Macaroni Pasta Salad Recipe

Macaroni Pasta Salad Recipe

Crunchy vegetables and salty bacon are loaded into this Creamy Macaroni Salad! Topped with coleslaw salad dressing, this is SO GOOD and so easy!!

Course Lunch or Dinner

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 335kcal

Author Deb Clark

Ingredients

1 pound macaroni pasta noodles cooked to al dente, drain, cool completely
6-8 slices bacon cooked, drained and crumbled
1 head broccoli cut into florets
1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
½ cucumber diced
1 stalk celery diced
1 carrots peeled and diced
½ red onion diced
1 cup cheddar cheese diced into small cubes
¾ cup coleslaw salad dressing start with ½ cup add additional salad dressing as needed.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Cook the macaroni noodles to al dente. Drain the noodles. Cool to room temperature. Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking together - refrigerate.
Cook the bacon, cool and crumble the bacon.
Prepare the vegetables - dice the cucumber, onion and celery, slice the tomatoes in half, peel and dice the carrot. Separate the broccoli into the florets.
Cube the cheese.
Combine the noodles, bacon, cheese and vegetables in a large bowl.
Toss with about half the salad dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Right before serving, give it a good stir. Add additional salad dressing if needed. Enjoy!

Notes

Allow the pasta to completely cool before adding the salad dressing. If you add the salad dressing when the pasta is hot, it will soak it up, using twice as much. It will cause the elbow macaroni pasta to get mushy!

The best way to chill pasta quickly is to first drain it well using a colander. Then place the colander in a bowl of ice water just for a minute or two. When chilled, remove it from the water and drain again. Now it's ready to make the salad!

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