Macaroni salad literally screams summer comfort food. With a creamy, tangy dressing and just the right amount of vegetables, this southern macaroni salad is what dreams are made of. This is the perfect barbecue side dish, and it works perfect for backyard picnics too! Pair this southern macaroni salad with our grilled Hawaiian chicken, and your next summer barbecue dinner is sorted!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
The dressing is perfectly creamy and tangy! One of my favourite parts of southern macaroni salads is how delicious the dressing is. This dressing has the right amount of sweetness and tang that is almost nostalgic. This salad is all of that, and more!
It is easy to make: This pasta salad is no fuss. No complicated techniques, or extra unnecessary steps involved. If you can boil pasta and whisk some dressing together, you're golden!
This macaroni salad can be made ahead of time! For summer barbecues or backyard picnics, make ahead sides as a must. This macaroni salad only gets better with time, and in fact, I recommend you make it ahead of time for the best flavour.
It is customizable! Once you have the dressing mastered, you can add any of your favourite vegetables and add-ins.
Recipe Overview
Flavour: The dressing for this pasta salad is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. With flavours like classic, creamy mayonnaise, and a hint of pickle juice to a familiar tanginess, you will love this dressing. There is the right amount of sweetness from sugar, to balance out the flavours of the dressing.
Ease: This macaroni salad is no-fuss. This is a mix, sit, and go recipe. It does not get easier than that!
Time: This pasta can be ready in 20 minutes, including the time it takes to cool the pasta down. With that being said, I recommend this as a make-ahead side, so that the flavour of the dressing really does meld into the pasta. It does still taste great if you decide to eat it right away. Sometimes we can't resist, I know I can't!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Cooked pasta:You do not have to use macaroni! I like pastas such as fusilli or rotini, because they have lots of ridges to hold onto the dressing. The more ridges, the better. You can really use any short pasta that you like, including traditional macaroni.
Vegetables: I add red bell pepper, celery and scallions to this macaroni salad. You can use green bell pepper, or really any coloured bell pepper in this recipe. Celery and bell pepper are classic add-ins for macaroni salads. You can omit them both if you are making this for kids who are not so in love with vegetables.
Mayonnaise: I suggest using a good quality mayonnaise that you love. If you do not like mayonnaise, you can use half mayonnaise and half sour cream, or you can use some greek yogurt and sour cream mixed together. If you use greek yogurt, keep in mind that the dressing will be a little more tart and tangy, which may warrant some extra sugar.
White sugar: The sugar is important to balance of the tang of the dressing. You may use sugar substitutes such as swerve or splenda if you are watching your sugar intake. You may also use some honey to sweeten the dressing.
Dijon mustard: I used regular dijon mustard for the dressing, but you can use grainy mustard as well. I do not recommend using regular yellow mustard, as the flavour is a little too over the top and overpowering for the dressing.
Pickle juice: This is the ultimate secret to my southern macaroni salad! It adds the perfect tang and pickle flavour, without actually adding any pickles. If you don't have pickles or pickle juice on hand, you can substitute regular white distilled vinegar as well.
Spices and seasonings: You will need garlic and onion powder, and old bay seasoning. Old bay is a mix of seasonings, so if you do not have it, you can add some paprika and celery seed to the dressing. Old bay is a very versatile spice, though, so I do recommend it as a pantry-staple!
Instructions
- Boil the pasta: Boil your pasta of choice in liberally salted water. Drain, and rinse under cold water to make sure the pasta does not stick together. Rinse until the pasta has cooled down.
- Prepare the dressing: While the pasta is boiling, mix together the ingredients for the dressing, and set aside.
- Mix the pasta salad together: Once the pasta is cool, add it to a large mixing bowl. Top with the chopped vegetables and scallions, and the dressing. Toss the pasta together until everything is well combined.
- Let the pasta salad refrigerate (optional): Let the pasta refrigerate for 1 hour, to let the flavours meld together.
Expert Tip
Overcook your pasta! I know this is not advice you would expect to find, but I highly suggest boiling your pasta a few minutes past al dente, so it is a lot softer than you would expect. Softer pasta lends itself better to pasta salad than pasta with a bite to it.
Recipe FAQs
This macaroni salad will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Make sure you keep it in an airtight container, and keep it cool.
I would recommend only eating this when it's cold. Because this salad is mayonnaise-based, you do not want to leave this out, especially on a hot summer day!
Macaroni salad is generally made with a sweet, creamy dressing (like this one!) Pasta salad generally has an oil and vinegar based dressing, which is a little more stable for eating room temperature.
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Southern Macaroni Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Fusilli pasta
- ½ cup Celery - finely diced
- ½ cup Scallions - finely chopped, whites and greens
- 1 Red bell pepper - finely diced
For the Dressing
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 1½ tablespoon White sugar
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Old bay
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup Pickle juice
Instructions
- Boil the pasta: Boil your pasta of choice in liberally salted water. Drain, and rinse under cold water until the pasta has cooled down.
- Prepare the dressing: While the pasta is boiling, mix together the ingredients for the dressing, and set aside.
- Mix the pasta salad together: Once the pasta is cool, add it to a large mixing bowl. Top with the chopped vegetables and scallions, and the dressing. Toss the pasta together until everything is well combined.
- Let the pasta salad refrigerate (optional): Let the pasta refrigerate for 1 hour, to let the flavours meld together.
Katarina says
I was a little skeptical of the advice to overcook and rinse my pasta as an Italian lol!! But this pasta salad was SO good. I will never not use pickle juice in my pasta salad from now on.
Jean says
Dill pickle juice or bread and butter?
Sunena Anand says
Hi Jean,
Either will work! Bread and butter pickle juice will add a little bit more sweetness, whereas dill pickle juice will add more of a tangy element. Both would be equally delicious 🙂