Every event I bring this creamy pasta salad to gets rave reviews. It’s also really simple to make. I’ve searched high and low for a fantastic macaroni salad, and here it is! I always make an additional half-batch of the dressing and add it as needed to add more moisture since the pasta soaks up so much sauce. I like my salads to have a lot of creamy dressing because of this.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
Ingredients
- 3 cups elbow macaroni
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
- 1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow bell pepper
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- ½ cup finely chopped carrots
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 minutes.
- While the macaroni is cooking, mix salt, dry mustard, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, white pepper, and black pepper together in a small bowl.
- Whisk mayonnaise, evaporated milk, and sour cream together in a large salad bowl until smooth and creamy. Stir in seasoning mix until well blended.
- Drain and rinse macaroni under cold water until cooled. Drain again.
- Add macaroni, onion, celery, carrots, and bell peppers to the salad bowl; mix until well combined and coated with dressing.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 341 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 18 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 377 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My niece made this and I liked it. Fortunately, she left out the green peppers. But what I found intriguing about it was that, while I didn’t like the sauce as much as other mac salads I’ve had, the overall flavor was much more complex than is typical and I ended up really liking it, much to my surprise. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
In honor of Father’s Day I made this for my husband because it was something his dad would make during the summer as a treat twice a year. He always added peas. So that was the only addition, and the only omission was celery- they don’t like texture of celery – so I added celery powder instead. It was delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Made it according to the recipe. Very good. I found no reasons to tweak it.
Big hit
This is the BEST recipe for macaroni salad that I’ve made!!! Definitely worth a try.
So, so good. Thank you!
No made it just the way they said, but i did add a little more pepper.
Really good recipe to play with!
Best macaroni salad I ever made! I will make this my new “go to” recipe. Made for Easter and it got rave reviews. I like the mix of dry spices in this recipe, I think that is what makes it so special. The only change I made was I did not have evaporated milk, so I just used 2%. I also did not have any peppers, so I used finely chopped white onion, and chopped celery and carrots. Absolutely delish!
Too sweet, going to try a. Different recipe, Family didn’t care for this one
This is hands down the best macaroni salad I’ve ever made. Usually I tweak the recipes. This one was fine like it was. If you like it a little more creamy just add more milk.
no peppers
Excellent! Super creamy dressing. Only used 2 cups of macaroni, but same amount of dressing
I made this for our 4th of July party and it was a hit. I made it exactly as described and I don’t like raw onions, but in they went. I don’t like to see in the reviews someone saying it was or wasn’t good after they say how many things They’ve changed. So I make it as is first and then if I want to tweak it, I will do that the next time, this doesn’t need any tweaks. I even had several people ask me for the recipe. Also my youngest grandson who is a very picky eater came back for THIRDS!! So try it first the way it is written, you won’t be disappointed!!
I added some sour pickle relish. Extremely great recipe
Great summertime cookout salad. I added more veggies and the salad was not dry at all.
I enjoyed this salad. I didn’t have evaporated milk. I had sour cream and milk i used in place with a bit of sugar. Tasty. I used double amount of veggies. Served it at a bbq and it was a hit.
Creamy and tasty, I will diffidently make this again. Maybe add some hard boiled eggs next time.
Yum
First time ever making this type of salad. Easy and delicious
I made it exactly as the recipe specified. Everyone liked it but some commented that it needed more seasoning. Maybe next time I’ll double those. I thought the amount of dressing was sufficient, still very creamy the net day.