Elbow macaroni, mayo, mustard, celery, and a few chopped eggs. It is the side dish on every picnic table for a reason: cheap, fast, and impossible to mess up.
Macaroni salad does not have a single fixed recipe. Every cookout has its own version, heavier on the mustard here, sweeter with relish there. What stays constant is the format: pasta cooked until tender, cooled, and bound in a creamy dressing with a little crunch from celery and onion. This version keeps it classic and balanced, mayo-forward with just enough mustard and relish to keep it from being one-note.
Like most mayonnaise-based salads, it needs time in the fridge before serving. The pasta keeps absorbing the dressing as it sits, so a macaroni salad made an hour ahead tastes thin and a macaroni salad made the night before tastes right. Plan accordingly if it is headed to a cookout or a potluck table.
What You’re Learning
Cooking the pasta past al dente, on purpose. Pasta firms up as it cools, so noodles cooked to a normal al dente turn chalky by the time the salad is chilled. Cooking it a minute or two further, until fully tender with no bite left, gives the right texture once it is cold.
Dressing in two additions. Pasta keeps drinking up dressing as it sits, so a salad dressed in a single pass can turn dry by the next day. Mixing in part of the mayonnaise while the pasta is still warm lets it soak into the noodles, then folding in the rest after chilling keeps the texture creamy instead of dried out.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings as a side.
- 1 lb (450g) elbow macaroni
- 1 cup mayonnaise, divided
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
- 3 celery stalks, finely diced
- ½ small red onion, finely diced
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced
- ½ tsp paprika, plus more for serving
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
1. Cook the macaroni
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook 1 to 2 minutes past the package’s al dente time, until fully tender with no bite left. Drain well and rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking and cool it down.
2. Dress while warm
Transfer the drained macaroni to a large mixing bowl. While it is still slightly warm, add half the mayonnaise, the mustard, and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat; the warm pasta will absorb the dressing as it sits.
3. Add the rest
Add the celery, red onion, diced eggs, relish, and paprika. Fold in the remaining mayonnaise until everything is evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Chill
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight. The pasta will continue to soak up the dressing as it sits; if it looks dry after chilling, fold in another spoonful of mayonnaise before serving.
5. Serve
Give the salad a final stir before serving, taste for salt, and finish with a light dusting of paprika on top.
Notes
- Slightly overcook the pasta. Pasta firms up as it cools, so noodles cooked exactly al dente turn chalky by the time the salad is chilled. A minute or two past al dente is the right target here.
- Dress in two stages. Adding dressing while the pasta is warm lets it soak in; adding the rest after chilling keeps the salad creamy instead of dry.
- Make it the night before. This salad is at its best after a full night in the fridge, once the flavors have had time to settle into the pasta.
- Dice the mix-ins small. Finely diced celery and onion distribute through every bite instead of clumping in one corner of the bowl.
- Adjust the mustard to taste. Two tablespoons gives a mild tang. For a sharper, more deli-style salad, add another tablespoon.
- Keep it cold outdoors. Like any mayonnaise-based dish, do not let it sit out in summer heat for more than two hours, picnic or not.
