Add the vinegar when the pasta is still hot, it absorbs the flavor better. I like to sightly overcook it as it blends well with the creamy mayo.Īpple Cider Vinegar – This boiled pasta is mixed with apple cider vinegar, which adds a nice tang to this pasta. Macaroni – Elbow macaroni is boiled as per the packet instructions.

Use the best quality mayonnaise and see the difference it makes to your recipe. This salad is all about a good mayonnaise, so do not substitute it with a miracle whip. While making Hawaiian-style macaroni salad, I like to slightly overcook the macaroni, as it blends in really well with the mayonnaise. You can add pineapple, grilled chicken, or cooked shrimp to this salad for a variation. Hawaiian mac salad is creamy, slightly sweet, tangy, and crunchy from all the veggies added to it. Just cook the macaroni and mix with other ingredients in a big bowl and you are done. This authentic Hawaiian mac salad comes together in just 15 minutes. This creamy salad has a mayonnaise-based dressing and is perfect to make as a side dish for summer cookouts, picnics, potlucks, and brunches. Hawaiian macaroni salad is a traditional salad served in Hawaiian BBQ restaurants serving plate lunches and in Luau. If you like to get more Salad recipes, here are some of my other favorites – Cucumber Avocado Salad, Som Tam Salad, Cranberry Chicken Salad, Ramen Noodle Salad, Malaysian Mango Salad, and Broccoli Apple Salad. Serve this traditional mayonnaise-based salad for potlucks or picnics. But here are some other additions you might want to try.Make this creamy, comforting Hawaiian macaroni salad in just 15 minutes using basic pantry ingredients. So this version already has a lot of additions that the more basic recipes won’t have. Salt and Pepper – An all important ingredient for any recipe! Taste and season as needed. Sweet Pickle Juice – This is another added ingredient that you could leave out, but also one that I think really adds to the overall flavor. Grated Carrot – In all honesty, I don’t know if the carrot really adds a lot of flavor, but I do love that it adds some color. Sweet Pickle Relish – Now is when we start adding some of the “extra” ingredients that the super simple recipes don’t use, and relish is one of them. (And just for the record, it’s Best Foods in the west, while the exact same mayo is Hellman’s in the east.) It’s all about the flavor of the mayonnaise (yes, there is a lot of it) and nothing else will be as good as Best Foods. Mayonnaise – If there is one thing I learned while reading up and researching on Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, it’s that you must use Best Foods Mayonnaise. It is raw in the salad, so the mildness of the sweet onion works well. Sweet Onion – You don’t use a lot of onion, but you’ll want to use a sweet onion. This was one of my favorite ingredients in this salad. Hard Boiled Eggs – This is another ingredient that the more simplistic recipes leave out, but I wouldn’t. 🙂 Technically, you could use any short cut pasta, but I really do believe that macaroni works best here. Pasta – It is a macaroni salad, so I’d say your best bet is to use macaroni. It makes it a combination of a potato salad and a pasta salad. Potatoes – Apparently, not everyone adds potatoes, but that is one of the things I loved the most about this version. You can find this recipe the way I made it below, as well as some other suggestions or ideas.įor this version of this macaroni salad, here is what I add: Even if you add your own spin, as long as it is enjoyed, that’s all that matters to me! And no one way is the right way while the other way is the wrong way. Now, just like a lot of regional cuisine, I think that different people make this different ways.

But I can tell you one thing – this pasta salad is delicious. Like I mentioned before, I’ve never been to Hawaii, and I cannot claim that I know everything about Hawaiian cuisine. It must be served with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad. This Hawaiian Pasta Salad is the perfect side dish for Shoyu Chicken or Huli Huli Chicken.Īs I was testing and retesting my Shoyu Chicken recipe, I found out that one thing was very important: The perfect Hawaiian side dish, this Hawaiian Macaroni Salad is a creamy combination of pasta salad and potato salad.

How to make mac salad hawaiian