Nothing says Fourth of July to me than a good Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad or a Potato Salad. Just like my potato salad I learned how to make this macaroni salad from my grandmother.
Our macaroni salad is made with miracle whip for added flavor in the dressing. The salad is loaded with elbow noodles, celery, red and green bell pepper, diced ham, and shredded cheddar cheese.
To me, the best types of recipes are ones that are handed down from family member to family member. This salad reminds me a lot of my grandma and her love of cooking for her family that she had. By far she has been the biggest influence on my cooking.
Macaroni Salad Recipe With Miracle Whip Dressing
I always thought macaroni salad was difficult to make but the more I have grown in my cooking I have found that this recipe has to be one of the simplest to make.
I started by putting a large pot of water on to boil, and like grandma always said: "A watched pot never boils."
So while the water was heating up I started prepping my veggies. I diced celery, onion, and both green and red pepper. I did cheat a little and bought a ham that was already diced, it comes in a nice little package that you will need to drain the water off of.
Take a mild cheddar cheese brick and cut it in half, saving one half for another recipe. The half that I needed for this recipe I cubed into bite-size chunks. While I was prepping all the veggies my water did come to a full boil, adding my elbow noodles into the boiling water.
To help make the noodles not stick I added a little bit of olive oil. When the macaroni was fully cooked I drained the water off of the noodles. Place the noodles into a large bowl.
Mixing The Macaroni Salad Up
In the large bowl that I had the macaroni noodles in I added all my cut-up veggies, ham, and cubed cheese. Sitting this aside I started to make my dressing.
In a smaller bowl, I added Miracle Whip, a squirt of yellow mustard, a little sugar to sweeten the miracle whip up a bit, and milk. Mixing this up really well to help dissolve the sugar.
Once the dressing is all mixed together I poured it into the bowl with the other ingredients. Folding the dressing into the ingredients until everything had a nice coating of this delicious dressing.
Placing plastic wrap over my bowl I then placed my Macaroni Salad into the refrigerator to cool down. The longer this sits and cools the better it is but I also like eating it when it's a bit on the warm side.
Questions Answered
Miracle Whip is sweeter than mayo because of the added sugar and spices. Mayonnaise is tangy and rich. The overall flavor of macaroni salad does depend on if you use miracle whip or mayo.
If you chill the macaroni before you mix in the mayo or miracle whip dressing. The heat from the warm noodles will cause the dressing to separate in the salad.
You sure can! Mayo will change the overall flavor of this recipe though. If you replace the miracle whip with mayo you may want to adjust the amount of sugar added to the recipe.
This Old Fashion Macaroni Salad pairs really well with my Sloppy Joe's recipe.
- Broccoli Cranberry Salad With Bacon
- Baked Beans
- Taco Salad
- Potato Salad
- Instant Pot Chili Macaroni
- Cheeseburger Macaroni~ Instant Pot
- Egg Salad Sandwich
- Strawberry Jello Fruit Salad
Head over to My Creative Manner's Youtube channel to see videos on how to make our delicious recipes.
Old Fashion Macaroni Salad
This Old Fashion Macaroni Salad is the tastiest Macaroni Salad you will ever try. Loaded with veggies, diced ham, cheese and coated with a creamy dressing.
Ingredients
Salad Part
- 3 Cups Water Bring to boil
- 3 Cups Elbow Noodles
- 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
- ¼ Cup Sweet Onion Finely Diced
- 2 Stalks Celery Diced
- ½ Medium Size Green Pepper Diced
- ½ Medium Size Red Pepper Diced
- 8 Ounces Diced Ham
- 4 Ounces Mild Cheddar Cheese Cubbed
For the Dressing
- 2 Cups Miracle Whip
- 1 Teaspoon Yellow Mustard
- 1 ½ Teaspoons Sugar
- ¼ Cup Milk
Instructions
Salad Part
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Add water to a large saucepan and bring to a full boil.
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Once water is fully boiling add the elbow noodles and olive oil to the saucepan. (olive oil helps the noodles from sticking)
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Cook until done. (I normally just taste a noodle to see if it's cooked all the way)
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Drain the water from the noodles and place the noodles into a large bowl
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Into the large bowl with the noodles add the finely diced sweet onion, the diced celery, green and red peppers, the diced ham, and the cubed cheddar cheese.
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Set bowl aside
For the Dressing
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In a smaller bowl combine the Miracle Whip, mustard, sugar and milk until sugar is dissolved.
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Pour dressing mixture onto the salad mixture.
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Fold all the ingredients together, making sure to have a nice coating on everything
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Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until Macaroni Salad is cool.
Recipe Notes
The nutritional value may vary depending on the ingredients used.
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Amy
Looks delicious!
Jennifer
Thank you, It is! Hope you try it.
Caroline
This looks and sounds delicious! Perfect for summer entertaining 🙂
Jennifer
Thank you! Yes, it's an easy dish to put together for that summer party you might have.