One of my favourite summer dishes is a creamy tangy macaroni salad. Nothing says summer quite like a classic carb filled side that’s SO easy to make and will last days refrigerated.
This Classic side dish will bring back amazing memories.
Food nostalgia is a powerful feeling that brings us back to a place and time with certain people that mean, or meant something to us.
We all have memories that certain ingredients, dishes, and food items bring back as they reach sight smell taste and hear.
Macaroni salad had always been a nostalgic dish for me.
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I loved it as a child and can still remember the feeling of eating it on lunch at daycare. I loved the daycare I went to. The dish also reminds me of family picnics in the summer.
The smell is something i’ll never forget. But oftentimes it difficult to recreate a recipe exactly, especially if you can’t remember where it originated from.
The Recipe
A few years back I was searching for macaroni salad recipes online when I came across one that sounded good.
To this day I can’t remember the website it came from, but the recipe is the closest thing I’ve found to the one I ate at daycare.
Note: If you don’t like mayonnaise (this is often a debated topic) this recipe isn’t for you.
The combination of creamy, tang, and spice is so lovely you’ll definitely want to add the dish to your summer BBQ or picnic menu.
For other summer recipes see my Pinterest food board, it’s loaded with them and they’re super easy to recreate!
I make this every summer, it’s easy quick and very inexpensive.
How to Make The Best Creamy Tangy Macaroni Salad Recipe Ever
Recipe:
- 1/4 cup of red onion
- 3/4 cup of mayo (or veganise)
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of mustard
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
- 8 oz macaroni (your choice)
- 1 cup of chopped celery
- 1 cup of chopped green pepper
- 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese
Step 1: Cook your macaroni of choice, drain and let cool
Step 2: Put your cooked macaroni into a large bowl and add mayo, mustard, vinegar, pepper, sugar, and salt. Then mix.
Step 4: Add in green peppers, red onion, cheese, celery. Mix and let sit for 30 minutes for the flavours to marry.
How to Serve Macaroni Salad
The best part is you can serve this with so many main dishes like chicken, burgers, hot dogs, steak, salad, watermelon, sandwiches, honestly you name it!
You can even serve it as a main and add in protein of your choice. The possibilities are endless.
I made this batch last week and ate the whole thing myself, so I plan on making it again to share with friends this summer.
If you are on a budget this summer this would be the perfect food item to bring to a small BBQ since all of the ingredients are either, something you already have at home or something that’s very inexpensive to buy.
Pro Tip:
Pair is with a spicy dish or a citrus beverage like lemonade or margaritas.
The creaminess of the mayonnaise cuts the spice and adds a nice contrast to citrus, that’s how I’ve been eating it personally and love the flavours.
I hope you guys liked this recipe! Making simple and easy recipes you can whip up really quickly is what you’ll find in the food section on this blog.
If you have any additions you like adding to your macaroni salad please let me know in the comments below!
