BBQ Spaghetti
BBQ spaghetti is a Memphis-born dish that combines tender spaghetti noodles with a smoky barbecue sauce and shredded meat, often pulled pork or brisket.
It’s a Southern twist on an Italian classic, served hot and often alongside ribs or on its own as a full meal.
Can You Cook Spaghetti on the Barbecue?
You can’t boil spaghetti noodles directly on the grill, but you can absolutely incorporate the barbecue into the cooking process. The noodles are cooked on the stove as usual, but the meat—like smoked pork shoulder or brisket—comes straight from the grill or smoker. You can also heat the assembled BBQ spaghetti in a cast-iron skillet over indirect heat on the grill to infuse more smoke and bring everything together.
Where Did BBQ Spaghetti Come From?
BBQ spaghetti originated in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s credited to Jim Neely of Interstate Bar-B-Q, who came up with the idea as a way to repurpose leftover pulled pork and barbecue sauce. Since then, it’s become a well-known side dish or main course in Memphis barbecue joints. The concept blends the tang and depth of barbecue with the texture of pasta, creating something that’s unique to the South.
Is Barbecue Sauce Good on Spaghetti?
Barbecue sauce works surprisingly well with spaghetti, especially when balanced with a bit of tomato sauce or paste to round it out. The smoky, tangy notes pair well with the richness of the meat and the starchiness of the noodles. It’s not traditional by Italian standards, but it makes for a bold and satisfying dish with real Southern character.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigeration: Store leftover BBQ spaghetti in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Reheat in a skillet over medium heat or microwave in short intervals, stirring in a splash of water or broth to loosen the sauce if it has thickened.
- Freezing: You can freeze BBQ spaghetti for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat as needed.
- 11 lbs pork shoulder
- 5 tbsp yellow mustard used for binder
- salt and pepper to cover
- 1 lb dried spaghetti noodles
- 1 whole onion diced
- 1 whole red bell pepper diced
- 4 cloves garlic diced
- 1 jar marinara sauce of your choice
- bbq sauce to taste
- Cover the pork shoulder in mustard, and then heavily season with crushed black pepper and salt.
- Get your smoker up to temp, place a few hunks of hickory wood on the coals and place the pork shoulder on. Make sure to spritz with apple cider vinegar
- Cook until the internal temp is around 200 degrees F. Then wrap the pork shoulder in butcher's paper, place back on the grill to finish. You'll then want to shred this to your liking.
- Dice the white onion, red bell pepper, and saute in a pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Once these have sweated enough, add in your diced garlic.
- Begin boiling water for your noodles.
- Finish your veggies off by adding in your jar of marinara, and then your bbq sauce to taste.
- Once your noodles are finished, add them to the sauce.
- Now that your noodles are in, add in the amount of smoked pork that you want.
- Dish this out in a bowl, add more pork and bbq sauce to your liking.
