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Hawaiian Macaroni Salad in a blue bowl with wooden serving fork and gumamela on the table
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Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad brings unique flavor to the table. The veggies & pasta are brought together by a super creamy dressing!
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword Authentic Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, Hawaiian Macaroni Salad Recipe, How Do I Make Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, How To Make Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 769kcal
Author Kathleen

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk divided
  • 2 cups mayonnaise Divided
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 pound elbow macaroni
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup yellow onion grated
  • 1/2 cup carrot peeled and shredded
  • 1/2 cup celery finely chopped

Optional Additions:

  • 2 cups ham chopped
  • 1-20 ounce can pineapple chunks drained
  • 1/4 cup green onions sliced

Instructions

  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 1  1/2 cups milk, 1 cup mayonnaise, brown sugar (1 tablespoon), salt (1 teaspoon), and black pepper (1/2 teaspoon). Set aside.
  • In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling bowl. Add pasta (1 pound) and 1 tablespoon of salt to the water and cook the pasta for 15 minutes, until it's fat and very soft. Drain the pasta and pour it back into the dried pasta pot. Pour vinegar (1/4 cup) over pasta and stir until it's evenly distributed and absorbed. Pour pasta into a bowl and cool for 10 minutes. Add the milk and mayonnaise mixture and stir until evenly combined, then cool completely.
  • Add the grated onions (1/4 cup), carrots (1/2 cup), celery (1/2 cup), (ham, pineapple, green onion~if using), and the remaining milk (1/2 cup) and mayonnaise (1 cup) to the pasta and mix until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour for up to 2 days. Adjust seasoning if necessary and serve.

Notes

  1. Cooking Pasta: Unlike a lot of pasta salad recipes, you want to cook the pasta all the way until it is soft. This prepares the pasta to soak up a lot of dressing and deliciousness.
  2. Assembly: Pay particular attention to the assembling process. Vinegar first, then dressing, add the veggies, and more milk and mayo. This is the traditional method and has a big impact on the final product. It will be a bit soupy at first, but the pasta will soak it all up as it sits.
  3. Tossing When It’s Hot: Once your pasta is soft, drain it and immediately toss it with vinegar. Tossing hot pasta with vinegar is the key to making sure those soft noodles can interact with the dressing right. The vinegar helps to make sure the finished dish isn’t dry, that the soft pasta stays moist and soaks up that wonderful dressing.
  4. Onion: Grate the onion or use a small food processor. The end result should be almost liquid onion. It makes a huge difference in dispersing the onion flavor throughout the dressing.
  5. Chilling Time: Make sure to leave adequate time for the salad to chill after assembly. The recipe says 1 hour, but that should really only be in a pinch. 2-4 hours is a solid amount of time for everything to settle and combine. If you have the time, letting the whole dish chill overnight is even better.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 of the recipe | Calories: 769kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 1109mg | Potassium: 382mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 1530IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 1.2mg