Classic Macaroni Salad
This is a salad that everyone seems to love. I always get lots of compliments on this recipe and it is just a pleasing taste that seems to suit everyone.
This is a salad that everyone seems to love. I always get lots of compliments on this recipe and it is just a pleasing taste that seems to suit everyone.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup grated carrot (optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers (optional)
- Carbohydrate 45.0549785501069 g
- Cholesterol 8.40000000710095 mg
- Fat 8.74835400697997 g
- Fiber 2.22512502873854 g
- Protein 6.14870750045421 g
- Saturated Fat 1.34457900103329 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (123g)
- Sodium 247.516302268253 mg
- Sugar 42.8298535213684 g
- Trans Fat 6.92692250567424 g
- Calories 285 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.
- In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, green pepper, carrot, pimentos and macaroni. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.
Distilled white vinegar provides the essential acid that cuts through the heavy fat matrix of the mayonnaise, balancing the significant sugar addition required to achieve the classic sweet-tart profile of American deli salads. Starch molecules in elbow macaroni continue to hydrate and swell as they cool, which explains why resting the pasta overnight in a cold environment alters the final moisture level. Rinsing the cooked pasta thoroughly under cold water removes excess surface starch and arrests the cooking process at precisely eight minutes, preventing the tubular shapes from collapsing into mush under the weight of the heavy dressing. Raw onions contain sulfur compounds that can easily overpower milder ingredients unless mellowed by the acidic dressing during the mandatory four-hour chilling window. This style of chilled pasta preparation traces its lineage back to European potato and noodle salads brought over by nineteenth-century immigrants, eventually evolving into a staple of American communal gatherings and backyard barbecues.
