Amish Macaroni Salad

Amish Macaroni Salad is the perfect side for your next cookout! This macaroni salad is sweet, tangy, and creamy with just the perfect amount of crunch thanks to the celery and bell peppers. 

I was lucky enough to travel through Amish country a few years back. We stopped for lunch at a ‘restaurant’ that was actually a very nice barn in someone’s backyard. 

I’ll admit that I didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the sweet peanut butter spread made with marshmallow creme (I’ll share that recipe with you soon, promise!) or the peanut butter pie with Cool Whip! 

I sort of thought everything would be made from scratch and it was really interesting to see that it wasn’t! 

Of course, that wasn’t the only surprising thing.

The Amish macaroni salad was definitely not what I expected – it was SWEET! 

I was honestly confused at the first bite, because I’d never had a sweet macaroni salad before. The classic macaroni salad I grew up eating has green olives in it, after all. 

This Amish macaroni salad recipe uses Miracle Whip, something that I’ve honestly turned my nose up at for years.

But, you know what? It’s actually perfect in this tangy sweet macaroni salad.

You really just have to give this a try to see what all the fuss is about! It’s GOOD!

Ingredient Notes:

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate and member of other qualifying programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Macaroni – We’ll start with a box of dry macaroni noodles. You could also use rotini, farfalle, or ziti, but…it IS macaroni salad. 😉

Dressing Ingredients – The key ingredient here is Miracle Whip. I know, it’s not exactly real mayo but it works amazingly well in this Amish macaroni salad recipe! You’ll also mix in some sugar, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and celery seed.

Eggs – You’ll need three large, hard boiled eggs to chop up and mix in with the macaroni salad.

Veggies – Some chopped sweet onion, red pepper, and celery will add a bit of crunch and even more flavor to the creamy macaroni salad.

Dill Pickle Relish – A little bit of this will go a long way in adding flavor!

Helpful Tools:

Pasta Strainer – A good mesh strainer like this one is perfect for draining the water from pasta or for use in all sorts of other recipes!

Whisk – Simple but effective! A whisk is the perfect tool for whipping up dressing, sauce, and marinades.

How to Make Macaroni Salad: 

Macaroni: This Amish macaroni salad starts with cooked macaroni noodles. Begin boiling some water in a large pot and cook the macaroni per the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water and then set aside for now.

Dressing: The dressing is made of Miracle Whip, sugar, mustard, vinegar, salt, and celery seed. Add all of that to a bowl and whisk it together until well combined.

Combine: You can now chop the eggs, celery, onion, and bell pepper into small pieces and add them to the mixing bowl. Pour in the cooked macaroni noodles, and finally add the pickled relish and toss it all with the dressing to coat.

Serve: Like most creamy macaroni salads, this is best served cold. We like to mix it together and allow it a bit of time in the fridge before serving. 

Sprinkle with a bit of paprika before serving. 

Pro Tip:  Try smoked paprika! It adds the perfect pop!

This cold salad goes great with anything off the grill, like my grilled bbq chicken or grilled teriyaki chicken. These grilled pork chops would be amazing too! And if the weather is no good for grilling, try it with this air fryer BBQ chicken!

FAQs:

• Creamy Cucumber Salad
• Italian Pasta Salad
• Avocado Chicken Salad
• Grape Salad
• Cauliflower Potato Salad
• Snickers Apple Salad