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This simple, creamy macaroni salad is loaded with pasta, peas, and ham. It’s perfect for parties, family dinners, and potlucks!
There are a few salad recipes that I always make in the summertime, including this macaroni salad! We also love our other version – Chicken Macaroni Salad!
Quick + Easy Pasta Salad
In search of a great pasta salad dish to bring to your next family dinner?
This macaroni salad is it! It’s also great for picnics, BBQs, showers, brunches, and all of the holidays, especially summer ones!
I like to make a big batch of this classic macaroni salad because it always serves a ton of people. It’s super yummy served on the side of other main dishes or it can be served by itself as a lunch or dinner dish.
How to Make Macaroni Salad
This easy macaroni salad recipe comes together in minutes!
PASTA. Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
In a large bowl, combine cooked macaroni, ham, and peas.
DRESSING. In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise, milk, and ranch dressing.
COMBINE. Add dressing to the pasta and mix until coated.
SEASON + SERVE. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir in any additional desired mix-ins and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Variations
I like to keep my macaroni salad recipe simple especially when I’m serving it for a large crowd. However, there are so many delicious mix-in ideas that you can use for your family.
You can even have the mix-ins on the side for people to add themselves. The mix-ins can spruce up the flavor as well as add texture and color.
- Add diced celery, tomatoes, red bell peppers, black olives, or sliced radishes.
- Use sweet pickles or even sweet pickle relish.
- Add chopped red onion or scallions.
- Add in a diced Boiled Egg or two.
- Add cheese chunks-cheddar cheese or Colby jack is yummy.
- Season with garlic powder, fresh parsley, and paprika.
- Add a dab of Dijon mustard or a splash of apple cider vinegar.
- Use tuna or chicken instead of ham.
- Add a bit of crunch with chow mein noodles.
Perfect Pasta tips
Not only is pasta the main ingredient in the recipe for macaroni salad it is what can make or break the recipe. Take note because macaroni salad breaks a couple of my pasta rules.
Cooking pasta. This is one of the few pasta recipes that you DON’T want al dente (broken rule 1). If you don’t cook the macaroni long enough, then the sauce won’t stick very well. However, you also don’t want to overcook it. Check the package directions for the perfect middle time.
Rinse. Drain, rinse with cold water (broken rule 2), and then chill the macaroni noodles while you whip up the sauce. If you add sauce to warm pasta the sauce will melt right off. The pasta also needs to be somewhat dry for the sauce to stick to each piece of macaroni.
Chill. Once the salad is mixed, allow time for all the ingredients and flavors to marry while it chills in the fridge.
Making this for a crowd. I would plan for ½ cup which is about 5 ounces per person.
Pasta shape. Anything that is bite-sized and has grooves that will cling deliciously to the dressing will work. Some ideas include: shell (small or medium), wagon wheel, bow tie, penne, and rotini.
storing info
This best macaroni salad is perfect for picnics and potlucks, but this means often leaving it out for a while and sometimes in warm temperatures. It’s not recommended for any food to be left out for longer than 2 hours at room temperature and less in the heat. Here are a couple of tips to help when serving:
- Only set out a little at a time and leave the rest in a cooler with ice.
- Set the bowl of macaroni salad inside a large bowl with ice in it.
Make it ahead of time. Easy macaroni salad can be made ahead of time. In fact, I like to make mine the day before and let all the flavors blend. If you do make this the day before, I suggest leaving a little dressing out so that you can freshen it up if it gets a little dry.
STORE. Leftover classic macaroni salad can be stored, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days. If it gets dry, mix up a little bit more macaroni salad dressing and re-toss.
Complete Your Picnic
Add some of these other classic recipes to your upcoming picnic:
- Chicken Salad
- Pasta Salad Recipe
- Deviled Eggs
- How to Cut a Watermelon
- Easy Fruit Salad
- Homemade Brownies
Recipe FAQ
Salting the water beautifully seasons the pasta. Once the water is boiling, right before adding the macaroni, you’ll want to add 1½ tablespoons of salt per pound of pasta to the pot.
Some common mistakes when making macaroni salad include using pasta that is too big or too small, over or undercooking, not seasoning it enough, not rinsing the noodles with cold water, and storing it for too long causing it to dry out.
This usually isn’t a problem when the salad is served soon after making it, but if you want to make it in advance you could toss the cooked macaroni in a bit of olive oil before adding the mayonnaise dressing.
For More Pasta Salad Recipes, Try:
Macaroni Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 24 ounces (or 6 cups) elbow macaroni
- 1½ cups cubed ham
- 1 (12-ounce) bag frozen peas thawed
- 1½ cups mayonnaise
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup ranch dressing
- salt and black pepper to taste
- paprika to taste
Instructions
- Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked macaroni, ham, and peas.
- In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise, milk, and ranch dressing.
- Add dressing to the pasta and mix until coated.
- Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir in any additional desired mix-ins and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love your blog it’s always fun with amazing recipes and great ideas 😊
Thank you so much!! So happy to have you here!
I just had this at a get together and loved it, but when she sent me your recipe to make it I was shocked at the amount of salt in it. Is there truly 1/4 cup of salt in this? When I spoke with the one who made it she said she did not put that in because she thought it was a typo.. Thank you for a great recipe !
I’m so glad you enjoyed the macaroni salad! The salt is added to the pasta water… you can definitely adjust the amount used. Just as long as the water is salted a bit before cooking the pasta. 🙂 No other salt is added into the salad though.
The salt goes into the water when you boil the noodles.
Looks yummy a typical Pilipino favorites
Do you use smoked paprika or regular? Also, can I cut the recipe in half?
I just use regular, but you can use smoked if you prefer that flavor. And yes, you can certainly half the recipe!
Very tasty but the milk made it too “loose”. I think minus the milk it would be perfect. I also added some hard boiled eggs and onions. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
You’re welcome! The addition of the eggs and onions sound tasty! Thanks for giving the recipe a try.
I depend on LI’L LUNA RECIPES. ALWAYS EASY N AWESOME
Oh thank you so much for your sweet words. That means so much!
Help!! This salad sounds amazing, but I only have about 1/4 a cup of ranch & I don’t have time to run & get more! Any suggestions for a substitute for the rest of the called for 1/2 cup??
You could improvise a bit and add to the ranch dressing you already have by combining together about 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp sour cream and a little bit of milk until smooth. You could also add dill, parsley, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper if you have any on hand. Hope this helps!
It is such a simple and very easy-to-make macaroni salad recipe. Very delicious and highly recommended!
Wonderfully easy! So full of great flavor! I whipped this up in no time and let it sit in my fridge overnight. The flavor of this was fantastic and I loved how easy it was to get prepped ahead of time! I only needed a tiny bit of extra dressing to freshen it up. Perfect.
I served it with grilled chicken and we could not get enough, the bowl was cleaned out!! Awesome side.
Yay! That makes me so happy! Thanks for sharing!