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This Hawaiian-style macaroni salad recipe is very creamy, slightly sweet, and served cold. It makes a perfect side dish for a hot summer BBQ.
Macaroni salad is pure comfort food and as a result, I don’t eat it nearly as often as I would like but on a special occasion, we love to make this. This Hawaiian-style pasta salad is wonderful for a potluck or holiday get together.
There aren’t a lot of ingredients in this Hawaiian macaroni salad so it is super simple to put together.
Another aspect that makes this ideal for a gathering is that it is best if you make it the day ahead and leave it in the fridge overnight.
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What goes in Hawaiian macaroni salad?
Tools you’ll need
Hawaiian macaroni salad is such a simple recipe that only requires a handful of ingredients.
It requires elbow macaroni, mayonnaise, milk, apple cider vinegar, onion, and carrots and some sugar. Salt the water to boil the macaroni, and add some to the dressing mixture. You can add more the next day when you go to serve it.
Quick Tip: Learn how to know when pasta is done.
Recipe variations
While we keep this recipe simple and that is part of the appeal it is also fun to shake things up with variations.
- Add pineapple chunks. Cut these into tiny pieces. Pineapple is quite juicy so this may make your salad thinner than you like. Consider reducing the amount of mayonnaise by a third. Mix it all together and add more mayonnaise if you want to keep the creamy texture but still enjoy the pineapple.
- Add green peas. Be sure to drain the peas prior to add them to the macaroni salad. Add them as the last ingredient and gently fold in.
- Add pancetta, deli ham, or prosciutto. Pancetta is a cured meat, which means that you don’t have to cook it. You can add this in right out of the package.
- Add in diced celery. Adding this in adds a nice crunchy texture to the salad. We recommend that you dice up the celery in very small pieces.
- Add in crab. If you want to make this a truly special treat adding in chunks of real crab meat would make it delightful.
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Hawaiian macaroni salad recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry elbow macaroni usually one box or package
- 1 Tablespoon table salt for the boiling water
- 3 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ACV)
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup finely diced sweet onion
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste after chilling overnight
- Pepper to taste
- Optional: 2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley for color and freshness
- Optional: 1/4 cup chopped deli ham or prosciutto
Instructions
- Prep ingredients – Finely dice the onion. Shred the carrots. Set aside.
- Cook the macaroni according to the package directions, adding another 1-2 minutes cook time so the macaroni is soft but not overcooked.
- Add the ACV, onion, and carrots to a large non-reactive bowl. Set aside.
- When the macaroni is done, drain the macaroni well. Then add the drained macaroni to the bowl with the ACV, onion, and carrots. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, gently whisk together the mayo, milk, sugar, salt, and pepper (if using)
- Scrape this mayo mixture into the macaroni bowl and mix thoroughly but gently, since the macaroni is soft.
- Cover the bowl and move it to the refrigerator. Allow it to chill overnight.
- Stir before serving; if using the parsley or chopped ham/prosciutto add now. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired.
this sounds awesome
I made this delicious macaroni salad for a potluck and everyone loved it. They all wanted the recipe.