Shirley’s Classic Pasta Salad Recipe

How Do You Make Macaroni Salad? 

Here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when you make homemade macaroni salad:

1. Cook the macaroni in salted water. 
2. Mix the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard, and seasonings. 
3. Stir in the macaroni and remaining ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator.

• 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ⅔ cup white sugar
• ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• ¼ cup grated carrot (Optional)
• 2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers (Optional)

Step 1: Gather all ingredients.

Step 2: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.

Step 3: Mix mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and macaroni together in a large bowl.

Step 4: Stir in celery, onion, green pepper, carrot, and pimentos.

Step 5: Refrigerate salad for at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.

 

The box of Muelers macaroni I had on the shelf was a large macaroni with ridges which was a surprise to me! I believe the box was 8oz rather large

I substituted green pepper with red and yellow peppers

Decreased white sugar to about a 1/2 cup 

Added “sugar free” sweet relish, didn’t measure but it was probably 1/4 cup or so.