Zesty Macaroni Salad, a medley of macaroni and fresh vegetables in a creamy, spicy mayo dressing, perfect make-ahead dish for any picnic, party, barbecue etc.!
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Summer is upon us and we are all reaching out for something cool, refreshing and healthy. Salads spell summer to me!
Any jaunt to a local salad bar or any buffet and I am first checking to see if they have any pasta salad on their menu! I love any salad but with some pasta in it, try and keep me away from that bowl!
SECRET TO A CREAMY AND ZESTY PASTA SALAD:
What makes a salad special and delicious is mainly the dressing. Next to an oil and vinegar dressing, my favorite is a CREAMY mayonnaise dressing.
My preferred mayo is an eggless one but you could use the one with eggs too. To spice it up a bit or zest it up, I reached out to our quintessential hot sauce – Maggi Tomato Chilli Sauce which we use to dunk our pakoras, bhajias/fritters, samosas, spring rolls etc.
Add just a couple of splashes of the hot sauce depending upon how sweet and spicy you want your dressing. Sriracha sauce or any other hot sauce too could do the trick too.
Most of my mayo dressings have a dash of vinegar in it for the right tang. It could be white vinegar or even apple cider vinegar. Hate vinegar? No worries; squeeze in some fresh lemon/lime juice.
Whisk all of this together and taste to adjust the amounts according to taste.
If you are not a big fan of mayo, then use thick yogurt instead like Greek yogurt!
HOW TO MAKE PASTA SALAD:
First cook the pasta in plenty of water according to instructions on the box. You can use any small pasta you like or have. It could be penne, rotini, shell, bow tie, macaroni etc. Drain and set aside to cool.
While the pasta is boiling, prep the rest of the ingredients.
Now, coming to the vegetables, the sky is the limit! I love a good crunch in my salad to complement the creaminess of the mayo dressing and soft macaroni! I cannot think of anything other than fresh, crispy bell peppers/capsicum and crunchy celery!
I love onions, so I have to sprinkle in some finely chopped red onions too. You could add chopped cucumbers for a cool contrast in textures but I was out of it.
Chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes do add a good splash of color in any salad but today, I decided to settle in for chopped red bell pepper instead.
Of course, my all-time favorite in any mayo salad is pickled dill from a jar. My family loves these in sandwiches, as a snack and of course in salads! Just slice them up and stir in as much or as little as you like!
Use any vegetable you love in a salad; more options in the main recipe notes.
Once the dressing is ready and the other salad ingredients are prepped up, all you need to do is mix them up to combine thoroughly, cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Remove just before serving. Give it a good stir and serve chilled. Stays fresh for up to a day or two; later than that and the vegetables lose their freshness and turn limpy and soft! Perfect make ahead dish don’t you think?
This took me less than 30 minutes to put together! Now how easy is that? I could make a whole meal out of this! This creamy, crunchy, refreshing macaroni salad was so good, it was gone in no time! Now, I am getting ready to make another batch!
Do try this easy peasy, filling, nutritious salad full of healthy vegetables and pasta in a creamy, dreamy, spicy dressing soon foodie friends! Your family will love you more for it!
Enjoy and Happy Cooking!
For more salads to add to your recipe repertoire, do check out these:
- Zesty Three-Bean Salad with Walnuts and Pomegranate
- Fresh Greek Salad
- Tabouli/Middle Eastern Salad
- Mango, Mung Bean Sprouts and Corn Salad
- Tangy, Spicy Marinated Mushroom Salad
ZESTY MACARONI SALAD
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked macaroni 1 cup uncooked
- 3 large dill pickles sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper/capsicum chopped
- ½ green red bell pepper/capsicum chopped
- 1/3 cup red onion chopped
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup green peas fresh or frozen
- 2 celery sticks chopped
For the mayonnaise dressing:
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise with our without eggs
- 1 to 2 tsp Dijon mustard or any yellow mustard paste you have to taste
- 1 tsp white vinegar/apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons red chilli sauce or according to taste I have used Maggi Hot & Sweet Tomato chilli sauce
- Splash of Sriracha or any other hot sauce optional
Instructions
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Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain; rinse and set aside to cool.
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In a large bowl, whisk or mix to combine mayonnaise, mustard, chili sauce, vinegar and Sriracha sauce.
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Stir in cooked and cooled macaroni along with the rest of the ingredients.
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Do a taste test and adjust the amount of mayo, vinegar, mustard or hot sauce according to preference.
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Cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap and chill until serving time; stays good for up to 2 days.
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Serve chilled (stir before serving).
Recipe Notes
- Use any kind of small pasta you prefer; it could be macaroni, rotini pasta, penne, shell, bow tie or even spaghetti!
- Adjust the amount of sauce ingredients according to taste. If you are not a fan of mayo, then use any thick yogurt like Greek yogurt instead.
- Add more or less of the vegetables as you like.
- Along with the above mentioned vegetables, you can also use boiled potatoes, chopped/grated carrots, boiled and cubed beetroots (stir in the end in order not to color the whole salad red!), finely chopped kale, cubed paneer (Indian cottage cheese) etc.
- You can also mix in chopped herbs like dill, cilantro/coriander leaves, dried oregano, crushed Italian seasoning mix, black pepper powder etc. The possibilities are endless!
- Non-vegetarians can stir in cooked chicken, boiled shrimp, boiled and chopped eggs etc.
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