comment below if you use something else that we should try on our next go around too!

Just use a medium size stock pot instead so you can stir to combine without worrying about any spilling over the sides. If you wanted to make Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni instead and add this meat that would be a faster option.

I typically will use whatever protein I need to use up, I hate wasting food. We have folded in diced up pork chops, ham and turkey after the holidays but beef we love best. Flat brisket can be cut into small pieces if initially cooked to fall apart tender

How to save leftovers

Now what if you don’t eat all of this and have to save for one more meal. Typically I am not a fan of reheating leftover leftovers if you know what I mean. However if I make this 24 hours after the initial meal I will save in the fridge for the next day and get one more go around out of it.

The best way to reheat this

You want to treat this gently when heating again y’all. The best way is to transfer into a microwave safe dish and heat for 30 seconds, stirring consistently after every single heating 30 seconds at a time it will work out best. In total you might need 1.5 minutes or so to get it warmed thru to the middle and then enjoy.

If you feel like it isn’t as creamy when you take it out, spoon 2 tbsp of heavy cream or milk over the top to begin with. That will add back some moisture so it tastes almost like it were fresh once again. This is true when reheating pasta of any kind really whether you have meat inside or not.

You should go on and on from here. Think outside of the box like our pizza mac and cheese in a cast iron pan with diced pepperoni or even olives are always a fave. After the holidays you can use this same idea but with diced ham or turkey that needs to be used up. A great way to add texture and protein.

You could also add some more fresh shredded cheese on top during the last half minute go around for added wow. Cheddar is best if you ask me but whatever I have on hand is usually what I throw on there. My girls usually get to this before I do because it is a sought after meal in our house for sure.

We hope your family loves this mac n cheese as much as we have over the years and it becomes a day after meal of yours too. 😉