How to make the best creamy pasta salad with an easy creamy dressing and crisp, colorful vegetables. We love this easy macaroni salad recipe!
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I love this creamy pasta salad (often called macaroni salad). The dressing is simple and delicious. I keep the sugar level low for this salad and only use a slight drizzle of honey or maple syrup in my creamy dressing, but you can increase this for a sweeter salad.
For more pasta salad recipes, see our easy pasta salad (not creamy) and this lemon orzo pasta salad.
Key Ingredients
- Elbow macaroni: To make this a macaroni salad, use elbow macaroni or substitute it with any small pasta shape (small shells and spiral shapes work nicely). After cooking the pasta, rinse it before tossing it with the dressing. Rinsing removes extra starch, which makes the dressing sticky.
- Veggies: I love some fresh crunch in my pasta salads. So, I add finely chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, and radish. Before you add the onion, allow it to soak in cold water for a few minutes, which tones down the raw flavor.
- Pickles: I use dill pickles in this pasta salad, but you can use a sweet pickle instead. Here are our recipes for dill pickles and bread and butter pickles.
- Creamy dressing: My favorite creamy pasta salad dressing combines sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and a touch of honey or maple syrup. It’s easy to make and tastes incredible.
How to Make Macaroni Salad
When it comes to making a cold, creamy pasta salad, keep these tips in mind:
When you cook the pasta, undercook it slightly. I follow the package directions and set my timer for a minute or two before it should be done. Then, I rinse the pasta under cold water before tossing it with the salad dressing. If you’ve ever made pasta salad that turned sticky, not rinsing the pasta before tossing it with the dressing could be the reason.
For the dressing of our macaroni salad, I love using a slightly adapted version of this potato salad dressing (it gets rave reviews). Instead of only using mayonnaise, which can make the salad heavy, we combine the mayonnaise with sour cream. Since the sour cream is tangy, it lifts the flavors of the dressing, just as fresh lemon juice would to other dishes.
I make my dressing in the bottom of a big bowl, then add the cooked (and rinsed) macaroni and the veggies. I give it a really good toss and then taste for seasoning. You might find that it need a bit more salt. Then, I store the salad in my fridge until ready to serve!
Storing Creamy Pasta Salad
Store your creamy pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Pasta salad improves on the second day, so this is a perfect make-ahead recipe! I do not recommend freezing pasta salad (the dressing does not freeze and thaw well).
Don’t leave macaroni salad at room temperature for longer than 2 hours when serving it (because of the creamy dressing).
What to Serve with Creamy Pasta Salad
We often serve this salad during the summer. I love it with turkey burgers, grilled chicken, and grilled salmon. It’s perfect with pulled pork and these hoisin sticky ribs.
Potato salad is also excellent when served next to other sides, such as our creamy potato salad, watermelon feta salad, easy bean salad, and creamy cucumber salad.
Perfect Creamy Macaroni Pasta Salad
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
The key to the best creamy pasta salad is to rinse the cooked pasta under cold water before tossing it with the dressing. Skipping this step means the dressing will be sticky. We also “de-flame” the onion, which tames the raw onion flavor so that it does not take over the salad. A quick bath in cold water does the trick. Use elbow macaroni for macaroni salad or other small pasta shapes (like small shells or ditalini).
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
For the Salad8 ounces (226g) dry elbow macaroni or small pasta shape
1/4 medium red onion, finely chopped, about 1/4 cup
1 medium bell pepper, seeds removed and chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped, about 1/3 cup
3 radishes, trimmed and finely chopped, about 1/3 cup
1 to 2 medium dill pickles, finely chopped, optional
For the Dressing1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise, try our homemade mayonnaise
1 ½ tablespoons yellow mustard, substitute Dijon or whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons honey, optional for sweet version
Directions
1Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and rinse well under cold water to remove starch from the outside of the pasta.
2Meanwhile, add the chopped onions to a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes and then drain. This tones down the raw flavor of the onion so that it won’t overpower the salad.
3Make the dressing in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Whisk the sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.
4For a sweeter macaroni salad, add honey or maple syrup to taste. I typically add half a tablespoon, but try one to two tablespoons if you enjoy sweeter macaroni salads.
5Add the rinsed macaroni, drained onions, bell pepper, celery, radish, and the pickle to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well. Taste, then adjust with additional salt and pepper.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Keep the pasta salad, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- You can substitute the mayonnaise for low-fat mayo and some or all of the sour cream called for in the recipe with yogurt. The yogurt will make the dressing a bit tangy, but it will still taste great.
- Dairy/Egg Free Options: Use vegan mayonnaise (here’s our homemade recipe) and a dairy-free sour cream.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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This was fantastic!! I added a tblspoon of sugar instead of the honey. I added cucumbers and shredded a carrot and subbed rotini for elbows. Everyone loved it- thought it was so crunchy and fresh-will be a go to pasta salad recipe.
I am so glad you tried our recipe, Melissa. Thanks for coming back.