It's still summer and y'all know what that means? There’s still time for some outdoor get-togethers and Bar-B-Q's with some good old fashioned foods.
One of my favorite foods for these type of things is macaroni salad. I love the creaminess and sweet tangy taste of this stuff. Even more so than potato salad, and I love me some tater salad!
Funny thing is, I've never made macaroni salad until a couple weeks ago. Sad but true. I always bought my macaroni salad at the store (Gasp!).
Now the first time I made my mom's macaroni salad, I used Miracle Whip, even though the recipe calls for mayonnaise. Yes, I'm one of "those" people who prefer Miracle Whip over mayonnaise because of the tanginess it brings to foods.
However, that batch of macaroni salad I made with my all-time favorite Miracle Whip was watery after a few days in the fridge. Plus, I felt like it needed a creamier mayonnaise. Yes, I hate to admit it, but Miracle Whip failed me on this recipe.
Needless to say, I opted for Dukes mayonnaise on my second batch of macaroni salad. And the results were just what I was looking for! A thick and ultra-creamy mayonnaise that didn't get all watered down on me after a couple days in the fridge. As you can see from the photos, Dukes mayonnaise made my macaroni salad creamy and Oh so good!
By the way, since living out here in Georgia, I've noticed some products are named differently than on the West coast. Like Hellman's mayonnaise out here is known as Best Foods mayonnaise in California. So if you don't have Dukes mayonnaise where you live, see if it's known by another name. Because Dukes is a must ingredient for this macaroni salad!
Food for fun, just how many times did I say macaroni salad? Were you paying attention? Count them and let me know how many “macaroni salads” there are in this post in the comments below.
Macaroni Salad
Macaroni Salad, a classic summer salad.
Prep time: 20 minutesCook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes + chilling time
Yield: a whole lotta macaroni salad
Ingredients
- 1 box (16 ounces) Elbow macaroni
- 4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 2 and 1/2 cups chopped celery
- 12 to 20 (add to taste) sweet gherkins (pickles), diced
- 3 teaspoons sweet pickle juice
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (can add more if needed to taste)
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
- 2 and 1/2 cups Dukes mayonnaise
- Prepare macaroni noodles as directed on box. Drain and rinse with cool water.
- As noodles drain, prepare other ingredients by dicing and measuring out.
- After noodles have drained and cooled, place all ingredients into a large serving bowl and mix together well.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with diced gherkins.
- Cover and place in refrigerator to let chill or serve immediately.
- Best served chilled and after ingredients have "married".
*Helpful Hints*
- Prepare eggs ahead of time so they are cooled by the time you add them into the macaroni salad.
Disclaimer ~ This is not a paid post by Dukes mayonnaise. I have no affiliation with them. I just found their mayonnaise to be the best. Sorry Miracle Whip!
All content and images are property of Sweet and Spicy Monkey. Please do not reprint this content without my permission. If you wish to include this recipe on your site, please re-write in your own words and use your own photographs and link back to this post for original recipe.
