Memphis BBQ Spaghetti
Spaghetti you eat AT a BBQ joint. Sounds wrong; tastes very right.
Why this dish belongs to Memphis
BBQ spaghetti is one of the strangest and most beloved Memphis food inventions, born at The Bar-B-Q Shop on Madison Avenue in the 1980s when owner Frank Vernon began tossing leftover smoked pork shoulder with spaghetti and his house BBQ sauce as a daily lunch special. The dish caught fire across Memphis and Mississippi BBQ joints over the next decade — Cozy Corner, Neely's, even Corky's added versions to their menus. The basic structure is simple: spaghetti cooked to al dente, tossed with chopped (not pulled) smoked pork, BBQ sauce thinned with butter and pasta water, served with a sprinkle of green onion. It tastes like the love child of pasta carbonara and a pulled-pork sandwich — savory, smoky, faintly sweet, comforting. Memphis-area carryout places sell it by the pound; it's also a fixture at backyard barbecues across the Mid-South. This is comfort food at its most regional.
Method · 9 steps
- 1
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti to al dente — about 1 minute less than package directions.
- 2
While pasta cooks, chop the pulled pork into 1/2-inch pieces. Long ribbons make for messy eating; bite-sized chunks are right.
- 3
Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining.
- 4
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped pork and warm through, 2 minutes.
- 5
Add BBQ sauce, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.
- 6
Add the drained spaghetti directly to the skillet (don't rinse it). Toss to coat. Add 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water and toss again — the starchy water emulsifies the sauce and clings to the pasta.
- 7
Add more pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time if the sauce looks too thick. The pasta should be coated but not soupy.
- 8
Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- 9
Serve in bowls topped with green onions and shredded cheddar if using.
Chef's notes
- →Use leftover pulled pork from your last smoke. If buying pre-made, look for Memphis-style smoked pork in vacuum bags — Corky's ships it.
- →The BBQ sauce should be Memphis-thin (vinegar-forward, slightly sweet) — not a thick KC-style sauce. Thick sauce makes gloppy pasta.
- →Don't rinse the pasta. The starch on the surface is what helps the sauce cling.
- →If you don't have pulled pork, sub leftover smoked brisket chopped fine, or even shredded rotisserie chicken with 1 tsp liquid smoke added.
- →Reheat leftovers with a splash of water or chicken stock to loosen the sauce; otherwise pasta firms up too much.
Storage
Refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheats well with a splash of water in a covered skillet over low heat. Freezes okay (3 months) but the texture changes.
Frequently asked
- Is BBQ spaghetti really a real Memphis dish?
- Yes — invented at The Bar-B-Q Shop on Madison Avenue in the 1980s. Has spread to most Memphis BBQ restaurants and is sold by the pound at carryout places. Outside Memphis it's an oddity; inside Memphis, it's standard menu.
- Why does this work?
- The smoky-sweet BBQ sauce coats the pasta the way a meat sauce would; the pulled pork is technically the protein. The pasta water emulsifies the sauce. The end result is comfort food — pasta + meat + sauce — in a Memphis flavor register.
- What pasta shape is best?
- Spaghetti is canonical — that's what's on Memphis menus. Linguine works. Don't use thick shapes like rigatoni or penne; the sauce-to-pasta ratio is wrong.
- Can I use ground beef instead of pulled pork?
- That makes it a different dish — closer to American Italian Sunday gravy spaghetti. BBQ spaghetti specifically requires the smoky, pulled pork or smoked beef. Ground beef + BBQ sauce is sloppy joe pasta, not BBQ spaghetti.
- What sides go with BBQ spaghetti?
- Memphis carryout often serves it as a side dish itself. If it's the main, pair with a cold cucumber salad or a slaw on the side — something sharp and crunchy to cut the richness. Garlic bread is overkill given the carb-on-carb.
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