Growing up, I was a very picky eater. I always loved my mother’s macaroni salad but I would pick out the things I didn’t like and just eat the noodles. To this day, her recipe is the best macaroni salad I have ever had, and my go to for potlucks!
For this recipe, I have never really measured the ingredients, I just add things and taste the sauce as I go. I know this recipe looks like it make a lot of sauce, but you need more than you think. The macaroni salad really absorbs the sauce overnight so I add half in when I make it, and then the rest of the sauce in the morning.
My favorite thing about recipes like this is that you can change it to accommodate your taste and its not set in stone. Taste as you go and add more or less of whatever you think is necessary. It also comes together very quickly so it is really easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 pound box or 454 grams of elbow macaroni cooked according to directions on the box
- 2-3 stalks of celery finely chopped (I use about 1 cup of chopped celery)
- 1/2-1 green bell pepper finely chopped or 1 cup
- 1/4-1/3 cup of finely chopped red onion (I judge this by how hot the onion is)
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise (I like Hellman’s)
- 1 cup miracle whip
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup Italian dressing
- 4 hard boiled eggs finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box, then drain and rinse with cold water because we don’t want it to stick together.
- Chop all your veggies and add them in a large bowl with your macaroni.
- Mix your mayo, miracle whip, mustard, Italian dressing, salt and pepper and taste to see if you like the flavor.
- Then pour HALF of you dressing into your pasta and stir until incorporated. We want to save the other have to add in the morning or the next day because your noodles will absorb a lot of the sauce overnight.
- Carefully stir in the eggs last so they don’t get pulverized with all the stirring.
- Put into an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight, then add your remaining sauce the next day, remembering to stir gently so your eggs don’t get mashed. Enjoy!