Family gathering? Barbecue party? This classic macaroni salad recipe will be a crowd-pleasing dish that will suit everyone’s tastes. This is one of the easiest and quickest meals or sides to make. Much of it can be prepared ahead of time. The best part is that it is highly customizable. If you don’t like one of the ingredients, leave it out and add something else that you like.
In Macaroni salad, like potato salad we use mayonnaise as the main dressing ingredient. Now before you guys label this salad as not being healthy, I’m letting you know that it is meant to be that way. It is actually a feel good salad, which you will feel guilty for eating so much, but you cant help yourself coz it’s toooo good. Its the, ‘once you start, you cant stop’ types. 😉 🙂
I recommend that all of you should for sure sure make this macaroni salad and adore it like how i do. 🙂
Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Women
Serves 4
1 1/2 cups Elbow Macaroni
1/2 cup Black Olives, Chopped Fine
1/2 cup pickled jalapenos, chopped
1 cup boiled and shredded chicken
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
3 teaspoons Sugar, More Or Less To Taste
1/4 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
Plenty Of Black Pepper
1/4 cup Milk (more If Needed)
Splash Of Pickle Juice (spicy Sweet Pickles)
Extra Pickle Juice To Taste
1. Cook the macaroni in lightly salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool. Set aside.
2. Mix together mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Splash in enough milk to make it pourable. Splash in pickle juice for extra flavor. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Set aside.
3. Place cooled macaroni in a large bowl and pour 3/4 of the dressing. Toss and add more dressing if you’d like. (Dressing will seem a little thin, but it will thicken up as salad chills.)
4. Stir in olives, jalapenos, chicken, corn, and pickles. Add more of any ingredient if you’d like more stuff going on! At the end, splash in a little more pickle juice and stir.
Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes:
✔️ You can add spring onions to this too. Add the white part in the salad and use the green for garnishing.
✔️ Any kind of pickled veggies can be used. It can be carrots, cucumber, pimentos, just anything you prefer.
✔️ If you like more of a sweet crunch to the salad, at the time of serving dice in apples or pineapples.
✔️ Boiled eggs can also be added to the salad.
✔️ Chopped parsley will also be a good option for garnishing.
The Best, No-Fail Macaroni Salad Ever
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups Elbow Macaroni
- 1/2 cup Black Olives Chopped Fine
- 1/2 cup pickled jalapenos chopped
- 1 cup boiled and shredded chicken
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon Vinegar
- 3 teaspoons Sugar More Or Less To Taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt More To Taste
- Plenty Of Black Pepper
- 1/4 cup Milk more If Needed
- Splash Of Pickle Juice spicy Sweet Pickles
- Extra Pickle Juice To Taste
Instructions
DIRECTIONS
- Cook the macaroni in lightly salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool. Set aside.
- Mix together mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Splash in enough milk to make it pourable. Splash in pickle juice for extra flavor. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Set aside.
- Place cooled macaroni in a large bowl and pour 3/4 of the dressing. Toss and add more dressing if you’d like. (Dressing will seem a little thin, but it will thicken up as salad chills.)
- Stir in olives, jalapenos, chicken, corn, and pickles. Add more of any ingredient if you’d like more stuff going on! At the end, splash in a little more pickle juice and stir.
- Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
✔️ You can add spring onions to this too. Add the white part in the salad and use the green for garnishing.
✔️ Any kind of pickled veggies can be used. It can be carrots, cucumber, pimentos, just anything you prefer.
✔️ If you like more of a sweet crunch to the salad, at the time of serving dice in apples or pineapples.
✔️ Boiled eggs can also be added to the salad.
✔️ Chopped parsley will also be a good option for garnishing.
Really nice, I love macaroni salad. It reminds me of summer. It was always on the table when we had a BBQ or picnic. This is like a meal with the shredded chicken. Using the pickle juice in the salad is a great idea.
THanks a lot!! 🙂
Oh yeah for us here in the middle east we usually have barbeque outings in the winter, hehe! Coz during summer, we will also get cooked along with the food coz of the heat of the sun.
Nice, clean flavors! 🙂 I like the addition of the olives and chicken. – Shanna
Thankyou Shanna! Yeah actually me and my husband has to have chicken in all. Not a big fan of veggies alone. 😉 😀
Oh, gosh. My husband is such a carnivore, and my kids also love chicken. I really could be quite happy with lentils and dairy for my meat! 🙂 A very great recipe. Best, Shanna
🙂
I like how you paired the gentle flavour of the chicken with the punch of olives and jelapenos.
Thankyou Afra! Yeah u can really feel the hot punch of jalapenos which i really like. 🙂
Yum! I love a good macaroni salad. :3
Thankyou sweety! 🙂
This looks like a great combination of flavors — I love pasta salads, and find some of them to be too heavy on the mayo. This one seems a perfect balance of mayo, pickle juice, & vinegar to keep it light and fresh.
Thanks a loot dear! 🙂 it sure came out perfect. 🙂
Have a Merry Christmas!
This looks AMAZING!
Thankyou! Try making them! 🙂
Frankly speaking,I don’t like macaroni salad at all….n wen I saw it on ur blog,I was pretty sure I’m gonna like it for once….n I actually made it for my kids today n I couldn’t stop having it myself!!!yummieeee!!!
I’ve added spring onion n mushrooms too!
Yaaay!! Thanks a lot buraida for trying. Soo happy! 🙂
Thanx a lot for posting my pix!!!