Macaroni Pasta Salad

When it comes to spring and summertime dishes, we all know and love pasta dishes. This is one of our favorites to have either as a side dish or as a lunch. It is so good and super simple to make.

I know everyone has their own way of making this dish in particular so, I am going to show you how we make our macaroni salad.

let’s go…

INGREDIENTS:

8oz. elbow macaroni pasta
1 1/2 cup. (give or take) Mayo (add as much or as little as you prefer to your taste)
1 Tbsp. Red or White Wine Vinegar ( plain or apple cider vinegar will do)
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard ( or yellow mustard)
1 1/2 Tsp. Sugar or Honey (optional)
Salt And Pepper to taste
2 Stalks Of Celery – diced
1 Bell Pepper – diced
1/2 Onion – diced
2 Tsp. Parsley (fresh or dried)
1/2 Cup. Pickles – diced small (optional)
3 Hard Boiled Eggs – Diced Small

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Add about 1 tbsp or so of salt. Stir and add in your pasta. Cook until al dente. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
2. In the meantime, to a bowl add in your remaining ingredients and stir to combine well. Adjust the taste as you like and add in your pasta.
3. Toss the pasta to coat and cover with a bit of plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid. Place in the fridge for 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Stir before serving.

• You can add whatever you would like to this. Here are some things that we put in it on occasion.
• Tuna, tomatoes, olives, pickles, green onion, red pepper flakes, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, banana pepper, jalapenos, radish, toasted unsalted pecans or walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and slivered almonds.
• You can serve this as is or you can chill any length of time before serving.
• You can add as much or as little of the mayo or any form of mayo you prefer.
• Add some fresh dill, parsley, or cilantro to brighten this dish up even more.
• This goes really well for a BBQ, a family get-together, or any get-together for that matter.
• Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of your favorite ranch dressing for a different flavor. So good. Just be sure to remove the amount of mayo that you add in of the other dressings such as ranch. ( so, if you add 1/4 cup of ranch dressing, remove 1/4 cup of mayo from the ingredients)