Sweet Tangy Amish Macaroni Salad

Sweet Tangy Amish Macaroni Salad is a classic summer side dish. It’s full of fresh bell peppers, celery, and hard-boiled eggs.

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It wasn’t until I was an adult, living and raising our kids in Central Pennsylvania that I discover the most amazing macaroni salad I’d ever tasted. You guessed it – Sweet Tangy Amish Macaroni Salad. It gets its sweetness from sugar and its tangy bite from the vinegar. Together, with fresh crispy vegetables and the soft noodles, they are a party in your mouth.

Over the years I’ve revised this recipe and I am very pleased with where I have it right now. One of the big changes is that I don’t use raw onion. In fact, I don’t use onion at all. I also use double the amount of bell pepper than a traditional recipe because I really like the crunch. And as far as the sugar, well it’s necessary but I use much less sugar than most Amish macaroni salads would, but I promise you, it’s still got enough sweetness.

What Other Ingredients Can You Add to Macaroni Salad?

1. If you’re an onion lover, you can add those onions – both white onions and red onions will add an extra crunch. Krazy Kitchen Mom Tip: To take the bitterness out of red onions, soak the slices in water for 15 minutes before you use them.
2. Cheddar cheese cubes are a great addition to macaroni salad. I would stick to a medium cheddar.
3. My Mom used to add peas to macaroni salad which is a traditional ingredient for a lot of American-style macaroni salads. Just thaw a bag of frozen peas and add them to the salad with the other ingredients. Peas will definitely give it a fresh spring flavor.
4. BACON! Need I say more? Small diced ham also goes very well with this mac salad.
5. You can never go wrong with fresh herbs. I’d choose fresh chopped parsley or fresh chopped dill for this recipe.

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you try any of these add-ons.

Other Things To Consider When Making Macaroni Salad

Should you rinse the pasta in water after cooking it?

If I am making a hot pasta dish I NEVER rinse the pasta. In that case, I want the starchiness of the pasta to meld with the entire dish. But for cold pasta and pasta salads, I always rinse my pasta. I want the dressing to sit on top of the salad and not to be absorbed so I recommend rising the pasta before you dress it.

How do you stop the pasta from absorbing all of the dressing before you serve it?

Like I just said, I rinse the pasta and then I make sure it is fully cooled before I add anything. If I’m not in a hurry I let the cooked pasta sit on the counter, uncovered, until it is room temperature and then I place it in the refrigerator until it is fully cooled. Once it’s cooled I add the dressing. If I am in a hurry, I put it right into the refrigerator, I take it out every 15 minutes and stir it so the cooler noodles fold into the warmer ones. I do this for an hour and then dress it. Krazy Kitchen Mom Tip: Save about 4-5 tablespoons of the dressing after you’ve dressed it for the first time then fold it into the salad right before you serve it.

What to serve with Amish Macaroni Salad?

You can serve almost anything with macaroni salad, but I think it’s the perfect summertime cookout or picnic food. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Grilled hot dogs and hamburgers
2. Italian sausage sandwiches
3. BBQ pork
4. Sloppy Joe’s
5. Italian sub sandwich
6. Nothing at all; it’s good just by itself

I can definitely say this macaroni salad is a guilty pleasure for me and I have even been known to eat a big bowl of it from breakfast (and then again maybe for lunch) (insert wink).

Check out my recipe for Instant Pot Perfect Boiled Eggs. It will make peeling the eggs for this salad so much easier.

Looking for an Instant Pot?

This is the one I cannot live without:

 

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