Hawaiian-Inspired Macaroni Salad

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Hawaiian

Keyword: macaroni, pasta, potato salad

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 12

chill time: 1 30

Total Time: 1 52

Servings: servings (as a side dish)

Calories: 659kcal

Creamy mayo and vinegar dressing coat these plump macaroni. Begin a few hours in advance for maximum flavor.

Optional add-ins can be found in the Notes section.

1 pound (454 grams) large elbow macaroni
5 (about 2 cups or 75 grams) green onions trimmed and finely minced (plus more to garnish)
2 medium (about 2 cups or 60 grams) carrots peeled and shredded

In an 8-quart mixing bowl, whisk together the 2 1/2 cups (575 grams) of the mayonnaise together with the apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, kosher salt, and white pepper until smooth.
Keep the reserved mayonnaise in a covered container in the fridge (or in its jar) to add to the macaroni salad later.
Once the dressing is smooth, put the bowl in the fridge to allow the flavors to marry while you prep the rest of the recipe components.

Bring a gallon of water to a rapid boil in a 12-quart (or larger) stockpot over medium-high heat.
Once the water in the pot begins to boil, season it with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 11 minutes, stirring the noodles occasionally to prevent them from clumping together.
Drain the pasta in a colander and rinse it under cold water to slow the cooking process. Allow the pasta to cool in the colander for 5 minutes.

Transfer the warm pasta to the mixing bowl with the prepared dressing.
Next, add the shredded carrots and the minced green onions.
Fold the pasta, carrots, and onions into the dressing using a large spoon until everything is well combined.
After mixing, cover the bowl and refrigerate it for 1- 1 1/2 hours (or up to 3 days) to allow the pasta to absorb the dressing.

Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups (345 grams) of mayonnaise into the chilled macaroni salad. Adjust the salt and white pepper to your liking if needed. You can also add 1/2-1 cup (115-230 grams) more mayonnaise as desired until it reaches a creaminess you prefer.
Refrigerate the macaroni salad until you're ready to serve it. Stir it well just prior to serving it.

Though Kewpie mayonnaise is the most authentic in this recipe, your favorite store brand mayo will also work.
You can replace the apple cider vinegar with white wine vinegar, sweet rice wine vinegar, or, as a last resort, white distilled vinegar.
You can replace the white pepper with black pepper.
To make this a gluten-free salad, replace the soy sauce with tamari and the wheat elbow macaroni with gluten-free elbow macaroni.

Add up to 1 cup of one or two of the following:

Avoid using Miracle Whip because its tangy flavor doesn't pair well with the dressing's other ingredients.
Shred peeled carrots with the large holes of a box grater. Finely shredded carrots will discolor the salad and cause it to become watery.
Prepared macaroni salad can be kept in a covered container in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Storage Instructions:

If you're serving this at am outdoor BBQ, transfer it to a disposable aluminum pan and cover it with plastic wrap. Ensure you or the host keeps the pan on ice to prevent the mayonnaise from going bad. Keep it out of direct sunlight.
Keep macaroni salad in a covered container in the fridge or on ice as much as possible since it contains mayonnaise.
If you're storing it on ice, give it a stir periodically to keep the entire dish of salad cold.
Discard any leftovers that weren't kept cold, especially if the salad was held for more than 1 hour in the heat.