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Delicious creamy macaroni salad with classic homestyle flavors including mayonnaise, boiled eggs, peppers, onions, peas, and tons of cheese!
This side dish is always the hit of our cookouts and BBQs, is great made in advance and chilled, and served with potluck favorites.
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
How To Make Macaroni Salad
This macaroni salad is the perfect summer dish! It’s light, refreshing, and full of flavor. Plus, it’s super easy to make. Just cook up some macaroni, add in some mozzarella, peppers, onions, dressing, and pepperoni, and you’re good to go!
We love bringing macaroni salad for potlucks and serving with ribs, brisket, burgers, and more – it is a family-pleasing side dish everyone knows and loves! This classic recipe is just like grandma used to make it, with tips to make perfect macaroni salad every time.
We hope you love this recipe just as much as we do.
Classic Macaroni Salad Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need:
- 8 oz macaroni noodles – The hearty base of the salad; their curved shape holds onto the creamy dressing perfectly.
- 10–12 sweet gherkins, diced – Add a burst of tangy-sweet crunch that balances the creamy dressing.
- 1 red bell pepper – Brings color, freshness, and a crisp, slightly sweet bite.
- 1 cup frozen peas – Add a pop of sweetness and color while giving the salad a soft, tender texture contrast.
- 2 stalks celery, chopped – Give the salad a refreshing crunch and a touch of earthy flavor.
- 1 red onion, diced – Adds sharpness and depth, balancing the richness of the dressing.
- 2 large hard-boiled eggs, finely diced – Add creaminess, protein, and a classic touch of flavor that makes the salad more satisfying.
Macaroni Salad Dressing
- ¾ cup mayonnaise – The creamy base that coats every bite and ties all the flavors together.
- ¼ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt – Adds tanginess and lightens up the texture of the dressing.
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar – Brightens the flavors and cuts through the richness with a zesty kick.
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice (from gherkins) – Reinforces that sweet-tangy flavor and adds a touch of acidity.
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar – Balances the vinegar and pickle tang with a hint of sweetness.
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard – Adds a subtle tang and spice that enhances the depth of the dressing.
- 1 teaspoon salt – Brings out all the other flavors.
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper – Adds a little warmth and spice.
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder – Gives the dressing a savory, flavorful backbone without overpowering the other ingredients.
Steps to Make Classic Macaroni Salad
To make this classic pasta salad, we will use the following method:
Boil Pasta
In a large pot with well-salted water, oil macaroni to al dente – so it has a bit of bite to it. Drain and let cool until it is no longer steaming.
Mix Ingredients Into Pasta
Chop and dice gherkins, bell peppers, onion, and celery and add to drained, slightly cooled pasta in a large bowl. Stir in frozen peas to cool pasta.
Mix In Dressing
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, dijon, pickle juice, sugar, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, sour cream or yogurt until well blended.
When pasta has cooled after being mixed with peas, toss in dressing. Chop and stir in boiled eggs at the very end.
Chill & Keep Low
Wrap bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cool for at least 30 minutes.
When serving, it is very important to keep this salad from getting hot – it must remain cool to prevent food-borne illness with the egg and mayonnaise. Keep your boil packed in ice in a shady spot if you’re bringing to a BBQ or cookout until serving.
Tips and Tricks to Perfect Macaroni Salad & FAQs
Undercook pasta slightly. Pasta should be cooked to just under al dente – flexible with just a tiny bit of crunch –
Let pasta cool. Don’t mix mayonnaise or egg into pasta until it has cooled, so dressing doesn’t melt or separate.
Keep refrigerated. Pasta salad is a risk for food-borne illness if not kept cold, so refrigerate or store on ice with plastic wrap in a shady spot.
Cook the pasta just right. Boil the macaroni slightly past al dente — about 1 minute longer than the package says — so it stays tender after chilling. Undercooked pasta firms up too much once cold.
Rinse the pasta after cooking. Unlike hot pasta dishes, macaroni salad benefits from rinsing. Rinsing stops the cooking process, removes extra starch, and helps the dressing cling without getting gummy.
Don’t skimp on seasoning. Cold salads need bolder flavors! Taste the dressing before mixing — a pinch of salt, sugar, or vinegar can make a big difference.
Keep it creamy, not soggy. If you’re making the salad ahead, reserve a few spoonfuls of dressing and stir it in just before serving to freshen it up.
FAQs
Macaroni salad can be stored in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap or an airtight container for up to two days.
You can use any pickle or vegetable you like if you’d like to change up the vegetables like adding broccoli, using roasted red peppers or drained pimento peppers, chopped broccoli, corn kernels, banana peppers, etc.
This is a classic recipe that is accented by the sugar addition to add a slightly sweet twist to the salad- but it isn’t overly sweet and is still very savory, the sugar just adds a bit of balance. If you’re avoiding white sugar, you can swap it for honey, or simply omit.
What to Serve With Macaroni Salad
We love serving macaroni salad with classic BBQ favorites, and other cookout-style dishes! It’s great for a potluck, on rolls, or alongside pork tenderloin, a hot and fast smoked brisket, crispy baked pulled pork shoulder, griddled Greek Gyros, lamb souvlaki, and more!
Don’t forget to check out our bread dip – it is simple and PACKED with so much flavor, or our Chopped Cheese sandwich – they taste like your favorite diner burger if you have a Blackstone or griddle!
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The Best Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz macaroni noodles
- 10-12 sweet gherkins, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1″ bites
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 large hard boiled eggs, finely diced
- Macaroni Salad Dressing
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice from gherkins
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Instructions
- In a large pot with well-salted water, oil macaroni to al dente – so it has a bit of bite to it. Drain and let cool until it is no longer steaming.
- Chop and dice gherkins, bell peppers, onion, and celery and add to drained, slightly cooled pasta in a large bowl. Stir in frozen peas to cool pasta.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, dijon, pickle juice, sugar, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, sour cream or yogurt until well blended.
- When pasta has cooled after being mixed with peas, toss in dressing. Chop and stir in boiled eggs at the very end.
- Wrap bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- When serving, it is very important to keep this salad from getting hot – it must remain cool to prevent food-borne illness with the egg and mayonnaise. Keep your boil packed in ice in a shady spot if you're bringing to a BBQ or cookout until serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is the salad suitable for eating every day?
It probably wouldn’t be for me – it would not really be a balanced diet, and depending on your caloric intake for other meals, might be overly indulgent – but that is all up to your eating plan. A nutritionist is the best place to get information on healthy eating habits, food bloggers are great for recipe ideas! I am not a nutritionist. 🙂