Macaroni Salad
This macaroni salad recipe is all about being easy, fresh and healthy!
And because we find it important to learn how to cook all ingredients are easy to change to make your own macaroni salad recipe in no time!
When you have made this macaroni salad the next step is to make your own pasta salad! We will teach you the basics to become a chef of your own! Feel free to substitute any of the ingredients with what you like. For inspiration please click here!
This macaroni salad is a vegetarian recipe; however feel free to add bacon or chicken.
But don’t worry, we will add enough cheese and other goodies to make any meat lover fall in love with this macaroni salad!
Techniques you’ll learn with this recipe
- How to make an easy, cheap healthy creamy dressing
- What fresh herbs you can use to make a macaroni salad unforgettable
- When to add fresh herbs to keep them crunchy!
- When to add nuts! Keep those nuts crunchy!
With the recipe you want to invest
- About 25 minutes in the kitchen to prepare
- About $15 for a 4-6 person salad
Macaroni Salad step-by-step
Ingredients for an Macaroni Salad
| Ingredient | How much Imperial | How much Metric |
| Olive oil | 1 tablespoon | 1 tablespoon |
| Water to boil pasta | A big pan | A big pan |
| Penne or macaroni | 10 ounces | 300 grams |
| Greek Yoghurt | 3 ounce | 100 ml |
| Mayonnaise | 2 tablespoons | 2 tablespoons |
| Canned Baby Carrots | 3 ounces | 100 grams |
| Corn | 3 ounces | 100 grams |
| (Red) Onion | 1x onion | 1x onion |
| Bell pepper | 1x bell Pepper | 1x bell pepper |
| Tomatoes | 2 tomatoes | 2 tomatoes |
| Rocket | 1-2 ounces | 50 grams |
| Basil | 1-2 ounces | 50 grams |
| Feta cheese | 7 ounces | 200 grams |
| Cashew nuts | 4 ounces | 100 grams |
| Olives Green & Black | 4 ounces | 100 grams |
| Dried Oregano | 2 teaspoons | 2 teaspoons |
| Fresh Parsley | 1-2 ounces | 50 grams |
| Salt & Pepper | A pinch | A pinch |
Macaroni Salad Preparation
- Cut the onion in thin rings! The thinner, the better! Otherwise the taste of the onion is too strong!
- Cut the bell pepper in long thin slices, or any other shape you like
- Chop the tomatoes in wedges
- Take all the leaves from the basis and wash gently
- Take all the parsley from its stem and wash gently + chop a bit
- Mix the yoghurt & mayonnaise the mayonnaise will make the dressing less sour (from the yoghurt) and a bit creamier! Also add some salt, pepper and the dried oregano. However if you have other spices, such as thyme, curry or whatever just substitute these! Everything will do!
Macaroni Salad Cooking Instructions
- Start cooking the pasta al Dente. Read here how to cook pasta to perfection.
- We want the pasta to be cold, so you can just drain when ready
- Add all the canned vegetables to the (almost) cold pasta
- Add the chopped onion and the bell pepper!
- While you’re at it, add the olives as well! Why not huh!
- Also add the tomato wedges, please..
- Add the dressing! It should gently touch every single ingredient.
- Add some salt and ground black pepper to your taste!
- Add the fresh herbs and rocket to the salad just before you start eating! This keeps the herbs more fresh and more crunchy
- Add the cashew nuts to the macaroni salad just before you start eating! This keeps the nuts crunchy!
