This macaroni salad is a creamy, tangy classic loaded with crisp veggies and tossed in a simple homemade dressing. It’s an easy make-ahead side dish that’s perfect for potlucks, barbecues, or anytime you need a quick and delicious crowd-pleaser.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Why Make It: The dressing mixes right in the serving bowl, so there’s one less dish to wash, and the flavors come together quickly.
- Flavor: Creamy, tangy-sweet dressing with relish and mustard for classic deli-style vibes.
- Tools: Use a veggie chopper to speed up prep.
- Serving Suggestions: This is best served alongside grilled BBQ chicken and a classic hamburger.
Ingredients for Macaroni Salad
- Pasta: I use elbow macaroni, but any short pasta will work. Try ditialini, small shells, or mini farfalle (bow ties).
- Vegetables: Celery, shredded carrot, and red bell pepper add the signature crunch, color, and a touch of sweetness. Keep the dice small and even for the best texture. Red onion adds a little bite, or swap it for green onions if you prefer a milder, fresher flavor.
- Dressing: Swap a little of the mayo for sour cream or Greek yogurt for extra tang, and adjust the vinegar, relish, or mustard to suit your taste.
Best Add-Ins and Variations
- Dressing: Replace the homemade dressing with prepared coleslaw dressing.
- Add-Ins: Add cheese, bacon bits, diced ham, hard-boiled eggs, or baby peas.
How to Make Macaroni Salad
- Cook the pasta. Drain well.
- Mix the dressing ingredients.
- Add the drained macaroni and the chopped vegetables to the dressing.
- Refrigerate (full recipe below).
How to Keep Macaroni Salad Creamy
- Cook pasta just until tender and rinse with cold water right away so it doesn’t get soft.
- Drain the pasta very well, since excess water can make the dressing slide off and leave the salad watery.
- If it looks a little dry after chilling, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons mayo (or a splash of vinegar) to refresh it.
- Prefer less sweetness? Use apple cider vinegar and cut sugar down a bit, then taste after chilling.
- Making it for a crowd? Double the recipe and mix in a very large bowl so the dressing coats evenly.
Storage and Leftovers
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Do not freeze. For outdoor gatherings, set the bowl over ice outdoors, and don’t leave it out too long in warm weather.
Potluck Perfect Sides
Did you enjoy this macaroni salad? Leave a comment and rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni approx. 2 cups dry, or any short pasta
Add-Ins (see notes)
- 1 cup diced celery
- ½ cup shredded carrot
- ½ cup diced red bell pepper
- ¼ cup diced red onion or thinly sliced green onion
Dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard or Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook the elbow macaroni in salted water according to the instructions on the package. Drain well and rinse it under cold water to stop cooking.
- To make the dressing, in a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, relish, mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- Add the drained macaroni, celery, carrots, red pepper, and onion to the dressing. Toss well to coat. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired.
- Refrigerate the macaroni salad for at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- Elbows can be swapped for ditalini, small shells, or wagon wheels.
- Dice the add-ins about the size of the macaroni.
- Rinse the pasta after draining to stop it from cooking.
- Mix the dressing directly in the salad bowl and then add the other ingredients, one less dish to wash.
- Store leftovers in the fridge in a covered container for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pasta, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Sadly, it does not freeze well.
Macaroni salad is best made beforehand, making it party-perfect. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
We love to serve macaroni salad as a side for anything off the grill! u003ca href=u0022https://www.spendwithpennies.com/grilled-bbq-chicken/u0022u003eBbq chickenu003c/au003e, hot dogs, or u003ca href=u0022https://www.spendwithpennies.com/air-fryer-hamburgers/u0022u003ehamburgersu003c/au003e are great options. It’s also a great dish to serve with u003ca href=u0022https://www.spendwithpennies.com/dr-pepper-pulled-pork-slow-cooker-recipe/u0022u003epulled porku003c/au003e
Very good and all loved it . My favorite now !
Very good and easy mac salad! Left out the red peppers because I didn;t have any. It will be my go to mac salad recipe from now on
switched relish out for gherkin pickles. But great and requested again!
Ade this today for memorial day cook out , made it just as the recipe , it is so good, everyone really enjoyed it and wanted the recipe so I sent them your website.
we have enjoyed so many meals from you!
thank you so much.
Thanks, Jeff! I am glad you enjoyed it.
I made a triple batch for a Catholic Daughters meeting. I had several people request the recipe
Hi Holly,
This looks delish, and I want to try it for sure.
Is there any way of adding a metric conversion button to your recipe format for all of us non-imperial people from around the world? Also is there an easier way of saving a recipe without having to log in first, i.e. by being redirected to the login page, and then having to refind the recipe to save it? Sorry, not meant to be a criticism, just perhaps a way of navigating around your site more easily, unless I have missed something :-).
Cheers,
John
Thank you so much for your suggestions John, it’s much appreciated! At this time I don’t have the ability to add metric conversions on the site but will keep it in mind for future updates (my cookbook does contain metric for all recipes and variations).
Your feedback on the recipe save is very helpful and I am going to send it to the development team.
Thank you for following along and enjoy the recipe!
Hi Holly,
Thanks for your reply, and thanks for not taking my suggestions as any form of criticism, as that was not my intention.
For me, and I’m sure thousands of your readers around the world, we need to metricate your recipes first, before knowing what quantities to purchase, and then metricate again for the actual recipe cooking.
Cheers,
John
Nice, easy & delicious recipe. I like it!
We didn’t care for it. Made Italian pasta out of it.
Thanks for trying our recipe, Diane!
Easy, and super delicious!
I have not made this yet, but I wanted to tell you that when I am recipe hunting I use yours most of the time and they always turn out a 5. So thank you.
Thank you so much Sandra, I’m glad you’ve loved the recipes!
The most delicious macaroni salad. It must be the addition of the apple cider vinegar. It must sit before enjoying. I make this all the time.
Perfect recipe but I found it better for my taste by reducing the vinegar by half and adding 1/4 cup of sour cream. Will make again! Tysm for the recipe
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for trying our recipe, Ash!
Oh course this is good! again and agains Holly’s Speed with Pennies recipes always impress my family and myself! thank you. I just added pepper onion relish instead of sweet pickles! excellent!
just made this Mac salad. husband did prep and mixing components. of course, he had to sample, he loved it. no need for any alteration. thanks !
It is creamy, however it’s got a tang to it. If it’s possible to say a type of sweet and sour. overall it’s a good recipe and I’ll use it again but I will add half the vinegar.
just made it and already taste great, I left out the vinegar and added a little more of the relish and mayo. Great base recipe you can play with. thank you
love this recipe
Great recipe !
We did not have sweet pickle relish, so I left it out . We added sliced green olives , about half a jar . We made one and a half times the dressing and added more mustard and only 1 tablespoon sugar , as the macaroni salad I had as a child was more mustardy . Delicious !
Thank you !
I made this for a potluck cookout for my daughter’s tennis team. The triple batch was almost gone. Highly recommend this recipe! I used honey in place of cane sugar to the level of sweetness we like which turned out great. It’s best made the night before and let the noodles marinate in the dressing.
This recipe is delicious! I left out the sugar in the dressing and didn’t miss it. It was a hit at my potluck, and I will be making this again.