Our creamy macaroni salad wraps pasta elbows and chopped celery and onion in a creamy dressing. We cooked the pasta until tender not just al dente and left a little moisture on it. The pasta absorbed the water rather than our creamy dressing (which could have left our salad dry and bland). We added a fair amount of lemon juice to the salad to balance the richness of the mayonnaise. This was one of the rare occasions in which we preferred garlic powder to fresh garlic because the flavor wasn’t as sharp and the powder dissolved into the smooth dressing. Cooking the pasta until it is completely tender and leaving it slightly wet after rinsing are important for the texture of the finished salad.
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 celery rib, minced
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 1½ cups mayonnaise
How to Make It
- Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until tender. Drain macaroni, rinse with cold water, and drain again, leaving macaroni slightly wet.
- Toss macaroni, onion, celery, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne together in large bowl and let sit until flavors are absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise and let sit until salad is no longer watery, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.