Nothing says summertime eating like a serving of the best, classic, old-fashioned, creamy macaroni salad with eggs and crisp vegetables dressed in a simple and creamy but still light mayonnaise dressing for any picnic, potluck, or barbecue.
Sometimes you just don’t mess around with the classics. While some might look at this macaroni salad recipe and think it’s too simple (where’s the twist? what makes it special? shouldn’t it be harder than this?) that’s exactly why it’s a time-proven favorite.
While I’ve always been a fan of potato salad (my mom’s potato salad recipe is THE BEST!) it’s taken me years to come around to macaroni salad. The reason being is that every time I tried one, it was never a good one. They were either too dry, too plain, or too heavily loaded with a goopy, flavorless mayo dressing that coated the macaroni like oil on a dipstick and likely came from a pre-packaged box from the deli counter—yes! That stuff usually comes from a box!
There’s nothing worse than that acrid taste of fake mayo macaroni salad. You know. You’ve been there.
But, this old-fashioned macaroni salad is everything those others were not. First off, it’s homemade—toss the box! It’s simple but well-seasoned. It’s dressed just right with a tangy but light mayo dressing. And the pasta is neither clumpy nor starchy, but smooth and satisfying with every bite.
I really do love this salad but I’m going to defer to my husband on this one, who as a self-proclaimed macaroni salad connoisseur did attest, “Honey, this is still the best macaroni salad I’ve had. Ever.”
How to Make the Best Creamy Macaroni Salad Recipe
Like many of my favorite classics, I found the base of this recipe in a recipe collection of one of my grandmother’s. Hers had the same basics but I added more pickles—because I could eat pickles on dirt if I had to—and hard boiled egg—because in my humble opinion, mayo based salads always taste better with a touch of a hard boiled egg.
Cooking the macaroni correctly is essential to a good mac salad. Overcook it and you’ll end up with mushy bites that won’t stand up to the mixing with the vegetables. Cook it al denté as you would your favorite Italian pasta, and the macaroni will become stiff when it chills. Watching your cooking time and cooking to the package directions should ensure the perfect bite. And to be sure, taste test every minute or so when coming to the end of your cooking time.
The macaroni salad trick I learned from my mom is to rinse the pasta after cooking and drain it really well so there’s no residual water lurking in the pasta nook and crannies. Rinsing the pasta under cold water stops the cooking time and removes some of the starches created from cooking. As the pasta cools, toss it a bit with your hands or a spoon so it stays loose and doesn’t clump together.
How to Make this Simple Macaroni Salad Dressing
The dressing for this salad is a mayonnaise base that’s been thinned out with pickle juice reserved from the sweet pickles added to the salad. I always use sweet pickles, so if you use another style, taste test it to your liking. If you’re not a fan of pickles, you could substitute vinegar or lemon juice but taste as you go to get the right balance. But for me, it’s sweet pickle juice all the way.
This salad tastes best when it’s had some time in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld and the mayo sauce to permeate the noodles. Allow for at least an hour before serving, or make it the night before for the best, flavorful taste. And always remember to taste again before serving to decide if more salt and pepper seasoning needs to be added.
And really it’s as simple as that, and way better than mac salad served from a box.
Recipes to Serve with Classic Macaroni Salad
Think barbecues, picnics, and of course, fried chicken! Here are a few mains to serve along with this classic side.
- 30 Days of Easy Grilling Recipes to Make This Summer
- Grilled Chicken Breasts with Chive Herb Butter
- Low-Carb Steak and Mushroom Kabobs
- The Secret to Grilled Barbecue Baby Back Spareribs
- Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe
- The Best Garlic Burgers EVER
- Rainbow Veggie Skewers
Bookmark this recipe and if you make it, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
- 1 pound ditalini pasta, or other short pasta or shell
- 3 hard boiled eggs, diced
- 2 celery ribs, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced
- ¼ red onion, minced
- ¼ cup sweet pickles, chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon pickle juice
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped parsley if desired.
- Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions, Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cooled. Shake the colander to toss the pasta, and drain for about 5 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Transfer the drained pasta to a large bowl and add the eggs, celery, red bell pepper, red onion and sweet pickles. Mix the mayonnaise, pickle juice, sugar, and Dijon mustard in a small bowl and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add to the macaroni mix and toss until evenly coated. Season with more salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to add a little color if desired.
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You have expressed all of my mac salad woes. I want to give it another chance now!
Do it Erin! You won’t regret it 🙂
I just made this! I added a can of sliced olives because I’m a olive lover and a half tsp granulated garlic. It is so good! I also doubled the boiled eggs because I love those too! Highly recommend this recipe!
I’m so making it this weekend. Like FR (Fraggle Rock…), I have a weird love for mac salad and most taste wonderful to me because I also have a weird love for mayo. The sweet pickle juice and Dijon mustard have me intrigued. Wish me luck as you’ve upped my anxiety level with the Just Right cooking of the pasta.
I have faith in you Caroline! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
Yum! I love a good retro macaroni salad =)
Comfort food at its finest! And now I’m craving a big bowl of this macaroni salad!
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I always felt that those terrible store brought gluggy flavourless mayo pasta pits had ruined any chance of my ever liking pasta salad with mayo but alas you have convinced me to give it another go. Using the recipe of course! No store brought pasta salad here thanks
looks yummy Heidi. What I want to know is how you get those ingredients so uniformed in size to look so pretty. Wow and u don’t get a big chunk of anything.
Soo yummy….
loved the way you added the pepper into it.
I tried this recipe last week. It was SO GOOD! Thank you for posting such a delicious pasta salad. This one is going in my recipe binder for sure! Love your blog!
I appreciate your efforts in preparing this post. I really like your blog articles.
That looks delicious. It makes me want to eat one now. I wish I can cook like that.
Looking forward to trying this over the weekend! I love how you expressed the importance in preparing the macaroni “just right”. I too believe that’s a major key in perfect salad! And a big BOOOO to boxed salads!
nice post admin thanks ,i am waiting for your next post
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Loved the tips for cooking and rinsing the macaroni! Used dill pickles and cheese. Was very good. Thanks.
i like this make hungry
I had about a half pound of leftover rotini noodles from yesterday and the first thing that popped in my head was macaroni salad. I haven’t made any for quite a while but my husband bought some from the deli for himself. Ugh! Yuk! I can’t stand the sweet tangy flavor it had. I’m more of a mayo person. I wanted to make the salad with a lot of different veggies. I used thinly sliced celery, green onions because I didn’t have red, 4 chopped hard boiled eggs and grated dill pickles because I like them better than the sweet ones. I wanted something different so I grated an apple into it too! I had to squeeze the liquid out of it then used the juice from the pickles over the apple so it wouldn’t turn brown. I liked the idea of using some Dijon mustard with the mayo.
I mixes it all together and gave hubby a try and he lived it! Oops! I just realized I didn’t put in the red bell pepper! Before mincing them I thought I would roast them over the burner to blacken the skin. Then I put it in a paper bag for 20 minutes so the skin would peel off. Well, they’re still sitting in the paper bag!! Haha! I’m still going to use them somehow so I better get to chopping!
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Just made this salad. LOVE it!
I added shredded carrots,peppers, red onion sweet pickles and some grated onion to punch up the flavor. I think next time I will not use the Dijon mustard. I didn’t like the taste of it here. Gave my sister some…she’s hooked. I can do no wrong! Lol
Thanks for sharing.
This is about identical to my own. Especially the sweet pickle. Love it! I too always add egg. I have been making this recipe over 25 years. My family loves it.
E
I love Macaroni
my favorite food
Can I use sweet relish juice instead of sweet pickle juice in your macaroni salad recipe?
nice post
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I made your macaroni salad tonight for tomorrow. I cook at the Cattlemens Cafe Sale barn in Herington KS. I loved it. I’m sure the folks will love it too.
I made it tonight fir the folks at the Sale Barn in Herington KS. I loved it!
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Thanks for this delicious post kingroot
is the pickle juice used in the recipe from the sweet pickle jar or normal dill pickle jar juice?
Hi Lily, I take it from the same jar of pickles I use for the recipe, so in this case, it’s the sweet pickle juice. Enjoy!!!
Classic Macaroni Salad is one of my best dish and i like the way you taught to make it thanks
I love Macaroni Salad, thanks
Added to my favorite recipes. Can’t wait to go home and make it. Thanks
I made this yesterday it was so good I added pasta salad seasoning and mozzarella cheese and chicken!! Soo freaking good!!
You just up’d my Macaroni Salad Game! Ypur recipe was soooo good! First, rinsing that hot macaroni with cold water was a total game changer! Mine always looked like it had specks of mayo on it and it had to be that starch residue. Then, pickle juice?! I added kosher dill pickles and juice. Outstanding! Lastly, I’ve almost always “overdressed” both my macaroni and potato salads. Mixing the mayo and wet ingredients separately let me control it spoonful by spoonful. That method had never dawned on me before now. Duh! Plus, I panicked because I didn’t have a full cup of mayo so I had to add sour cream to bring me up to a full cup. It was absolutely perfect! Thank you so much! What a Keeper!!
VERY NICE TQ FOR SHARING
Macaroni salad is my favorite! I have never put any bit of sugar in my macaroni salad though. Not sure why you would need any. I don’t use bell peppers but do use sliced black olives and a bit of the juice from the olives. As well as using chopped hard boiled eggs in the salad I top it with some sliced eggs and a sprinkle of paprika! In fact, I am going to gather my ingredients snd make some right now!
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What brand mayo should I use? I’m definitely not a mayo connoisseur . Lol