Description
Meredith’s Creamy Macaroni Salad is a refreshing and flavorful side dish featuring tender macaroni, crisp cucumbers, and a zesty, creamy dressing made with sour cream, mayo, and Dijon mustard. Perfect for picnics, barbecues, or as a cool complement to any meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Salad
- 1 (16 oz) box macaroni, cooked and drained
- 2 large cucumbers, diced
- 1 small white onion, finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
Dressing
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup mayo
- 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon dried dill
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine salad ingredients. In a large bowl, add the cooked and drained macaroni, diced cucumbers, finely diced white onion, diced green bell pepper, and chopped celery. Toss gently to mix all the salad components evenly.
- Make the dressing. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayo, Dijon mustard, white vinegar, grated Parmesan cheese, granulated sugar, dried dill, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and season with salt and black pepper to taste until smooth and well incorporated.
- Dress the salad. Pour the prepared dressing over the salad mixture and toss thoroughly until all the ingredients are evenly coated with the creamy dressing.
- Chill before serving. Cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld and the salad to chill nicely before serving.
Notes
- For best results, cook macaroni just until al dente to avoid mushy pasta in the salad.
- You can substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream to lighten the dressing and add a tangy flavor.
- Add chopped fresh herbs such as parsley or chives for extra freshness.
- This salad tastes even better the next day as the flavors have more time to develop.
- Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes based on your preferred spice level.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 450 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
