Macaroni Salad Recipe and Recipes for Labor Day Picnics
A Macaroni Salad Recipe is the perfect addition to any picnic or BBQ celebration during warmer months. Luckily for us, Labor Day BBQs and Picnics are just around the corner. We last shared this recipe for Macaroni Salad on the 4th of July and I sure wouldn’t mind a dish of this recipe one more time before summer is on it’s way out.
Labor Day kind of feels like summer’s last hurrah before we can start preparing for the change of seasons. I’m certainly looking forward to fall, but I don’t mind celebrating such a fun summer one last time. It certainly was one worth remembering for us. Pasta salad recipes are some of my favorite dishes to serve at picnics.
This Macaroni Salad Recipe is easy to make, but a little different than traditional. It’s colorful with additions like sliced black olives, diced red bell pepper, and bright green sugar snap peas. I also like to add a small bunch of thinly sliced radishes for a little extra crunch, but feel free to customize the vegetable additions to the recipe as you see fit.
If you like a more traditional approach to Macaroni Salad for your Labor Day Picnic this year, start with the base recipe as listed in the printable recipe area. Then, choose any additions that you see fit or just keep it simple if you prefer. Do you like diced Hard Boiled Eggs in your salad? Be sure to check out my Easy Peel Hard Boiled Eggs method.
More Recipes for Labor Day Picnics:
Do you need a little inspiration for your Labor Day Menu? Check out these suggestions:
Drink Recipes
Grilled Main Dishes
- Fajita Burger with Peppers and Guacamole
- Grilled Citrus Chicken Kebabs
- Teriyaki Turkey Burgers and Homemade BBQ Sauce
- Honey Lemon Garlic Chicken Kebabs
- Caribbean Grilled Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
Side Recipes
- Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic
- Green Bean Salad with Feta
- Watermelon, Feta, and Mint Salad
- Macaroni Salad
Dessert Recipes
- Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Whip and Raspberry Sauce
- Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes to Celebrate
- Ricotta Cheesecake and Fruit Lollipops
Macaroni Salad
A Macaroni Salad Recipe is the perfect addition to any picnic or BBQ celebration during warmer months.
Ingredients
Macaroni Salad Base:
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons Dijion mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 1 celery rib, minced
- 2 tablespoons red onion or shallots, minced
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
Mix Ins:
- 3/4 cup sugar snap peas, cut into thirds
- 1 - 3 ounce can sliced black olives
- 1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small bunch radishes, thinly sliced
- 6 slices center cut bacon cooked and crumbled bacon
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions for "al dente pasta."
- After cooking, drain and rinse with very cold water to speed cooling and prevent continued cooking. Spread the macaroni out on a layer of paper towels. Pat dry.
- In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, mayonnaise, sour cream, dijion mustard, salt, pepper, and parsley. Whisk until combined.
- Stir in cooled and dry pasta until evenly coated. Add the relish and onion, stirring to combine.
- Prepare all of the vegetables, then add them and any remaining ingredients except bacon to the large bowl with the pasta.
- Stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Chill for 90 minutes, or up to 24 hours before serving.
- Prior to serving, sprinkle the top of the salad with the crumbled bacon.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 277Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 24mgSodium 656mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 9g
What a nice little salad. I made this recipe today for our little family get together, everybody loved it! I added the bacon, pepper, and radishes, but I hate olives and sugar peas. I used green pepper, and added some diced up tomato instead.
Talk about making me hungry! And I’m crashing the party of you and Shaina get together on the weekend.
You wouldn’t be crashing it, because we’d love to have you!
This salad looks lovely! Would love to have this on my table for Labor Day!
Uh yes, I could seriously eat my way through that and be happy in life.
Mmmmmmmmmm, colorful & with a crunch, what’s not to like! YUM!
A picnic sounds so dreamy. Wish I’d do that for myself and not feel guilt over time wasted…:(
Lovely site. Love the comforting color scheme for sure.
Off to check out that blackberry muffin recipe now!
Great idea of adding radishes!
I love a good, snappy salad. Can we plan to get together for Labor Day? We could meet somewhere in the middle.
SO beautiful Katie! I would love to try this… its been ages since I had a good macaroni salad!
I can imagine this as a great tasting macaroni salad and so colorful too with the addition of those vegetables that also add more nutrients to it. I think i’m going to follow your recipe to the end. Thanks for sharing.
Katie…..what a simple and yummy recipe. Our picnic and barbeque season is JUST starting here in Dubai so this will be bookmarked for then. Love that you added radishes to this as well.
Love the idea of putting bacon, radishes and sugar snap peas in it. I normally do tuna, eggs, carrots, bell pepper and red onion. Its nice to change it up a bit I’ll have to try this recipe!