Perfect Macaroni Salad
July 4th was looming and I had not found a macaroni salad recipe that I was excited about yet. I had found a few that I was considering, but nothing that I knew would be a slam dunk. Then, I ran into a recipe on The Pioneer Woman blog that sounded exactly like what I was looking for to complement our picnic.
I made the salad, with a few changes to the ingredients and measurements, and we ALL loved it.
The best part about this salad is that it is light. There is not a lot of goopy mayonnaise and grease surrounding the fresh pasta and veggies. The sauce is just the right amount to lend a great taste with no grease.
Steps to the Perfect Macaroni Salad
Perfect Macaroni Salad Ingredients
The pieces to the perfect macaroni salad puzzle: red peppers, olives, spring onions, mayonnaise, relish, elbow macaroni, salt, pepper, pickle juice, distilled white vinegar, and sugar.
Perfect Macaroni Salad Pasta Cooking
Boil the elbow macaroni until it is at a perfect softness. I go past the al dente stage. I like it to be softer. After finished, strain the noodles and run cold water over it, and set aside.
Add 1/2 mayonnaise, 1T white vinegar, 3t sugar, 1/4t salt and pepper and stir
To make the sauce pourable, we will add milk next.
Add 1/4 cup milk or more to make it pourable.
Add a splash of pickle juice to the sauce for a little kick-YUM!
Now, time to mix the noodles and sauce together…..
Add the sauce to the noodles and stir well.
Chop two red peppers and 4 green onions
Add the chopped red pepper and spring onions to the noodle and sauce mix.
My family LOVES olives, so we added an 8 ounce can of sliced black olives as well as relish for a kick.
Add 8 oz can of sliced black olives and stir. We also added in 4 tablespoons of relish.
The Perfect Macaroni Salad All Ready for our Picnic!
Here’s the recipe with all of my alterations today…..
8 cups elbow macaroni
2 Freshly Chopped Red Peppers
8 oz of sliced black olives
4T Relish
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1T distilled white vinegar
2T pickle juice – adjust to your taste
3t sugar
1/4t salt
Black Pepper – as much as you like
Boil the Macaroni until soft, then strain and run under cold water. Set aside.
Mix mayonnaise, distilled white vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and milk to create sauce. Pour sauce into noodles and stir well.
Chop the red peppers and spring onions, then add to the noodle and sauce mixture. Add can of olives and stir well.
At this point, you can do a taste test and decide if you would like to add more relish or pickle juice.
SO, SO YUMMY!!! Enjoy!
Follow the instructions above and you will be all set with the perfect macaroni salad for ANY occasion. So light and refreshing. Absolutely Delish!!
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