• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

Small book

My cookbook "Dinner" now available!

  • My RecipeTin
  • My cookbook!
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish
      • Salad Meals
    • Quick and Easy
    • Soups
    • One Pot
    • Stews
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Salads & veg
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice (all)
      • Fried rice recipes
      • Rice (plain)
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cakes
      • Cheesecakes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
      • Ice cream
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • Japanese
        • Korean
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • Cocktails
      • Easter
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
  • Collections
  • About
    • Me
    • RecipeTin Meals
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Pasta and Rice Salads

Macaroni Salad

By:Nagi
Published:26 May '18Updated:12 Feb '21
263 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Macaroni Salad makes a terrific summertime lunch and is made for taking to gatherings. Simple to prepare and as diverse as you want it to be, this is a great classic pasta salad. 

With a pasta salad dressing made with a combination of mayonnaise and yoghurt, it’s still beautifully creamy with all the flavour and less guilt! For a healthier option, try this Macaroni pasta salad with a mayo-free Creamy Lemon Dressing or Ranch Dressing!

Close up of Macaroni Salad with Creamy Dressing in a white bowl.

Macaroni Salad in a bite

  • What is Macaroni Salad made of? Cooked macaroni, shredded carrot, green onions, red peppers/capsicum and celery tossed in a dressing made with mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar and garlic powder.

  • How long can you keep macaroni salad? Up to 5 days in the fridge.

  • Do you serve macaroni salad hot or cold? It’s best served at room temperature or ever so slightly chilled. But not cold, straight out of the fridge.

  • Calories in macaroni salad – 319 kj as a side dish

  • Can you freeze macaroni salad? Yes, because it’s mostly pasta. Thaw naturally (do not microwave thaw) and toss well before serving.

Macaroni Pasta Salad

It’s difficult to imagine a summer with Macaroni Salad. Like Coleslaw, it’s a summertime staple. The pasta salad you keep in your fridge for a quick side for meals and to put in your lunchbox.

While it’s tempting to take the easy route and pick up a tub from the deli, too often they are overly mayo-heavy, too sweet, too sour, or dripping with watery dressing.

So skip store bought and make your own – it’s so simple and tastes so much better!

Macaroni Salad with Creamy Dressing in a white bowl, ready to be served.

Lighter, flavour packed Dressing for Pasta Salad

I like to have a lot of dressing because it makes pasta salads moist and juicy. But using just mayo is too oily. So I always lighten up mayo dressings with either sour cream or yoghurt, then add a nice amount of seasoning so no one would even notice that it’s got less fat in it!

Here’s what goes in my creamy pasta salad dressing:

  • Equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream OR yogurt

  • Cider vinegar – essential touch of tang!

  • Dijon Mustard – flavour and thickening

  • Seasonings – Sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper

Macaroni Salad ingredients

Regular readers know how much I love my sauces and that extends to salad dressings. No pasta salad recipe of mine will ever be lacking in Dressing!

And that’s why this Macaroni Salad stays nice and moist – because there’s plenty of dressing!

Wondering if Macaroni Salad is good or bad for you?

While you get some nutrition from the vegetables the reality is that Macaroni salad is heavy on carbs from the pasta and fat in the dressing. For a healthier option, try this with a mayo-free Creamy Lemon Dressing or Ranch Dressing!

Creamy Macaroni Salad Dressing being poured onto Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad Add-in options

I’ve kept this recipe classic. So as much as I was tempted, I resisted all my favourite add-in possibilities including:

  • bacon

  • egg

  • pickles

  • roasted red peppers

  • chicken (try my Chicken Pasta Salad recipe)

  • olives

Make a great summer meal for your family and friends by serving this pasta salad on the side of BBQ Pulled Pork, BBQ Beef Brisket, some BBQ Pork Ribs or Sticky Country-style Chicken! – Nagi x


MORE SUMMER SALADS to take to gatherings 

  • Italian Pasta Salad
  • Coleslaw
  • Potato Salad and Lemon Potato Salad
  • Pearl Couscous Salad <– personal fave!
  • Wild Rice Salad <– reader fave!
  • 12 Minute Sun Dried Tomato Couscous Salad
  • Browse all Pasta Salads and Rice Salad

Macaroni Pasta Salad
Watch how to make it

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Close up of Macaroni Salad with Creamy Dressing in a white bowl.

Macaroni Salad

Author: Nagi
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 20 mins
Side Dish
Western
4.99 from 84 votes
Servings6 - 8 people
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 688
Recipe VIDEO above. This is just a great classic, Macaroni Salad. Plenty of creamy dressing that you know and love, but slightly lightened up - all the flavour, less guilt! Serves 6-8 as a side. For an even healthier option, try this with a mayo-free Creamy Lemon Dressing or Ranch Dressing!

Ingredients

  • 250 g / 1/2 lb macaroni elbow pasta
  • 1 1/2 tbsp salt (to cook pasta)
  • 1 cup celery , finely sliced (1 stalk)
  • 3/4 cup red capsicum / bell peppers , finely diced (1 small)
  • 3/4 cup green onions , finely sliced (1 large stem)
  • 1 medium carrot , grated (using standard box grater)

Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellmann's, Best Foods, S&W or other whole egg mayonnaise)
  • 1/2 cup yoghurt or sour cream , full or low fat
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 3/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

  • Bring large pot of water to the boil - 4 to 5 litres / quarts. Add salt then add pasta. Cook per packet directions.
  • Drain pasta then cool.
  • Meanwhile, mix Dressing ingredients in a bowl.
  • Place pasta in a bowl. Add remaining Macaroni Salad ingredients. Pour over Dressing.
  • Toss. Adjust salt / sugar / sour (vinegar) / mayo to taste.
  • Set aside for at least 20 minutes. Then serve at room temperature (not cold). It's great the next day too!

Recipe Notes:

1. Lots of add-in potential here. Bacon, ham, egg, grated cheese, chicken, olives, diced chillies - go wild! But if this is for a side dish with other strong flavoured mains, I'd urge you to consider sticking with the a fairly classic version. 🙂 I love KAPOW flavours, but there is such thing as too much in a meal!
2. No-Mayo dressing option - use Lemon Yogurt Salad Dressing (it's really terrific!). Ideal for both Macaroni Salad and Coleslaw.
3. Storage - keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge. Can also be frozen - thaw naturally (do not microwave thaw) and toss well before serving.
3. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings as a side (about 3/4 cup, good amount!)

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 77gCalories: 319cal (16%)Carbohydrates: 37g (12%)Protein: 7g (14%)Fat: 15g (23%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Cholesterol: 10mg (3%)Sodium: 2401mg (104%)Potassium: 274mg (8%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 2515IU (50%)Vitamin C: 27.2mg (33%)Calcium: 53mg (5%)Iron: 0.9mg (5%)
Keywords: Coleslaw
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Life of Dozer

When I leave Dozer indoors when I’m out all day and it’s been raining (damn that dog door!!!!).

Dozer the golden retriever on a wet, rainy day

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Previous Post
Big, Juicy Hamburgers
Next Post
Steak with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Related Posts

Bowls of Pesto pasta salad for lunch

Pesto pasta salad

This Israeli Couscous Salad is fabulously addictive! Tender, flavour infused beads of couscous tossed with spinach, tomato, cucumber, herbs and a fresh lemon dressing. Summer in a bowl! recipetineats.com

Pearl Couscous Salad

Pasta Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing in a salad bowl ready to be served

The most amazing avocado pasta salad

More Pasta and Rice Salads

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




263 Comments

  1. Lindsay says

    December 19, 2022 at 11:37 am

    5 stars
    I absolutely love this recipe and so does the family. I double the cider vinegar for more zing.

    Reply
  2. Susan says

    December 15, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    Just wondering – what type of yoghurt should be used? Greek yoghurt?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Andrew says

      December 18, 2022 at 1:35 pm

      I use https://jalna.com.au/our-products/yoghurt/biodynamic-organic-yoghurt/biodynamic-organic-natural-yoghurt/ everywhere yoghurt is required. I’ve subbed this for sour cream in coleslaw dressing and it works well. I’ll be using it here, too.

      The flavour is subtler than that of Greek yoghurt.

      Reply
  3. Kerstin says

    August 23, 2022 at 10:32 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for a big BBQ for my daughter’s 21st. Had the following conversation a dozen times: “Try the mac salad.” – “Thanks, but I am not a fan of pasta salads.” -“Just try a little and see.” – “No, really, it’s just not my thing.” – “TRY IT!!” (I can be quite scary) – ..- carefully eats a little … – “Wait, this is great! How, what, where, …? Can I have the recipe?”
    Also made the chorizo bites, and had to send the link to your website to literally every single guest :))

    Reply
  4. Elle says

    June 26, 2022 at 8:29 am

    5 stars
    I only added 1 tbsp to the water when cooking the pasta, as I thought it was enough. In the end I needed to cook more pasta (without salt) and make up another batch of the dressing without salt as it was too salty. End product was lovely and enjoyable! We had it with the oven baked pork ribs with home-made bbq sauce and bbq corn! I’m even trying out the freezing option!

    Reply
  5. Victoria H says

    June 13, 2022 at 2:27 am

    5 stars
    This recipe as written is fantastic- I added a chopped crisp apple and some old white cheddar cubes which knocked this dish out of the park. Will be adding this to my summer rotation for certain!

    Reply
  6. Diana says

    May 26, 2022 at 4:28 pm

    Hi Nagi, big fan here.
    I read in a previous comment that you use cooking salt in all your recipes, but can you specify the actual salt? Is it kosher or diamond crystal? TIA.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 27, 2022 at 2:01 pm

      I use cooking salt (the Australian name for it). The equivalent in North America is kosher salt Diana! N x

      Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On

What's for Dinner?

Close up of beef enchiladas in a baking dish, fresh out of the oven

Beef Enchiladas

Butter Chicken served over basmati rice in a bowl, ready to be served

Butter Chicken

Overhead photo of 2 black bowls with Chinese Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing, ready to be eaten

Chinese Chicken Salad

Salisbury Steak recipe in skillet.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken - 7 ingredient magic. The coconut fragrance is heavenly! recipetineats.com

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken

Fast prep. Big flavours!

Never miss a recipe

Back to Top
  • Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
  • Food Bloggers Center
  • Help
  • Contact Us
  • Image Use
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits Maintained by Zao Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled © RecipeTin Eats 2023 · All Rights Reserved Back to Top