When we were in Hawaii, we had a Hawaiian Macaroni Salad that was creamy, with a slight tang. This salad dressing had just the right balance of acidity from vinegar. The carrots, scallions and celery gives the salad a nice crunch. This is Hawaiian comfort food at its best, and it really simple to make.
I think I can count on one hand, how many times I’ve eaten macaroni salad. I’ve never been too impressed with it, is all I can say.
Until I made this Hawaiian Macaroni Salad.
As a side dish to this delicious Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken it was suggested serve it with sticky rice and Hawaiian macaroni salad. So, why not? I was game to make this, because I know that my men love anything with pasta– and I was feelin’ a relapse of Island Fever.
I love it when I have all of the ingredients to make a recipe, and this salad is pretty simple. Large elbow macaroni, sliced green onion, chopped celery and freshly grated carrots.
That sounds pretty healthy, right?
Well, except…maybe, for the mayo. Like one cup of mayonnaise for the whole salad. We’ll see about that!
To the part of the mayonnaise, we add a bit of brown sugar, salt and pepper, and then we add part of the volume of whole milk (this will make sense later).
So, now we give all this a nice little whisking, and then I think to myself, “this looks very thin!” But, I have to trust America’s Test Kitchen and so I continued with my mission.
What I really like about the Cook’s Illustrated/Cook’s Country/America’s Test Kitchen family is that they really do test their recipes– a lot. I appreciate their twists on recipes, and reading why they chose a particular method or ingredient. With this macaroni salad, the macaroni is intentionally overcooked. The reason is so that dressing will better absorbed into the pasta.
Once the pasta is drained, vinegar is added and tossed to absorb.
After waiting about ten minutes, the salad dressing is added…
…and tossed until well coated, and then allowed to completely cool. I was relieved to find that the watery dressing had, indeed, been absorbed into the pasta. Whew!
So, now we add all the veggies, and the remaining mayonnaise and milk.
So, there we have it: Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, made simple and quite tasty looking, indeed. This needs to be refrigerated for at least one hour, before serving.
TASTING NOTES: I had reduced the cider vinegar by half, and I’m glad that I did. The dressing was super creamy, with just the right acidic balance to it. The seasonings were very simple, and I liked the crunch of the carrots, scallions and celery. I did cut the recipe in half, and I’m glad that I did. This, very easily, made eight servings– and I was cooking for just the three of us.
This is a traditional Hawaiian lunch plate– Huli Huli Chicken, Hawaiian macaroni salad and rice. The salad was completely gone, by the next day, after my son polished it off. Yes, I would make this again and this would make a great potluck salad to bring (as long as it’s kept well chilled and out of the sun, because of the mayonnaise).
NOTE: Some of you might be thinking you could cut calories by using low-fat milk, or reduced-fat mayonnaise. I don’t recommend it, because it would turn the dressing watery. Go ahead and try it, but do it at your own risk!
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
When we were in Hawaii, we had a Hawaiian Macaroni Salad that was creamy, with a slight tang. This salad dressing is creamy, with just the right balance of acidity from vinegar. The carrots, scallions and celery gives the salad a nice crunch. This is Hawaiian comfort food at its best, and it really simple to make.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk see note
- 2 cups mayonnaise see note
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- ½ teaspoon table salt plus salt for cooking pasta
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- ½ cup cider vinegar see note
- 4 scallions sliced thin
- 1 large carrot peeled and grated
- 1 celery rib chopped fine
Instructions
- Whisk milk, mayonnaise, sugar, pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt together in bowl. Reserve and refrigerate 1 cup dressing for finishing salad. Set both aside.
- Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta and cook until very soft, about 15 minutes. Drain pasta in colander and shake to remove excess water.Transfer pasta to large bowl, add vinegar, and toss until vinegar is absorbed. Let pasta cool for 10 minutes.
- Stir remaining dressing (larger portion) into pasta mixture until combined. Stir in scallions, carrot, and celery until combined. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, about 1 hour. Stir in reserved 1 cup dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Notes
Low-fat milk or mayonnaise will make the dressing too thin.
Add about half the cider vinegar, and adjust to your liking. You can always add more!
You could add pineapple, if you wish.
Recipe source: Cook’s Country
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Great looking salad Debbie. We often cut recipes in half as there are just two of us. I wish I had had your recipe for the luai we attended last year at the lake.
Sam
this looks super good – I think this could be a keeper in my house!
Mary
Fantastic looking salad. Pasta salads can be so generic sometimes but this one looks so good! Interesting that the dressing gets absorbed into the pasta. Must make for a very flavorful dish! Great post, Debby!
I just made this for a family get together and it is deliscious!
That makes me happy! Thank you for the rave review.
This is my favorite macaroni salad recipe. I add a can of drained crushed pineapple at the end to make it even more tropical.
Wow! I’m going to try that, next time! Thank you for the suggestion.