Mom's macaroni salad

I love love love a delicious bowl of homemade macaroni salad. Thinking about all the tasteful ingredients and seasonings of vibrant flavor is what makes it more special instead of the regular plain store bought macaroni salad.

It is not only about how it looks on the plate, but how it taste.

My mother makes a wonderful macaroni salad with a twist. The Hawaiian style recipe just may make you not ever want go back to the plain traditional mac salad.

Her easy recipe folds perfectly cooked pasta into a creamy mayonnaise dressing with grated carrot & fragrant spices. Hawaiian mac salad is an ideal side dish for a classic plate lunch, summer cookouts, potlucks, & so much more.

My mom was born & raised in Honolulu. She moved my siblings and i to the united states when i was just seven years old. She loved to cook and make different dishes for our family gatherings. In Hawaii, mac salad is served at family potlucks, backyard cookouts, restaurants, food trucks, & just about everywhere in between. Aside from rice, it’s probably the most popular side dish on the islands.

Mom’s Hawaiian mac salad is her most well-loved dish among our family & friends.

I'm so excited to finally share it with you today!

>SPICES: My mom uses the littlest bit of paprika & turmeric, which creates an eye-catching orange hue. We’re obsessed with the extra flavor they provide!

>PASTA: An elbow pasta is the sure way to go and makes all the difference when it comes to the mac salad being hearty.

You just need a few simple ingredients to make this mac salad recipe...

Dry elbow macaroni – Elbow-style macaroni is classic for Hawaiian mac salad, but you can also use any other short pasta you like or sub in gluten-free pasta if needed.

Best Foods Real Mayonnaise – You may be familiar with the brand Hellman's which will work fine.

Carrot – A bit of grated carrot adds a little texture & some color.

Granulated sugar – Just a tiny bit, to help balance the richness of the mayo dressing.

Spices – Mom likes to use Lawry’s seasoned salt in her mac salad, which is not traditional but we think it’s the secret ingredient that makes her recipe so special & crave-worthy. I don’t stock my kitchen with Lawry’s, so you’ll see this mac salad recipe uses a blend of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, turmeric, & cayenne pepper to replicate its spiced flavor.

Now that you know the ingredients , we can begin the few simple steps to preparing my mother's favorite dish. Hawaiian style mac salad is definitely a summer food that i can't resist.

1) Boil the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water & cook your macaroni (or mac salad pasta of choice) to al dente. Classic Hawaiian macaroni salad is made with very tender noodles, so this is not especially traditional but I prefer the little bit of texture al dente pasta adds.

Once cooked, drain the pasta, rinse with cold water, & set aside. While I don’t typically condone rinsing cooked noodles, pasta salad is the exception. Rinsing the pasta shocks the macaroni, preventing it from continuing to cook & wilting the other ingredients in the mac salad.

2) Combine grated carrot, Mayonnaise, sugar, & spices to a large bowl, then add the cooled elbow macaroni. Season with salt & ground black pepper, then stir to combine until every piece of macaroni is coated evenly.

3) I love to add some finely sliced green onions or chives to a bowl of Hawaiian mac salad for a little pop of extra color before serving. Enjoy right away once prepared!

This is a pure comfort food and can be paired with a hamburger or hotdogs at your next summer family cookout. I have a feeling that everyone will love it !

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