My hubby raved and raved over these sliders, and I’m sure you and your family will, too! Tender, juicy pulled pork swimming in root beer barbecue sauce, and topped with creamy, fried, mac ‘n cheese squares! What’s not to LOVE?!!
These incredibly tasty little sandwiches came about after I had made a new barbecue recipe, my Slow-Smoked Root Beer Barbecued Pig Wings! We had a lot of leftovers and had been enjoying them all week, when I decided to add a little fun to them to break up the monotony!
So I whipped up a small batch of one of my easy mac ‘n cheese recipes and poured it into two small baking dishes for breads. You can either use two of them, or simply pour it into a 11×7 dish or anything close.
You just want the mac ‘n cheese to be about a 1/2 of an inch thick is all.
Then cover it with the plastic wrap touching, let it cool, and pop it into the fridge overnight.
You can probably get away with several hours, but just make sure it’s fully chilled and solid before coating and frying.
Then pull, shred, or tear up any leftover barbecue that you happen to have on hand. You can even make some the day before if you’d like!
Once you have your meat all torn up, ….
…place as much as you’d like into a saucepan, and freeze the rest. Or just use all that you have if you’re feeding a small crowd!
Then add these 3 ingredients. You can certainly use your own favorites, but I can’t guarantee that it will taste the same. And this combination was extra good with the pork and cheesy noodles!
Mix it separately, or just dump the amounts straight in.
Doesn’t it have a gorgeous color? Really nice!!
Mix it all up, and heat it over low heat until heated through.
*If you’re heating leftover meat that’s been chilled, you might want to add a little water to the bottom of the pan so that the sauce doesn’t scorch.
Then pile the bottom buns with that juicy, tender, flavorful pork…
…fry your mac ‘n cheese squares that have been triple coated….
….place on top of the barbecued pork….
…and add the top half of the bun!
Slice this in half for easier eating….
…and DIG IN!!!!
As simple as this slider is, it was truly phenomenal!!
As I mentioned, my hubby raved and RAVED over these for DAYS! I ended up making 6 of them from just a HALF of a batch of the mac ‘n cheese! The rest was cut into strips for “fries” to go along with other sandwiches over the next couple of days.
The flavor combo just WORKED for these so well, that I cannot wait for you to try these Smoked BBQed Pulled “Pig Wing” Sliders with Fried Mac ‘n Cheese!
A new fave that will be made many times over! And one that I’m sure will become a favorite at your house, too! ENJOY!!
My Slow-Smoked Root Beer Barbecued Pig Wings recipe was used for this!
Smoked BBQed Pulled "Pig Wing" Sliders with Fried Mac 'n Cheese
Ingredients
- 5 -6 cups smoked pulled pork (*I used my leftover "Pig Wings") *see recipe!
Root Beer Barbecue Sauce:
- 1/2 cup Bold & Thick Sweet 'n Spicy Weber BBBQ Sauce
- 1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Original Barbecue Sauce
- 1 Tbl. A&W Root Beer
- (*1/4 cup hot water if reheating cold, pulled meat/pour into pan under meat)
Easy Mac 'n Cheese:
- 2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles
- 1 Tbl. Minerva Dairy Real Amish Butter
- 8 oz. Velveeta, diced
- 4 oz. (1 cup) shredded mozzarella-provolone blend cheese such as Sargento's
- 1 Tbl. (lightly packed) very finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp. mustard
- 1/16 tsp. regular black pepper
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Coating:
- Bowl #1: Seasoned Flour: 1/4 cup AP flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper
- Bowl #2: Egg Bath: 2 extra-large eggs, well beaten
- Bowl #3: Seasoned Bread Crumbs: 1/4 cup dried Italian bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. pepper
Rest of Ingredients:
- oil for frying mac 'n cheese
- slider buns or regular hamburger buns
Instructions
Make Easy Mac 'n Cheese First: Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add macaroni noodles, and cook until al dente according to package directions, about 7 minutes if using a brand such as Barilla. Drain. Add butter and stir. Add rest of ingredients and heat over low, stirring gently, until cheese has fully melted and cheese sauce is creamy. Pout into a sprayed 11x7 dish and cover with plastic touching the mac 'n cheese. Let cool, then refrigerate for several hours, or best, overnight, until fully chilled.
Tear up, pull, or shred any leftover smoked barbecue that you have into a saucepan. (Or make some the day before for this.) Add Root Beer Barbecue Sauce ingredients, and stir well to mix and coat meat. Heat over medium-low heat until heated through, stirring. Cover and set aside.
In deep frying pan, begin heating oil over medium heat. (About 2 -3 inches of oil.)
While oil is heating up, cut mac 'n cheese into squares the same size as your buns. Coat with Bowl #1 mixture, then Bowl #2, then Bowl #3, coating all sides well each time. Set squares onto a plate.
When oil is fully heated, fry 1 - 3 at a time on both sides until deep golden brown turning several times. This will only take about 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on how hot your oil is. Don't over-fry. Remove to a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet and continue with rest until all are fried. (*Only fry as many as will be eaten immediately.)
Pile bottom buns with lots of bbqed meat, place a fried mac 'n cheese square on top., and place on top bun. Dig in and ENJOY!
