This macaroni salad is super easy to make and requires no fancy ingredients. If you can boil water, you can make this creamy pasta salad. I love to make this macaroni salad to take to a backyard barbecue or basically any function where grilled meat will be served. Lol.
Recently, a friend of mine had a baby and this simple macaroni salad recipe was part of the meal I took to her. I made BBQ baked chicken, this macaroni salad, and chocolate no-bake cookies. It was a very summer-in-southern-Missouri meal.
Related: Classic Pea Salad with Bacon, Ambrosia Salad, and 40+ Easy Picnic Food Ideas.
Ingredients
- Macaroni noodles
- Broccoli
- Red bell pepper
- Red onion
- Hard boiled eggs
- Mayo
- Sour cream
- Red wine vinegar
- Granulated white sugar
- Dijon mustard
- Milk
- Salt and pepper
Directions
Boil the noodles according the package directions. Strain and allow to cool.
Finely chop the broccoli, bell pepper and onion. Chop up the hard boiled eggs.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the mayo, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, mustard, and milk. Stir to combine.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled pasta, chopped vegetables and eggs. Drizzle the dressing over everything and toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
Tips & Substitutions
- You can use other shaped pasta in place of the macaroni if you like. Things like bow tie or penne will work well. Avoid long pastas like spaghetti or angel hair.
- You can swap the red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar.
- This macaroni salad is best the day it’s made. It’s meant to be served cold. If you need to make this ahead, I would wait until you plan to serve it to toss everything in the dressing. The dressing tends to absorb over time, so the leftovers will be less and less creamy if you save this for multiple days in the refrigerator.
More Homemade Salads & Sides
As the name suggests, this is truly a very simple macaroni salad recipe. Everyone has their way of making it and this is mine. It’s pretty classic but maybe with a few more vegetables added than the average one.
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A classic, creamy macaroni pasta salad recipe.
Instructions
-
Boil the noodles according to the package directions. Strain and allow to cool.
-
Finely chop the broccoli, bell pepper and onion. Chop up the hard boiled eggs.
-
In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the mayo, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, mustard, and milk. Stir to combine.
-
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled pasta, chopped vegetables and eggs.
-
Drizzle the dressing over everything and toss to coat.
-
Season generously with salt and pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
You can swap the red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar.
This macaroni salad is best the day it’s made. It’s meant to be served cold. If you need to make this ahead, I would wait until you plan to serve it to toss everything in the dressing. The dressing tends to absorb over time, so the leftovers will be less and less creamy if you save this for multiple days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Simple Macaroni Salad
Amount per Serving
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
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