Creamy, tangy, and always a crowd favorite, this Macaroni Salad is a classic everyone needs! Perfect for pot lucks and picnics, this pasta salad is best made ahead, making it an easy dish to bring along.
For more of our favorite pasta salads, try this Dill Pickle Pasta Salad or this Bow Tie Pasta Salad.
My kids are funny. I’ll ask what we should put on the menu every week, and my youngest will always say “pasta salad!” So I thought it was about time I posted a classic macaroni salad.
Because everyone needs macaroni salad!
This one is full of all the good stuff. Pickles, bell peppers, hard boiled eggs, celery – the list goes on and on. My favorite thing about this salad is that it’s best when it’s made in advance. So it’s an easy recipe I can make in the morning to serve later that night!
Ingredients
- Pasta: I like to keep it traditional and use macaroni – it is a macaroni salad, after all! But you could use any short cut pasta in this recipe.
- Pickles: Our family prefers dill pickles to sweet pickles. But you could easily swap in sweet pickles. The pickles are what my husband says makes this salad.
- Bell Pepper: I like this for a bit of crunch, flavor, and color. You can also use another color of bell pepper.
- Celery: This is also for crunch.
- Onions: I prefer green onions in this salad, as they aren’t as strong as other onions. You could use a red onion, as well, but I would make sure to dice it pretty fine.
- Eggs: While my husband loves the pickles in this salad, I love the hard boiled eggs! I use 3 in this recipe, but if you aren’t as big of a fan, you can cut this back.
- Mayonnaise: You will add mayonnaise twice in this recipe. Once, when you make the dressing. And then right before serving. You know how the noodles will soak up a lot of the dressing while it’s in the refrigerator, leaving a dry salad when you go to serve? That added mayo at the end keeps this from happening.
- Pickle Juice: Yes – more pickle flavor! This is just the juice from the pickle jar.
- Vinegar: I just use regular white vinegar, but feel free to change this up and use red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
- Sugar: You just need a little bit of sugar to add some sweetness.
- Mustard: I like to use regular yellow mustard, but Dijon mustard works, too.
- Spices: This is your salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Sometimes I’ll use smoked paprika to change it up.
How to Make Macaroni Salad
STEP 1: Start by cooking your pasta. Cook it according to the package directions, then drain it and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process.
STEP 2: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing and whisk them together. This is the mayonnaise, pickle juice, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
STEP 3: To the bowl with the dressing, add the cooked pasta along with the diced pickles, bell pepper, celery, onions, and boiled eggs. Mix to combine, then cover the bowl and refrigerate the salad for at least 1 hour.
STEP 4: Right before you are ready to serve the salad, add the last 1/4 cup of mayonnaise and stir until it is fully combined. Now it’s ready to go!
Tips and Tricks
You want to make sure you make this pasta salad at least 1 hour before serving. It’s really best if it has longer than that. I usually try to make it the night before I need it, but if you make it in the morning and serve in the afternoon or evening, that will work, too.
The dressing will seem pretty runny when you first mix everything together. But the pasta will soak some up, and then when you mix in the mayo just before serving, it makes the perfect consistency.
Feel free to add in anything, or take anything away. We love the pickles and boiled eggs, but that may not be your thing. Or you may want to add cheese or grated carrots. This recipe is pretty forgiving, so feel free to add or take out what you please.
Make sure you taste the salad before serving, and add more salt and pepper as needed.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
Artichoke Pasta Salad
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Caprese Pasta Salad
Italian Pasta Salad
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Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 8 oz dry macaroni pasta
- 1/2 cup diced dill pickles
- 1/2 medium red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1-2 stalks celery diced
- 2-3 green onions whites and greens diced
- 3 hard boiled eggs chopped
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
Dressing:
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons dill pickle juice
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously, then add the pasta. Cook until al dente. When done, drain and rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking.8 oz dry macaroni pasta
- While the pasta is cooking, make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, pickle juice, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.3/4 cup mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons dill pickle juice, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- Once the pasta is cooked and cooled, add it to the bowl with the dressing. Add the diced pickles, bell pepper, celery, green onions, and eggs. Mix everything together to combine.1/2 cup diced dill pickles, 1/2 medium red bell pepper, 1-2 stalks celery, 2-3 green onions, 3 hard boiled eggs
- Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least 1 hour. (Longer is better!)
- When ready to serve, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup mayonnaise. Keep cold.1/4 cup mayonnaise
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