Salad: Old-school Macaroni

Nothing beats a Familiar Macaroni Salad! Cooked macaroni pasta, celery, bell pepper, onion and hardboiled eggs are tossed with creamy from-scratch dressing. This salad is dependable for any get together, backyard barbecue or picnic! This method yields 8 cups and will serves 12 to 16.

Long weekends are meant to be enjoyed.

Warm weather 🤞🏼, picnics or barbecues with adult beverages. It’s a time to relax and enjoy good food. With that said we plan to spend this coming weekend doing some yard work, go fishing, and of course, do some grilling. Squeezing out as much of the extra long weekend before work on Tuesday.

On the menu this weekend is ribs, baked beans and my old-school macaroni salad. It’s go-to if you make it the morning-of or the evening before you plan to serve it. This is because macaroni salad is the kind of thing that only gets better as it sits in the fridge. This macaroni salad is a no frills, no fuss pasta salad and 100% in a home kitchen.

For this Old-school Macaroni Salad Set out:

for the dressing:

• egg and egg yolk – Helps bind the dressing.
• white vinegar – Adds slight tang.
• dijon mustard – Helps emulsify the dressing.
• sugar – Used for flavoring.
• kosher salt black pepper – For seasoning. Don’t skip!
• extra light olive oil – Adds body and richness.

for the salad:

• dried macaroni pasta – Similar size pasta can be substituted.
• hardboiled eggs – Adds protein and richness.
• bell pepper – Gives a pop of color and adds crunch.
• celery – Lends a distinct flavor and crunch. Substitute the white part of romaine if you dislike celery.
• yellow onion – Consider soaking in ice water to remove a lot of the bite.

Fill a medium pot with water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Once boiling, add a palmful of fine sea salt and and add 1 pound of macaroni pasta, cooking until al dente. Follow your packages directions for dependable pasta.

Meanwhile make the pasta salad dressing.

In your mini food processor (or blender), add 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, 2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 3/4 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black.

Pulse a few times to combine.

With the processor running, slowly pour in 3/4 cup of grapeseed oil in a thin steady stream.

Process until smooth.

Pour the dressing into a jar or bowl. Secure a lid and pop it into the fridge to chill until you’re ready to use. This method makes about 1-1/4 cup.

Next prep all the veggies. Set out 1/3 cup diced bell pepper, 1/3 cup sliced celery, 1/2 a yellow onion (I soak it in cold water so the onion loses some of it’s bite, then drain) and roughly chop 4 hardboiled eggs.

Once the pasta is cooked perfectly; drain and rinse with cold water and then toss it around to get any extra water out of the noodles.

Add the cooled noodles and prepped veggies to a large mixing bowl.

Add in 3/4 of the dressing. Save the remaining dressing in the fridge for later on.

Toss and give it a taste. Adjust seasoning to your preference, like adding more salt or pepper.

This is when the magic happens and the flavors genuinely meld.

Right before serving, toss with remaining dressing and serve.

That’s it! Straightforward to crave this flavor-packed old-school macaroni salad.

Enjoy! And if you give this Familiar Macaroni Salad recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!