I just love picnic food so it should be no surprise that I just love when Memorial Day rolls around because it means that picnic food is here and not going anywhere for a few glorious months! What could be better than cold fried chicken, lemonade and macaroni salad? Not a whole lot in my book.
This macaroni salad recipe happens to be my favorite so I wanted to be sure to share it with you before the holiday weekend hits. It’s super creamy and has some of my favorite ingredients – pasta, bacon, vinegar and pickles (I know vinegar is a weird thing to love but I do).
I like to use Barilla Plus pasta for this because it tastes just as good as regular pasta but is much better for you. Also, the box is a little less than a pound so there is an increased saucy-ness to the salad which is always a good thing to me.
- 1 lb. large elbow macaroni, cooked to desired tenderness
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
- 1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion
- 1 small red sweet bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
- 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup pickle relish (I chop up Claussen pickles because they are my favorite)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon celery seed
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
- Mix cooled macaroni, celery, onions and bell pepper together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, pickle relish, sugar, salt, pepper and celery seed, stirring well.
- Stir dressing into the macaroni mixture.
- Stir in the crumbled bacon. Serve chilled. Best if made the night before.
May 25, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Your Creamy Macaroni Salad looks awesome, just in time for the upcoming holiday! Hope you have a very special week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen