Description
Irresistible sweet macaroni salad blends creamy textures with delightful Filipino flavors that dance on your palate. Cool pasta ribbons mingle with crisp fruits and velvety dressing, promising a refreshing experience you’ll crave at every gathering.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 2 cups (200 g / 7 ounces) elbow macaroni, uncooked
Vegetables:
- ½ cup (75 g / 2.6 ounces) diced red bell pepper
- ½ cup (75 g / 2.6 ounces) diced celery
- ¼ cup (40 g / 1.4 ounces) diced red onion
- ½ cup (75 g / 2.6 ounces) shredded carrots
Optional Sweet Ingredient:
- ⅓ cup (50 g / 1.8 ounces) raisins
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1 cup (240 g / 8.5 ounces) mayonnaise
- ¼ cup (50 g / 1.8 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Submerge macaroni in generously salted, rapidly boiling water, allowing it to dance and cook until tender yet resilient, typically following package guidance.
- Carefully drain pasta, then cascade cool water over noodles to halt cooking process and prevent clumping, spreading them to release residual heat.
- Craft a silky dressing by whisking mayonnaise, granulated sweetener, tangy vinegar, zesty mustard, and seasoning until harmoniously blended.
- Select a spacious mixing vessel and introduce cooled pasta alongside crisp diced red bell pepper, crunchy celery segments, sharp red onion slivers, vibrant shredded carrot ribbons, and optional sweet raisin jewels.
- Generously drench the vegetable and pasta medley with prepared dressing, gently folding ingredients to ensure uniform, glistening coverage.
- Seal salad in a container and nestle within refrigerator’s cool embrace for a minimum of sixty minutes, allowing flavors to intertwine and intensify.
- Before serving, give salad a delicate redistribution, ensuring dressing remains lustrous and ingredients evenly distributed, then present chilled for maximum refreshment.
Notes
- Optimize pasta texture by cooking just until al dente to prevent mushiness and maintain a pleasant bite in the salad.
- Rinse pasta with cold water immediately after cooking to stop the cooking process and prevent sticking, ensuring a clean, separated pasta base.
- Experiment with Greek yogurt or light mayonnaise as a healthier alternative to traditional mayo, reducing overall calorie content without sacrificing creamy texture.
- Customize the salad by adding protein like diced chicken or hard-boiled eggs to transform it into a complete meal, perfect for meal prep or picnics.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Snacks
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 368
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 286 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 17 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 37 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg