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Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad. The forerunner of modern pasta salads. Creamy, cool, sweet and tart. Full of flavor and nostalgia.
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3.32 from 16 votes

Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad

Served chilled, this salad is creamy, cool, tart and sweet.  A great combination of flavors and nostalgia. I prefer the mild flavor of rice vinegar in this recipe.

Ingredients

  • cook the macaroni:
  • 4 cups dried elbow macaroni
  • salt
  • 1 tablespoons cooking oil
  • sauce:
  • 1 cup Duke's mayonnaise
  • 4 ounces jarred pimento
  • 2/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 celery stalks finely diced
  • 1 medium sweet onion finely diced
  • 1 cup grated carrot about 2 medium

Instructions

  • Cook elbow macaroni, in boiling salted water, according to package direction. Add one tablespoon cooking oil to the water before it boils. Don't over cook the macaroni. Seven minutes is about all you need.
  • While the macaroni cooks, prepare the sauce. Or you can prepare the sauce ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready for use. However you decide to do it is your preference.
  • But listen to me: have the sauce ready to go because you need to mix the drained macaroni in the sauce while the macaroni is still hot. That's the most important part of this whole recipe. The sauce will look like a runny mess. That's exactly the way you want it. When the macaroni's hot, it will absorb most of the liquid. If you thrown cold macaroni into your sauce, you will be disappointed and might be tempted to use disparaging words against me. Please don't do that. The sauce that began as a runny mess will stay a runny mess unless you mix it with hot drained macaroni.
  • Back to preparing the sauce. Throw all the sauce ingredients into the biggest bowl you've got. Stir it well.
  • As soon as the macaroni is done, drain it and add it to the sauce while it's still hot. (refer to diatribe above)
  • Stir well. Then, stir again. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
  • Cover and place in refrigerator for 4 hours or until well chilled.
  • Stir before serving.
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