A colorful and flavorful macaroni salad made with hard cooked eggs, bell pepper and celery in a creamy dressing. Best macaroni salad I have ever had. I always get many requests for recipe. Enjoy!
Okay, I am absolutely addicted to this salad. However, I have made some changes to it. First, I prefer bow tie pasta. I think it gives it a little more visual appeal. I also dry the pasta on paper towels after I drain it. This keeps the moisture level down and allows the dressing to coat the pasta better. I use fat free Miracle Whip to keep the fat content down. I use four eggs instead of three. I find the sugar is an important ingredient however, I only use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I also use apple cider vinegar. I don't add the red pepper because my husband doesn't like them but they do give it a great color. We all love celery so I add extra and I also chop the leaves from the celery stalks and add those. I also like to add in a little garlic salt. It always seems to make a lot of dressing so I mix in just enough to coat the pasta and let it sit over night. I cover and fridge the remaining dressing. Then, if it looks a little dry in the morning, I add more of the dressing. This keeps it from being too liquidy. I have also added in a can of well drained tuna which gives it a great flavor and makes it more of a meal. The dressing also works great as a base for potato salad. YUM!!!
Read MoreI wish I had read other reviews before making this ( usually do and this will teach me a lesson). The 3/4 cup sugar just ruined what would have been a great recipe 1/8 to a 1/4 cup would have been fine. Also, use a whole box (16 oz.) of macaroni. Two cups isn't nearly enough for this recipe.
Read More Okay, I am absolutely addicted to this salad. However, I have made some changes to it. First, I prefer bow tie pasta. I think it gives it a little more visual appeal. I also dry the pasta on paper towels after I drain it. This keeps the moisture level down and allows the dressing to coat the pasta better. I use fat free Miracle Whip to keep the fat content down. I use four eggs instead of three. I find the sugar is an important ingredient however, I only use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I also use apple cider vinegar. I don't add the red pepper because my husband doesn't like them but they do give it a great color. We all love celery so I add extra and I also chop the leaves from the celery stalks and add those. I also like to add in a little garlic salt. It always seems to make a lot of dressing so I mix in just enough to coat the pasta and let it sit over night. I cover and fridge the remaining dressing. Then, if it looks a little dry in the morning, I add more of the dressing. This keeps it from being too liquidy. I have also added in a can of well drained tuna which gives it a great flavor and makes it more of a meal. The dressing also works great as a base for potato salad. YUM!!!
I wish I had read other reviews before making this ( usually do and this will teach me a lesson). The 3/4 cup sugar just ruined what would have been a great recipe 1/8 to a 1/4 cup would have been fine. Also, use a whole box (16 oz.) of macaroni. Two cups isn't nearly enough for this recipe.
What a wonderful, delicious recipe! I reduced the sugar a bit but next time will add even less. I think 1/4 or 1/3 cup will suit my families tastes. I had a hard time putting this recipe together since I found myself out of some ingredients. I subbed one cup of Marzetti's slaw dressing and one cup of Mayo for the Miracle Whip. I also chopped one small dill pickle and added a little pickle juice for the relish. Didn't have celery seed so that was left out. With summer coming up I can see myself making this many times over! Thank you for the post. By the way, for the poster that mentioned the restaurant, Das Dutch Haus in Ohio: I used to live in Pittsburgh and a highlight for us moms was to drive over to shop and eat at Das Dutch Haus. Ah, the memories. I loved the food there! :-) *Update* Made this again and used the salad dressing. Used celery salt instead of salt and celery seed. This is just so yummy! Made again and sprinkled with paprika and black pepper. Outstanding! For those of you that think that this is a little soupy, place in the fridge overnight and the noodles soak up some of the liquid. It is perfect the day after preparing!
This is the recipe I use every time I make mac salad! I use real mayonnaise, Miracle Whip doesn't exist in my kitchen. Green pepper instead of red, cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, and no pickle relish. I add an extra hard boiled egg, shredded cheese, and I season the dressing with extra salt, pepper, garlic powder and a couple drops of Louisianna hot sauce for flavor. I cut the mustard to 1 Tbsp. Other good additions are diced ham or bacon. Amish macaroni salad is supposed to be sweet.
As per other reviewers' remarks I cut the amount of dressing. But pasta absorbs all moisture very quickly, becoming dry. So, if not eating the salad right away, I suggest following the recipe as is (I agree with reducing sugar to 1/4 c.)- add enough dressing to salad to satisfy immediate eating requirements- keep the rest for later. You will need it. Also, another reviewer suggested adding cubed cheese - I don't think cheese adds anything to this recipe it's quite simply excellent as is. Edit: I have now made this recipe dozens of times. Yesterday I bought mayonaise instead of Miracle Whip-type salad dressing - in my opinion using mayo requires more sugar - I used a half cup. Other than that - I'm still making it as above and getting raves from my guests and family.
Perhaps I should preface my review by saying I hate macaroni salad....just not a big fan, can easily walk away and not eat it. Yuck. My dad requested mac salad for Father's Day and I searched for the "right" recipe and found this. OMG. I just ate a bowl and it's fantastic. And the flavors haven't even had a chance to meld. And I hate mac salad! I did make some changes, here they are: I doubled the recipe and used 4-5 C uncooked whole grain elbows. I diced a md green pepper, a md red pepper, a sm-md red onion, 6 celery ribs, and 4 dill pickle spears (no dill relish, I realized). I used 6 hard boiled eggs. In the dressing, I used Kraft Light Mayo w/Olive Oil, yellow mustard, 2/3C sugar (and I would not use anymore, perhaps would use less, maybe down to 1/3C even next time) and I didn't measure the white vinegar, just added a couple of splashes. I also added a healthy amt of dill pickle juice (2 good "splashes" from the jar). I added the following seasonings (I did not measure, I just sort of sprinkled across the top to cover, not coat, twice): garlic salt (and did not use regular salt then), dill weed, and crushed red pepper (about 8 shakes). I did not use celery seed simply because I hate celery (and I purposefully cut the celery large so I can pick it out :)). I WILL be making this again. Thanks for making me a mac salad eater (though, wait, I prob shouldn't be thanking you for adding yet another high calorie "like" to my list!)!
I really loved this............but beware, you HAVE to cut the amount of sugar. Thank goodness that I read the reviews before making this and did not add the full amount of sugar. I used 1/3 cup of sugar and I still found it a little sweet; and I LIKE sweet. Next time I will only use a 1/4 cup of sugar. Overall a delicious macaroni salad, creamy with a little tangy zing. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
This really is a fantastic macaroni salad. I did use several suggestions made by other reviewers... I added an extra hard-boiled egg (4 total), I reduced the sugar to 1/2C.(will reduce to 1/4C. next time and see how we like it) and I added only 1/2 the dressing (used Miracle Whip)to begin with. After refrigerating the salad all day I took it out, gave it a good stir, and added about 1/4 of the remaining dressing. This was perfect and didn't make it too "soupy". I will make this salad often...thanks so much for the great recipe!
Just what I was looking for! I chopped a dill pickle, skipped the sugar altogether and added smally cubed sharp cheddar cheese. I also sliced the egg on top of the salad sprinkled with a bit of paprika sorta like a garnish. Oh and to take the edge off of the "miracle Whip" I subbed about a 1/4 cup of sour cream. YUM! Thank you Connie!
This is the best Macaroni Salad I have seen or made so far. I agree about cutting down the sugar (maybe half for starters) and I have a big sweet tooth. Thanks for sharing.
This is my recipe that I sent in and use when I make mac salad. The only thing is someone changed the way to do the mac. Don't boil it for 8-10 minutes. Get water boiling, put in mac, bring back to a boil, stir, turn off heat. Leave covered for 10 minutes then drain and make salad. That is what the recipe calls to do.
My husband LOVES Amish Macaroni Salad which is typically very sweet and saturated with dressing. I gave this a try and am so glad I did! This most certainly is colorful and flavorful. Like others, I cut back on the sugar (a little over 1/4 cup) which was a good idea. I used a vidalia onion finely chopped and half light Miracle Whip and half Hellman's light mayo. I also added an additional hard boiled egg. This definitely needs to set overnight so the dressing can get soaked up a bit by the macaroni but otherwise excellent!
This serves way more than six people. Following others' suggestions, I cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup +2 tablespoons, and for my taste it was a little sweet but everyone else loved it that way. I never have dill pickle relish and just finely chop whatever pickles I have on hand, usually bread and butter. I use Barilla plus pasta (whole grain with other healthy stuff) and noone knows the difference.
Fantastic! I did everyones advice and only used 1/4 c sugar. Start there and add more to suit your taste. It is still really sweet. Thanks for the recipe!
I'm so happy I stumbled upon this recipe. It truly is a great macaroni salad. Most of the ingredients, by themselves, I don't care for, but mixed into this salad, the flavors are so complimentary. Per other reviews, I only used 1/4 cup sugar and that was plenty especially when using a dressing which I completely recommend over regular mayo, plus it's much healthier. The salad smells like eggs although they don't overwhelm the recipe. Each ingredient has a subtle flavor that comes out in every bite. The dill pickle relish is a great addition and really boosted the flavor. I added half of the dressing mixture to the macaroni, let sit overnight then added about half of the remaining. Essentially, you really only need about 3/4 of the dressing, but then again, to each his own. Thanks for the recipe! This is definitely a keeper!
Why didn't I read the reviews before I made this??? There is WAY to much sugar called for in this recipe. CUT IT DOWN TO AT LEAST HALF! I salvaged mine by added some sour pickle juice and a tad more vinegar. Overall though it has an excellant flavor. I will make it many times more I will just go very easy on the sugar!
Very good! Following others' advice, I doubled the pasta, halved the dressing and used 4 hard-boiled eggs. Didn't have celery on hand - can't buy dill relish here so I substituted 1/4 homemade dill pickle and no Miracle Whip available either, so used Mayonesa con Limon. And since I halved the dressing, only used 1/8c sugar. Tangy and sweet - will definitely be making it again! Thank you!
I thought this was awful. Way too sweet especially using Miracle Whip with sugar.
Loved this recipe. Reminded me of a pasta version of potato salad....and boy was it great. In my list of favorites and glad I have something like this to mix it up when your tired of your "traditional" pasta salads!!
A great big THANK YOU to Connie0751 for submitting this one. It is pretty darn close to being PERFECT!!! I made a couple of very slight changes to suit our personal tastes... I used 4 eggs instead of 3; I only used about 1/2 cup of sugar and I added one extra Tbsp. of relish. With those few small changes, this was absolutely delicious! I brought it to a party and had a couple of people ask me for the recipe. One woman kept going back for more and told me it was the best macaroni salad she'd ever eaten. Now that's one heck of a compliment! This will be my "go to" mac salad recipe from now on.
Nobody ever asks me to bring macaroni salad to the parties because, well, my macaroni salad left a lot to be desired. I made this recipe for the 4th of July and everyone asked for the recipe! Yippee! It is really fantastic. I made it the day before and let it "ripen" in the fridge and that made it extra good! This will be my regular recipe from now on. Thanks!
I loved it but did a few things to lighten it up incl using 1/3 splenda instead of 3/4 sugar (it takes care of the sweetness problem others have mentioned and is less calories for weight watchers), used whole wheat pasta and light mayo. This is even better if you make it in advance and let it sit in the fridge to blend flavors. I added an extra egg and used a 5th egg to slice as decoration on the top with a bit of paprika. We will definitely make this again! Thanks for a very tasty mac salad!
I wasn't too sure about this at first but after letting it blend in the fridge for only an hour I was happy I had tried this recipe! My entire family loved it and this will make it onto our summer menu!
This was excellent! I used one box of shell pasta because I dint have elbow, and I had read that some found this soupy. I drained my noodles for 5-10 minutes in the sink while I assembled the sauce. It came out perfect. I served 8 people and had a bit left over for lunch the next day. wonderful!
Good recipe. used 1lb macaroni as suggested by others. also cut way back on the sugar (less than 1/4 c)- any more would have been way too sweet! used chopped dill pickles instead of relish, and added a little of the juice for extra flavor.
Very good base recipe for any salad. However, I would limit the amount of sugar up to 1/4 cup. For my liking, 1/4 cup is the max limit that I can possibly add sugar (I can even do without sugar at all). I would even limit to 1/8 cup next time. The level of sweetness with 1/4 cup was similar to the KFC coleslaw. So it was pretty sweet, but not too sweet. You can add whatever the chopped veggies as you like; I used olives since I had no dill pickles relish. Added chopped cucumbers and carrots for color. Will make it again :)
This was a tremendous recipe that got rave reviews when I made it for a baby shower. Thanks so much - it's a new family favorite!
Excellent macaroni salad! I normally don't like anything with pickle relish but this is really good.
This was pretty good, but WAY to sweet. I even cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup. I didn't have dill relish, but I added some lemon juice to give it a bit of a kick. I will make again, but without any sugar at all. Really, I'm not sure why it's even in the recipe
This is an excellent macaroni salad! Only changes I made to the recipe were to decrease the dressing by half except the sugar which I only added 1/4 cup. We don't like our macaroni salad "soupy" and this did it for us. Absolutely delicious! Will definitely make again.
I made a few changes to the recipe to suit my family's taste. We have diabetes. I used only 1 cup of miricle whip and 2 heaping tablespoons of sugar. I added a little more pickle. I was out of the celery seed and added more celery. The flavor was wonderful. I will use this recipe often. Thanks
This is a very good macaroni salad! I cut the sugar down to half, and used green onions. Also, 1/2 mariacle whip and 1/2 Helmann's. Thanks!
Very Good Summer Salad. Pickle relish gives it nice pop. Wasn't sure about putting so much mustard & sugar into it; but so worth it after the flavors merry for a few hours. Definitely a keeper.
I'm giving this a rating of 5 stars, because I've never had a macaroni salad I liked, until now. So tasty , even better when it's sat over night. I didn't use all the sugar, more like half of what was called for, used less mustard also. Makes a lot of dressing so wait and pour it on as needed otherwise you'll have macaroni swimming in dressing. Thanks Connie for sharing.
this was very good but i would cut down on the miracle whip. even after sitting, it was very liquidy. still good though i also think it tastes like deli macaroni salad. must be the m.w.
A great salad! My family isn't big on bell peppers or dill pickles so I left that out. Followed everything else to the letter and I will be making this again...and again! :)
Made as listed, lessening sugar to 1/2 Cup and Dressing to 1 cup(2/3 Hellmans & 1/3 Miracle Whip), Mustard(2 Tbls Yellow & 1Tbls Honey Dijon). Good to the last bite. Make exactly as recipe states and then tweak if necessary for your tastes. SUPER SALAD !
My fiance loved this recipe, and while I had to make some changes I think it worked very well. Being British, I've never used sugar in a savoury dish before (this is something more commonly found in US recipes) so I was wary of the 3/4 cup given for the ingredients. I ended up just using around 1/4 of a cup of sugar as per suggestions from other reviewers, which worked in a good balance with the white vinegar. Since I wasn't able to get hold of American mustard (and believe me, you do not want 3 T of British or French mustard in this dish, it's far too strong!) I used 1 cup of mustard mayonnaise and 1 cup of 3% fat mayonnaise, which worked really well together. I couldn't find any dill pickle relish so I chopped up a couple of pickled gherkins and added 1 T of the juice from their jar, which stopped the sauce from being too thick. I also used a red onion rather than a normal one to give the dish some more colour, and added some spring onion and cubes of cheddar cheese. The celery seeds (a new discovery for me) worked really well in the sauce and I'll definitely be using them again in other dishes. I'm looking forward to experimenting with this recipe and seeing what other variants I can create. This a good basis for a standard macaroni salad and is one of those recipes you can change around depending on availability of ingredients and personal preferences and it still turns out well.
I'm totally shocked this recipe has such a high rating. First of all, there is WAAAAAYYYYY too much sugar in this recipe! When you mix the wet ingredients, it looks like a soupy, yellow, granulated mixture! Not to mention, I used barely 1/4 c. (had almost 2 cups) to put over the macaroni. I ended up cooking about 1 1/2 more noodles and adding it then, added about 1/2 cup more mayo just to get the sweetness of it down enough! I did not care for this recipe!
I grew up eating macaroni salad every Sunday and grew to hate it. I have made this a handful of times for my husband's work and everyone always loved it. I tried it and they are right this is good stuff. I did read other reviews and decreased the amount of sugar to 1/2cup, added a extra hard boiled egg and used garlic salt instead of regular salt.
I made this for a few events and everyone keeps asking for it again and again...AWESOME
I used less sugar as some others have suggested and it was delicious! I served it at my son's first birthday party and it was a hit will all ages. Thanks for the great recipe!
My family and I LOVE this salad. I usually end up using whatever pasta I have on hand and it always works out great. I like the recipe as written but think it is better if the pasta is increased by 1 cup and if it chilled for at least 4-5 hours before serving.
This was amazing. I left out the egg and celery but otherwise made it the same. Can't say enough about it. Love it, even with the raw onion. Just love it.
I, along with most everyone else who rated this recipe, think it is Great. I did cut down on the sugar, added the cheese chunks and some spredded cheddar, and all the rest of the ingrediants. I also decided to add some green peas. It adds more color along with the red pepper. This is definitely a keeper in my file!!! I also cut down on the celery. I think that taste can sometimes be overpowering and 3 stalks is a lot of celery.
This stuff is the best! Reminds me of the macaroni salad they served in our cafeteria in high school -which was very good, by the way!- I only left out the hard boiled egg in this case since I'm not fond of them, and it still tasted very yummy.
this is a yummy salad. I used whole wheat elbow pasta and everyone enjoyed it.
YUM! so much better than prepackaged salad! i don't even like macaroni salad, but i couldn't stop eating this! the 5 star review is after i followed the advice of other reviewers and added only 2 T. sugar, and it was STILL sweet! i didn't add the pepper because i just don't like them and it was still delicious! made it into my own recipes! thanks!
We loved this Macaroni Salad however I did follow the advice of other reviews and only added 1/4 cup sugar and in my opinion it was plenty sweet I may even cut down even I little more on the sugar next time and there will be a next time.
I love this macaroni salad! It's simple to make but has a dressing which is different from the norm. The Miracle Whip and mustard combination really work and the addition of red peppers adds a splash of color. Don't use regular mayo, it won't have the same flavor.
It's the taste I've looked for for years in a macaroni salad! I cut the sugar, as others suggested to 1/4 c. I also only put in one stalk of celery. I used cole slaw dressing in place of the Miracle Whip which added a wonderful flavor. I agree with others who suggest to cut the dressing mixture in half, or use 16 oz. of pasta. I added tomatoes and cubes of cheddar cheese, too.
This recipe has been one in my box for almost a year and finally I made it for a BBQ we had this weekend. Wow...have I ever been missing one of the best macaroni salads I've ever tasted...why did I wait so long? I pretty much followed the recipe except for reducing the sugar, I just kept tasting the dressing until it reached the sweetness desired, probably even less than 1/4 cup. I left the onion out, not my preference but some of our guest do not like raw onions, so I added green pepper along with the red. Used cider vinegar and used Kraft light olive oil mayo. The dressing absolutely takes this mac salad over the five stars. I made early and let it sit all day in the fridge, reserving about a half cup of the dressing, added that in to make creamy for our serving time at dinner. The reviews were very helpful and suggest you read through some. It makes quite a bit which is a good thing since seconds were requested by our guests.
Wonderful macaroni salad. I used roughly 1/4 cup of sugar and it was plenty sweet. You definitely want to let the salad chill for about 2 hrs before eating to ensure all the flavors come together and the pasta is well chilled.
Made this in the summer for company. It seems like a weird combination of things but has a great flavour. It's even better the next day.
Yummy. Thankfully I read reviews and used 3 TBL sugar - that was fine for us, just a little bit sweet but not over the top too sweet. Also, I used the suggestion to pour part of the dressing over the pasta - I used a little more than half and it was plenty. Next time I'll just up the amount of pasta or decrease the amount of sauce.
This salad is awesome! The only thing I changed was I put 1/2 the sugar in. First time I made it was as per recipe which was good but a little too sweet for me.. Now its perfect not like it wasn't good in the first place. Thanks for sharing Connie!
Excellent macaroni salad recipe, and I am not even a macaroni salad person! I always thought it was a waste of calories, but I could not stop eating this! I followed the recipe, except for cutting the sugar down to 1/4 cup (and it was still sweet) and I doubled the macaroni. Will definately make again.
Loved this recipe, and I normally am not a big fan of Macaroni Salads. As noted by others, reduced sugar to about a quarter cup. Also used Hellman's and a mix of ranch rather than Miracle Whip. Will certainly make this again. I also would use more hard- boiled eggs next time.
this is awesome! The quantities seem right to me but I did reduce sugar to 1/2 cup based on reviews here. tip - if making the day before reserve half of the dressing and mix in the next day an hour or so before serving, otherwise it soaks it all up overnight, making it too dry.
I made it and it was a big hit with everyone! I am a big mayonnaise fan, so was reluctant to use Miracle Whip but I did. Tastes great.
Edit 12/31/15 - I have now made this recipe more times than I can count. My husband loves it with the tweaks and its always requested at his company pot lucks. I cut the amount of red pepper in half and I use Ditalini noodles instead of elbow. He loves it! I made this for my husband (I don't care for macaroni salad). He liked it but thought that a whole red pepper was just too much.
This truely is the best macaroni salad I have ever had. Hint: reduce sugar to 1/2 cup; chop all vegtables and mix dressing in separate bowls then cook macaroni. Hot pasta absorbs the flavor and dressing. Chill over night for best results. Best flavor and absorbs all of the dressing.
I used 2/3 less sugar and half light miracle whip and half light mayo and it was great. Everyone loved it.
I only used 1/4 c sugar, added extra relish, and used mayo instead of salad dressing. This was very good - MUCH better than store-bought mac salad.
Cook up the macaroni up to a week or more and freeze it. When ready to use, rinse under cold water and drain. By doing this, macaroni does not absorb the dressing and it tastes like you just cooked it. I do this with all pasta.
The "3/4 cup white sugar" on the ingredient list must be a typo. I added about a teaspoon and that was more than enough sweetness. Otherwise an exceptionally good mac salad.
I read a lot of the reviews before making this. I had to make it for a large crowd. I was pretty much able to double everything except I only used 1 large red pepper. I minced the onion, celery and pepper fine so there wouldn't be large chunks of the veggies. I added about 1 cup of finely shredded carrot for color. I only had sweet pickle relish and I only used 2 Tbsp. of that so it wouldn't be overpowering. I used 8 eggs. I used 1/2 cup of sugar in the dressing (remember I doubled the recipe) and cut the mustard to 2-3 Tbsp. I used cider vinger and added some black pepper and garlic powder. I didn't have celery seed so I had to use celery salt and cut the amount down. I made this the afternoon before my function. I added just enough dressing to moisten at that time, then added some more before going to bed. I added the rest of the dressing the next morning and it needed every bit of it. I ended up making 1 more batch of dressing but only needed about 1/4 of it to moisten at the party I took it to. I'll use the extra dressing for egg salad or potato salad. I had quite a few people ask me for the recipe but my mother-in-law just had to tell me "it was o.k. but it was too sweet". No surprise there, she critiques everything I make! I will definitely make this again but would try to cut the prep down by boiling the eggs and making the dressing ahead of time. Thanks for a great recipe!
I used mayo (I hate salad dressing) and added a bit more dill relish. The resulting salad was delicious--the whole family loved it. It definitely makes way more dressing than you need, so I doubled the amount of macaroni. I think I'll cut down on the sugar a bit next time. This would be way too sweet if you used Miracle Whip instead of mayo.
SIMPLY FANTASTIC!!! I made this today to take to a friend of a friend's get together. I doubled the recipe as there were a lot of people expected. I also cut the sugar in half, and I added 2 cups Miracle Whip and 2 cups Blue Ribbon Mayo. Before we left I had my husband taste it, and he raved about it! :) At the get together everyone that tried it loved it and asked who made it! One lady whom I'd never met before today, approached me and said "Before you leave I HAVE to have the recipe for that macaroni salad!" LOL I thought, Well, I could mail it to her, but she wanted to serve it at a wedding in two days so we asked to use the host's computer to log on to All Recipes and I printed it out for her! AMAZING! The response to this salad was so wonderful! I will make this often! Cut down on the sugar at least by half - you won't be sorry you tried this FANTASTIC RECIPE! :) Thanks for sharing!
This was the best pasta salad I've ever made. I used the suggestions by previous reviewers and cut the sugar to only half a cup, and used an entire 12 oz box of pasta, because it does make a lot of sauce. Otherwise, followed the recipe to a T, and it was terrific. Rave reviews at a potluck for this one and many requests for the recipe.
The absolute best macaroni salad recipe I have ever found. I am not a big macaroni salad fan but I find myself craving this recipe. I also used half Hellmans & half Miracle Whip. Used 1/4 cup sugar and added cubed cheese.
8/4/05 - This was a big hit with my family. Kids and adults just loved it. Planning on making this again.
Fantastic! I used shell macaroni...should have used elbow. And I did use half of the sugar as suggested and used 5 hard boiled eggs. Best home made mac salad we've ever had!
This was very generic tasting, like any salad you could get from your supermarket. When I first made the dressing it tasted wonderful but after sitting it tasted so boring and generic this has possibility but needs more spice maybe some cayenne a little less sugar more dill it needs more va va va voom.
This was really good. I took the advice of others and reduced the sugare to about 1/4 of a cup. I think that it would have been way too sweet for my tastes if I had used the full 3/4 of a cup that the recipe calls for. I used chopped dill pickle in place of the relish. In my book, a five star recipe with the sugar reduction! Thank you Connie!
Wish I had read the reviews before making this salad! I did cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup, but this was WAY too much if using Miracle Whip. It might had been okay using regular mayo, but I agree with most that 1 to 2 T would have been sufficient, if used at all. Also, I used sweet pickle relish instead of dill relish, it seemed to make more sense to me. Otherwise, made as written and my husband did like it although I thought it was too sweet for my taste, hence the 4 star rating.
Very good tasting macaroni salad. I made it as the recipe is but used 1/4 cup sugar and seasoned rice vinegar. it I think I could have even cut the sugar down more since the vinegar was sweet. I agree that this is quite a bit of dressing - I used a full 16 oz box of macaroni and it appears to be plenty "saucy". I'll see tomorrow though, the pasta might soak a lot up. I would guess that the full box of pasta makes about 12+ cups of the salad. I cant wait for everyone to try it tomorrow at the picnin. I know that even the kids will like it, even though there are onions in it. I also used light kraft mayo, not mirical whip, but that's my taste preference. I will definitely make this again. I think of it as potato salad with pasta instead of potatoes.
This is a great salad - just an FYI if you are using plain mayo, youll need the full sugar amount - using Miracle whip - especially the no fat - you'll definitely have to cut the sugar way down. MW fat free is loaded with it! Take a look at the sugar in your dressing before adding extra. I didnt use celery, but I did add green pepper to the Red peppper wow what a looker (and taster!) Sometimes a little shredded carrot on top is also a great addition. If you dont have to, try not to skip the celery seed - it adds a little something. This is definitely a fantastic summer addition!
I cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup based on other reviews and it was perfect. Everyone loved it.
I give it a 5 star rating!!! Delicious! Based on personal preference only, I decreased the Miracle Whip to 1 1/4 cup, sugar to 1/4 cup and the mustard by half. I'm sure it's perfectly fine as written, but this is just the way my family prefers.
I cut back on the sugar as many reviews said, used Helmans light mayo and some sour cream as the base and cider vinegar ( thats all I had). Best macaroni salad, and even better the next day. It did get a bit dry over night so I just added a bit more mayo. This is our new family favorite. Update. Used Miracle Whip the second time. Way too sweet even with cutting the sugar down to 1/4 cup. No one in the family would eat it.
I read the reviews, so figured I would step outside the box and try another recipe other than my own. I am NOT sorry, it is way better than mine!! I did take the advice of several and cut the sugar down to about 1/3 c. I believe that was just right for our tastes. It is simply delicious and I plan to fix it again and again. Try it, you won't be sorry!!
Different than the tuna mac I am used to making but very good. I have made it twice in 3 days and both times upped it to serve 9, first time I only had a few tablespoons left after all was said and done. The first time I used a cup of sugar (again this was for 9 not 6) it was toooo much, so i tried to counter with some heat and it worked out ok. Today I decreased to a scant 3/4 cup. I skipped the red bell pepper and used fire roasted red pepper from a jar instead. I threw in an extra tbps of relish and rubbed the celery seed between my fingers to help release the flavor. Some people mentioned adding some cheese so I threw in a heavy handful of shredded cheddar jack. I know people can get kranky about reviewing a recipe after making changes but I wanted to share anyway. Good Stuff....ooohhhh and I used helmans cause thats what I always have, not miracle whip.
the ratio of macaroni to dressing is waaaayyy off. I doubled the macaroni and halved the dressing and still had to add more macaroni. As written, the recipe would be way too sweet. I used a quarter of the amount of sugar and still felt it was way too sweet...can't imagine using that much sugar. I did like the flavor combinations, however. Used red onion and added some shredded carrot both to add color to the dish. Need salt and pepper, and also added some paprika.
Very good recipe. I too reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup. I also used scallions instead of onions, they are milder. I added a bit of fresh parsely and chopped up the bread and butter chip pickles for the relish...seemed to go well.
Made this for a friend's b-day party and got many compliments and request for recipe. My favorite too!!
Loved this recipe. Reminded me of a pasta version of potato salad....and boy was it great. In my list of favorites and glad I have something like this to mix it up when your tired of your "traditional" pasta salads!!
Absolutely the best macaroni salad I've ever made at home. Yes, it does taste like some store-bought brands, but I've never been able to make macaroni salad as good as store bought before. I love the creamy dressing, mine always ended up dry in a short time. Yes, it is a little sweet, I think I will add less sugar next time I make it but overall it's definately a keeper. I will be making macaroni salad a lot more often in the future now that I have this recipe!
The salad is tooooo sweet for my taste. 3/4 cup sugar and white vinegar makes this salad really really sweet. If I try to make this again,I'll cut a lot of sugar and white vinagar.
Excellant if using only 1/4 cup sugar with miracle whip dressing. Otherwise too sweet. I use whole wheat pasta noodles with light miracle whip & 1/3 cup splenda to help with calories. Still Excellent!!!!
This salad is too sweet, too liquidy, and not apppealing to the eye. It was tryly disappointing.
Love this Macaroni Salad. This is my first foray into Macaroni salad, I generally make a vinegrette for pasta, but I'm was making this for others (Pot Luck). So followed this recipe almost exactly, a little less sugar. It needs to set overnight for the sugar to mellow out. As for Miracle Whip, I used to be a huge snob about MW, but I found some recipes just HAVE to have it, in order to get that just right flavor. Slaw and this salad are perfect examples. Thanks, I will make this again and again.
As written this recipe is FAR too sweet. I wish I had read the other reviews first, but was in a hurry.
This is a great salad, but I have to agree with others who reviewed this. It would probably be much better, in my opinion, using only 1/4 cup of sugar instead of the 3/4 that it calls for.
