We’re talking luscious, cheesy, and oh-so-comforting cavatappi pasta bathing in the most luscious smoked 5-cheese cheese sauce. But we’re not stopping there; we’re adding more cheese on top, and finishing it all in the smoker!
This post is being sponsored by my friends at GE Profile featuring their amazing new GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting partnerships with brands I trust and believe in.
Ultimate Ooey Gooey Smoked Mac and Cheese
If you’re like me, then mac and cheese is one of the top 5 ultimate comfort foods in your life. I love cheese so much that one of my fridge drawers is nothing but cheese.
This mac ‘n cheese is over-the-top cheesy and easily one of the best ones I’ve made!
With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up along, this would make the perfect side dish for your table! Plus don’t forget this would be awesome for your holiday parties and weekend football games!
Grab Your Ingredients
What I love about this recipe is that it uses pretty standard pantry and fridge items. I will say that you MUST use block cheese and not the pre-shredded stuff.
- Cheeses – sharp cheddar, gouda, mozzarella, Velveeta (don’t give me that side eye either – I like it), and cream cheese
- Cavatappi noodles – they are also known as Cellentani as well
- Spices
- Heavy Cream – I forgot to include it in the pic
Set Up The GE Profile Indoor Smoker
Right now, this smoker is on sale at your local Lowe’s! What I love about it is that regardless if you live in a place that doesn’t have a backyard or allows grills/smokers you can still have this as it’s an indoor smoker!
And no, the house doesn’t get smokey at all!
- Fill the GE Profile Indoor Smoker to the water line and fill up the hopper with pellets. I went with what came in the box, but if you have pellets at home, use a fruity-type pellet.
- Insert one rack and preheat the smoker to 250F. Set the smoke level to 2 and the time to 1 hour.
- While the smoker is preheating, assemble the dish!
This will be in your belly soon!
5-Cheese Mac and Cheese Please!
It’s as simple as cubing the cheese, placing it in the dish, adding the seasoning, and pouring over the cream.
- In a 2-quart heat-safe casserole dish (make sure it fits in your smoker first), add the cube cheese and top with the cream cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk together the garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, mustard powder, paprika, and onion powder. Sprinkle that over top of the cheese. Pour over the heavy cream and place the dish into the smoker.
Check Your Casserole Dish
My biggest advice to you is to make sure you test that your casserole dish will fit into the smoker AND that the door will close.
I found that any of my larger casserole dishes that had handles would fit in it, but the door would not close. If you only have one with handles, split the recipe into two smaller dishes.
Assemble The Smoked Mac & Cheese
- When the hour is up, carefully remove the melted cheese from the smoker and whisk to smooth it out. Transfer the cooked pasta to a large bowl. Pour over the smoked cheese and stir to combine.
- Turn the smoker back on, setting it to 250F, smoke level 2, and set the time to 30 minutes. Transfer the mixture back to the 2-quart casserole dish or, if it’s easier, divide it into two smaller casserole dishes. In a bowl, mix together the 3 shredded cheeses and sprinkle it on top of the mac and cheese pressing down slightly. Place the dish back into the smoker and smoke for 30 minutes.
Holy Cheesus Smoked Mac ‘n Cheese
- Once finished, carefully remove it from the smoker and enjoy!
Seriously, look at that! Like it’s cheese to the nth degree! This dish could not have been any easier. As a Pit Master, I take smoking foods seriously. Thanks to the GE Profile Indoor Smoker now everyone can make amazing smoked foods at home…indoors!
Mac & Cheese – Love at First Bite
With this smoker, you can adjust the amount of smoke you want. Since it’s pasta, I wanted to give it just a kiss of smoke. Whereas if I was making pork butt or ribs, I want way more smoke (which you can also set this smoker to do that!)
This was so ooey, gooey, cheesy, and delicious! I had to leave my house to get away from the dish as I couldn’t stop eating it!
Seriously, you need to put this GE Profile Indoor Smoker on your wish list! As I said, right now it’s on sale at Lowe’s!
Recipe Substitutions & Additions
Gosh, I don’t know where even to begin here as there are so many ways you could go along with cheese variations. I’ll give you some of my favorite cheeses/add-ins.
- Cheese – white cheddar, fontina, gruyère, Monterey jack, pepper jack, and/or parmesan all work
- Funky cheeses – Goat Cheese, Gorgonzola, or Blue cheese would rock
- Meats – pulled pork, brisket, crispy bacon, or shredded chicken all would work
- Lobster – I would smoke the lobsters by themselves first, chop them up, then mix them into the cheese sauce when you combine it with the noodles
Creamy & Easy 5-Cheese Smoked Mac & Cheese
We’re talking luscious, cheesy, and oh-so-comforting smoked cavatappi pasta bathing in the most luscious smoked cheese sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1.5 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: cheesy pasta, comfort foods, indoor smoker, mac and cheese, side dishes, smoked cheese sauce, smoked mac and cheese
- Method: smoker
- Cuisine: cheesy pasta, comfort foods, indoor smoker, mac and cheese, side dishes, smoked cheese sauce, smoked mac and cheese
Ingredients
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar, cubed
- 4 ounces gouda, cubed
- 8 ounces Velveeta, cubed
- 4 ounces mozzarella
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 8 ounces cooked Cavatappi noodles
- 3/4 cup heavy cream (or use whole milk)
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 ounces sharp cheddar, grated
- 2 ounces gouda, grated
- 2 ounces mozzarella, grated
Instructions
- Fill the GE Indoor Smoker to the water line and fill up the hopper with pellets. Insert one rack and preheat the smoker to 250F. Set the smoke level to 2 and the time to 1 hour.
- In a 2-quart heat-safe casserole dish (make sure it fits in your smoker first), add the cube cheese and top with the cream cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk together the garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, mustard powder, paprika, and onion powder. Sprinkle that over top of the cheese. Pour over the heavy cream and place the dish into the smoker.
- When the hour is up, carefully remove the melted cheese from the smoker and whisk to smooth it out. Transfer the cooked pasta to a large bowl. Pour over the smoked cheese and stir to combine.
- Turn the smoker back on setting it to 250F, smoke level 2, and time to 30 minutes. Transfer the mixture back to the 2-quart casserole dish or, if it’s easier, divide it into 2 smaller casserole dishes. In a bowl, mix together the 3 shredded cheeses and sprinkle it on top of the mac and cheese pressing down slightly. Place the dish back into the smoker and smoke for 30 minutes.
- Once finished, carefully remove it from the smoker and enjoy!
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