This is a wonderful Bacon and and Macaroni Salad (otherwise known as Not Your Mama’s Macaroni Salad) that is perfect for a barbecue.
Bacon and Macaroni Salad
I’m absolutely convinced that bacon makes everything taste better. Everything.
It starts innocently enough with little pasta elbows. My Mom never used elbows for her macaroni salad. She always went with the little short tube ditalini type.
Add a little bit of finely chopped celery. Just a little. You want the crunch and the flavor, but you don’t want it to overwhelm the salad with chunky celery. Mom despised celery, so I’m quite sure she would have never added the stuff to her macaroni salad.
I’m not a huge fan of raw onion and my family isn’t either… but when you soak red onion in cold water for a few minutes and then give it a rinse, it loses that super sharp onion taste and it’ll just give your salad a little more crunch and flavor and color. Mom definitely didn’t like onion in her macaroni salad either!
Add a little bit of chopped parsley too. I don’t think Mom used this either.
Here’s the yummy part- add TOMATO. Good, red, vine-ripened tomato if you can find it. Mom never did this (but she should have).
Mix it all up in a bowl.
Add a simple mayonnaise based dressing. If you’re not a fan, mix it with an Italian Dressing instead. Both ways = good in this salad.
All mixed up and done, right? Nope… not done. Although it was good with just these basic ingredients, I found that it was missing just a little something…
…bacon! With added cooked and crumbled bacon (the smoked hickory kind is what I used here), this macaroni salad is taken to a whole new level.
Mom never made hers with bacon either (but she should have). Although I’m pretty sure that Mom would most definitely have not likedmthe components of my macaroni salad, my family thought it was a big hit. While I loved the macaroni salad of my youth (and still do!), this one is my grown-up version. Tomato and the bacon takes plain old macaroni salad to a whole new level. And might I say that this salad pairs well with barbecued ribs and corn on the cob? Pretty much your perfect summer evening meal.
Bacon and Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup diced celery
- ¼ cup minced red onion, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, then drained
- 1 tablespoon minced flat leaf parsley
- ½ cup diced vine ripened tomatoes
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the macaroni, celery, onion, parsley, and tomato.
- In a small bowl, prepare the dressing, mixing mayo, mustard, sugar, vinegar, sour cream and salt.
- Add dressing to the pasta mixture and stir to combine. Season with freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Sprinkle crumbled bacon on top.
Notes
- If you don't care for a mayo-based macaroni salad, feel free to substitute an Italian dressing for the mayo dressing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
While I’ll hop on the bandwagon with everyone else and agree that bacon makes everything better, what I’m most interested in is your additions to the mayo for the dressng. My mom added a bit of dry mustard to her may for macaroni salad and called it a day. Adding this to my to try list.
Looks soooo good! I wish I had a bowl right now!
I agree, bacon does make everything better! I haven’t had a ton of luck with mayo dressed pasta salad but I have to say, this looks delish!!
I especially loved the picture of the chopped tomatoes. Such a vibrant picture!!!
This looks to die for and the perfect salad from a luncheon! Happy Cooking!
This macaroni salad looks awesome! #1: Bacon, of course! And #2: I love the mayo + sugar + vinegar dressings. I get addicted to whatever they’re in!
It hasn’t been too gloomy in Hillcrest this June (surprising) but it’s been CHILLY! Like I am wearing layers when I go running in the evenings. In late June. I feel like a dork but I’d rather not be cold 🙂
And I linked your Man Food post in a post of mine the day before Father’s Day. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Bacon in pasta salad is genious!
Yay for summer salads!
This looks so good! I’ve used that same trick for onions for a chuncky gaucamole. My husband still won’t touch them, but it takes away enough of the sharpness for me.