Macaroni Salad

My macaroni salad is creamy and a little sweet, with enough celery, bell pepper and onion in it to keep some crunch. The dressing is mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard and a little sugar, and the sweet pickle relish gives it more flavor without turning the whole bowl sweet. This is the plain American style. The sweet party version is my Filipino chicken macaroni salad, with chicken, pineapple and raisins in it, and that is the one we have at Christmas.

An American coworker taught me this recipe back when I was still working in the corporate world. Over the years I adjusted the amounts until it tasted the way I wanted. My family likes it with barbecue ribs or grilled pork belly, and I usually make it on weekends for them.

Macaroni keeps taking in dressing while the salad sits in the refrigerator, so only about three-fourths of it goes on at first. The rest waits in a covered container and gets stirred in right before the bowl goes on the table.

What is Macaroni Salad?

Macaroni salad goes two ways in my kitchen. The Filipino ones are sweet, with pineapple, raisins, cheese and sometimes condensed milk, and those are the ones that come out at Christmas and at parties. This is the other kind: cooked elbow macaroni with celery, red bell pepper, red onion and chopped hard-boiled egg, held together in a mayonnaise dressing and served cold.

Only two teaspoons of sugar go into the whole batch, so this stays much less sweet than Filipino macaroni salad. It does not have chicken, pineapple, raisins, cheese, or condensed milk. The celery, bell pepper, and onion stay raw for crunch, while the chopped eggs make the salad more filling.

Why This Macaroni Salad Recipe Works

• A quarter of the dressing stays out of the bowl – The macaroni keeps absorbing dressing during the hour in the refrigerator. Mixing the reserved portion in at serving time is what keeps the salad creamy instead of dry.
• The macaroni is rinsed until it is cold – Cold running water stops the cooking, so the pasta stays firm in the dressing instead of softening further.
• Vinegar and mustard go into the dressing – Mayonnaise and sugar on their own would taste flat here; the apple cider vinegar and yellow mustard are what give the dressing its tang.
• The hour of chilling – The dressing needs that time to work into the macaroni and the vegetables.

Ingredients

For the Salad

• Elbow macaroni – Cook it to the package time and check a piece before draining. It softens a little more once the dressing is on, so tender is where you want to stop.
• Celery – Finely diced. This is most of the crunch in the bowl.
• Red bell pepper – Finely diced. Red is sweeter than green and it looks better against the pale dressing.
• Red onion – Finely diced, and cut a little smaller than the celery and the pepper.
• Hard-boiled eggs – Two, chopped. Boil them ahead so they are cool by the time they go in.

For the Dressing

• Mayonnaise – Use a full-fat mayonnaise, and check that the jar says mayonnaise and not salad dressing. The spreads sitting beside it are sweeter, and the whole bowl comes out sweeter with them.
• Apple cider vinegar – Milder than distilled white vinegar. It goes in with the mayonnaise, not over the macaroni.
• Sweet pickle relish – Drain off the liquid if the jar is a wet one, so it does not thin the dressing.
• Yellow mustard – The regular mustard used on hot dogs and burgers. There is no need to use Dijon for this recipe.
• Granulated sugar – Two teaspoons. Any more than that and the salad starts to taste sweet.
• Salt and ground black pepper – Both go in with the dressing, and you will season again once the salad is cold.

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the elbow macaroni and cook according to the package directions until tender but not mushy.
2. Drain the macaroni and rinse it under cold running water until completely cool. Drain well and let it sit in the colander for a few minutes so excess water does not get into the dressing.

Rinse until the macaroni is cold to the touch, not just cooled down. Warmth left in the pasta loosens the mayonnaise as soon as the dressing goes on.

1. Combine the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, sugar, salt and ground black pepper in a bowl.
2. Stir until well blended.

1. Put the cooled macaroni in a large mixing bowl. Add the celery, red bell pepper, red onion and chopped eggs.
2. Pour about three-fourths of the dressing over the macaroni. Toss gently until the macaroni and vegetables are evenly coated.

1. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Keep the remaining dressing covered in the refrigerator alongside it.
2. Stir the salad before serving. Add the remaining dressing as needed to make it creamy again, then taste and add more salt or black pepper if necessary. Share and enjoy!

What to Serve with Macaroni Salad

• BBQ Baby Back Ribs – Grilled ribs with a sweet glaze. The cold, creamy salad goes well with the barbecue sauce.
• Easy Liempo Inihaw – Marinated pork belly grilled and served with spicy vinegar and papaya atchara.
• Lechon Kawali – Pork belly boiled with bay leaves and peppercorn until tender, then deep fried for crispy skin.
• Chicken Inasal – Grilled chicken marinated in calamansi, lemongrass and ginger, then basted with chicken oil.
• Hot dogs and burgers – A scoop on the side of the plate at a cookout.

Storage

• Refrigerator: The salad keeps 3 to 4 days in a covered container. It tightens up a little each day as the macaroni takes in more dressing, so stir in a spoonful of mayonnaise or whatever reserved dressing is left before you put it back on the table.
• Freezer: Do not freeze this one. Mayonnaise separates when it thaws and the celery and bell pepper come out limp. You can work ahead a different way: dice the vegetables and boil the eggs a day early and keep them covered in the refrigerator, then cook the macaroni and mix the dressing on the day.
• Reheating: Nothing here gets reheated. Take the bowl out about 10 minutes before the meal and stir it, since it comes out of the refrigerator stiffer than it needs to be.

More Macaroni Salad Recipes

• Classic Macaroni Salad – The version with cubed cheddar and green peas in it, dressed with Dijon and sweet relish.
• Easy Macaroni Salad – Made with mayonnaise and sour cream together, with sweet relish, celery and parsley in it.
• Creamy Ham and Chicken Macaroni Salad – Chicken and ham with pineapple and raisins, made rich with all purpose cream on top of the mayonnaise.
• Filipino Sweet Macaroni Salad – The dessert side of the dish, with fruit cocktail, kaong, nata de coco and condensed milk.
• Shrimp Macaroni Salad with Roasted Bell Pepper – Seared shrimp and bell peppers roasted over the burner until the skins char.
• Tuna Macaroni Salad – Canned tuna flakes folded straight through the macaroni and mayonnaise, done in under 20 minutes.

• Apple cider vinegar – Distilled white vinegar works and tastes sharper. Add the sugar half a teaspoon at a time if you switch.
• Sweet pickle relish – Chopped sweet pickles, the same amount. Dill relish makes a tangier salad instead of a sweet one, so pick which one you want before it goes in.
• Yellow mustard – Dijon if that is what is already in the refrigerator. It is stronger, so use about 1 1/2 teaspoons in place of the tablespoon of yellow.
• Hard-boiled eggs – You can leave them out. Two cans of drained tuna in their place makes a different salad altogether.
• Red onion – White or yellow onion. Green onion also works and is milder.
• Elbow macaroni – Small shells, ditalini or any short shape that holds dressing.

Serve this macaroni salad cold. The vegetables still have some crunch, and the chopped eggs make each serving more filling. The vinegar and mustard keep the mayonnaise dressing from tasting too heavy with grilled or fried food.