Macaroni Salad

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Macaroni Salad is another one of our favorite salads to have on hand for entertaining or a camping weekend. It’s better when it has a chance to rest overnight so the flavor soaks into the noodles. I like the little salad macaroni noodles and a bit more tang than sweet. This is tough to find in many store bough and restaurant versions. A variety of colors with some crunch mixed in is also a must for me.

This is a mix of the traditional recipe that my family has always made with tangy, crunchy additions. I like to include hard cooked eggs in both macaroni and potato salads. If you haven’t tried steaming eggs to get the easiest peeling eggs, I highly recommend the method. No, I didn’t dream it up, it’s from Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, a great resource.

Macaroni Salad is great for cookouts and potlucks since it makes such a large volume. One of my shortcomings is overestimating the amount of food needed for any given situation. I’m not sure if it comes from spending so much time with my grandparents whose formative years were during the depression era. Whatever the reason, I’m prone to throw an extra potato in the pot, half again more pasta, or two servings of vegetables too many in the pan. But, I also figure out uses for the leftovers. With this recipe, I’ve tried to scale it down, mainly so it doesn’t get watery and soggy.

Macaroni Salad

Vickie Young

Macaroni Salad is another one of our favorite salads to have on hand for entertaining or a camping weekend. It's better when it has a chance to rest overnight so the flavor soaks into the noodles. I like the little salad macaroni noodles and a bit more tang than sweet.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• 16 oz salad macaroni short, small tube noodles, not long elbow mac
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 cup Best Foods mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 ribs celery, cut into ¼-½" pieces about 1 cup
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced into ¼-½" pieces about 1 cup
• ½ red onion, diced fine about ½ cup
• 1 dill pickle, diced into ¼-½" pieces about ¼ cup
• 2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
• 1 4oz can chopped ripe olives
• 1 carrot shredded for color

Instructions

 

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and let cool slightly.
• Cook eggs, peel and allow to cool.
• While noodles are cooking, prepare all other ingredients and mix in a large bowl. Add cooked macaroni and stir to combine. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
• Salad can be served immediately or chilled.

Notes

See Easy Hard-Cooked Eggs for the easiest peeling eggs. This steaming method was found on Milk Street where we’ve found many excellent techniques and recipes.

Keyword comfort food, dinner, Easy, leftovers, Pasta, recipe, Side Dish