Excellent! I used fresh boiled/peeled shrimp and left out the tuna and substituted a combination of rotini penne and gemelli pasta for the macaroni. I also left out the sweet relish because I didn't have any and added some halved grape tomatoes. The key is the Catalina dressing... compliments the taste of the shrimp. I cut back on the mayo and marinated the shrimp in a red wine vinaigrette... I wanted more of a "shrimp cocktail" type flavor than creamy. Again the Catalina was the key... very good.
After making only half the recipe which I frequently do to see if I am going to like it I determined it needed more dressing I would say twice as much. That made it tastier. The dressing is similar in taste to a tangy thousand island. My husband really liked this and I did too. Macaroni really dilutes or absorbs a lot so I would double the amount of dressing if you want more flavor. Someone mentioned canned shrimp tasting funny. I have read you should soak them in ice water then drain well.
Very nice change of pace from the usual pasta salad! I thawed some frozen salad shrimp & used those instead of canned & I opened up my last jar of Texas Christmas Pickles (from this site)& gave them a chop & used that instead of the sweet pickle relish. The pickles are sweet & spicy & they worked perfectly. I also used fresh garlic instead of salt. Who knew that catalina dressing mayo (I used lite) & sweet pickle relish would make such a tasty dressing for pasta?
Good but I wish I had used fresh shrimp instead of the canned - I've never used them before and I thought they tasted a bit strange. Really liked the Catalina salad dressing though. I would make this again. Thanks Holly!
This was a hit to all who tried it. I made it without the shrimp but it was still loved and I will doing this from now on when I need to make a salad!
A good different kind of macaroni salad. It has sort of a thousand island taste with the dressing that you make. I did not add the shrimp as I don't care for it. This does have good flavor and I will make it again. Great salad to pack in lunches. Thanks Marbalet.
I tried the recipe as shown I was not a huge fan for the tuna in it. So the next time I made it I used imitation crab and salad shrimp also uses small shells. I thought the imitation crab made it a better taste. I will make this again many times in the future since it is easy to make and well liked
O my gosh this is so good. I used Western French Dressing and for seasoning Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt. This is indeed a nice change from a plain tuna pasta salad. Will make again
We really enjoyed this recipe. I used only tuna in mine and also used extra dressing as suggested. Also I am a salt and pepper person so of course I had to add those too. It was a recipe I would make again.
I was hoping for a better tasting salad. I believe the catalina gave it a little to much sweetness and I kept thinking that there was something missing however I could never put my finger on it. My daughter suggested making it again but using only the shrimp so I may try that and cutting down on the catalina but if that doesn't work I won't try it again.
