Creamy Vegetable Macaroni Salad
Creamy vegetable macaroni salad is the perfect cold pasta with totally fresh rainbow vegetables that just make a splash at potlucks and cookouts. Truly the best cold side dish recipe, its so easy to make a pasta salad that isn't just full of carbs but include healthy vegetables. Classic, creamy and perfectly old fashioned, this summer salad is a classic macaroni pasta salad, with a mayo base, that can be served with ripe, seasonal vegetables all year long. This salad is also a great make ahead salad and can contain just about any additional fresh vegetable substitution. Also a Vegetarian Pasta Salad and known as a Crisp Summer Veggie Pasta Salad, this recipe is a complete macaroni salad with crisp summer veggies and a creamy mayo dressing and is a perfectly delicious side dish for your next party.
Servings: 6
Calories: 554kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups elbow macaroni
- cucumber sliced in rounds
- large tomato chopped
- yellow red pepper seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook macaroni according to package directions.
- Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. Make sure to drain as much water as possible from noodles before moving onto next step. Noodles can also be made a day ahead and rinsed with cold water to loosen day of.
- In a mixing bowl, add sliced cucumbers, large chopped tomatoes, pieces of yellow and red pepper, diced red onions and shredded carrots.
- Mix all ingredients together well.
- Add mayonnaise.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Fold in cooked macaroni pasta shells and mix.
- Refrigerate vegetable pasta salad for 4 hours or overnight.
- Stir well before serving.
Video
Notes
Make it low carb: This vegetable salad is so great because you could easily just use the cut veggies and skip the addition of the macaroni pastas. If you go this route and convert your salad to a low carb version, only add half the mayo to start, mix, and add more if needed. Without pasta, you may not need as much.
Miracle Whip or Mayo? You may be asking yourself is mayo is vegetarian – and it is. Because it is made from eggs, and eggs are not animals, most vegetarians will still eat mayonnaise products.
Is Pasta Vegetarian?
You may be wondering how to make cold pasta salad vegetarian. The great news is that most pasta is 100% vegetarian already! You can check the pasta to be sure it doesn’t include any egg ingredients but most boxed pasta does not.
How long can you leave this cold pasta salad in the fridge?
Never leave any foods with dressings or mayonnaise longer than 3 days to prevent the food from growing bacteria or getting too watery.
Is vegetable pasta salad healthy?
Now I would never say that pasta itself is a “healthy” salad, but carbs in and of themselves are not detrimental to your diet. In fact, this vegetable filled pasta salad with tomatoes, crunchy peppers and cucumber is a perfect balance of good for you and keeps you full all at once and it’s as beautiful to look at in the bowl as it is a complimentary side dish for chicken or freshly grilled summer hamburgers.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 554kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 25g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 358mg | Potassium: 115mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 36IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg