Cuban Mac & Cheese

You Guys! This Cuban Mac & Cheese recipe is amazing! I modeled it after a Cuban Sandwich and it turned out crazy-pants delicious! This is mac and cheese with ham but so much more!

I love it when an idea for something comes together and is better in real life than you imagined!

If you enjoy macaroni and cheese recipes, you just have to try my Cuban Macaroni & Cheese. The flavors of this are really delicious, everything works together and makes this dish a home-run!

Inspired by the flavors of a Cuban sandwich, this mac & cheese sings with flavor, the ingredients all compliment one another. It’s fun, flavorful & different!

Anytime I have made this when the kids have had friends over they go crazy for it and then the next thing you know parents are asking me what I fed their child and how do they make it, lol! Love that!

This mac and cheese with ham has a panko topping to both mimic the bread in a Cuban sandwich as well as to be a vehicle for the mustard typically found on those sandwiches.

It’s a great dinner recipe, side dish recipe or recipe for a BBQ or party. You can also bake his in individual large ramekins.

This recipe hits every note for me and the addition of pickles, yes pickles, to the mac and cheese was magical! Do NOT leave out the pickles 🙂 

Ingredients

• pasta
• butter
• flour
• chicken stock
• milk
• Monterrey Jack cheese, Gruyere cheese & American cheese and or Swiss cheese
• diced ham
• kosher pickles 
• jalapeno & parsley
• salt & pepper
• panko
• coarse Dijon mustard

Tips

• I am all about variations when it comes to cooking, however for this recipe I do recommend sticking to it as written. The pickles are a must!! The chopped pickles give great flavor and texture to the dish.
• The cheese can be swapped if you like for your favorites as long as they have good meltability.
• As with any mac and cheese recipe, in my opinion, its best enjoyed hot from the oven.

Variations

• The only variations I would say are you can swap a cheese or two however just make sure whichever cheese(s) you use melt well.
• For a more authentic Cuban sandwich taste, add in shredded roast pork as well (or not, its delicious as is).

My husband, especially, is on cloud nine any time a ham is on the table or in the fridge and while he does some serious damage, I always have plenty left over ham and enjoy coming up with various ways to use it in recipes.

Need a leftover ham recipe? Check out this Ham & Cheese Hash Brown Bake or these easy to make Ham & Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits which you can enjoy as-is or use to make sandwiches, yum!

Other Recipes Using Ham

I hope you love this mac & cheese recipe as much as my family & I do!! XO Colleen

Recipe originally published April 2017, Updated May, 2025.

Colleen Kennedy is the author of 3 cookbooks and has appeared on QVC and other shows inspiring home cooks of all levels. She has a popular TikTok channel @ColleensCooking with hundreds of short recipe videos. Colleen lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and kids, she started the food blog, Soufflé Bombay in 2009. Read more about her here.

Cuban Sandwich Macaroni and Cheese

Colleen Kennedy

Cuban Sandwich Style Mac & Cheese. The flavors of a Cuban Sandwich in a Mac & Cheese recipe! Perfect leftover ham recipe. Mac and cheese with ham.