With salad season upon us I wanted to share this recipe with you today for a coleslaw macaroni salad. This is not your classic coleslaw, but a deliciously different version that combines two of my favorite loves. Coleslaw and Macaroni Salad.
I am of the opinion that you can never have too many salad recipes, or too many coleslaw recipes, and this is one of my favorites. We will soon all be BBQ-ing and going on picnics. This is a great side dish to take along!
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A delicious mash-up of two summer classics, this Macaroni Coleslaw is loaded with plenty of texture and great flavors!
Not to mention crunch! I do love crunch in a salad, don't you? I also love color! This tasty combination can be as colorful as you like, depending on the coleslaw mix that you use.
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This salad is all about texture with plenty of crunch from cabbage, carrots, spring onions, cucumber, celery, green peppers, and water chestnuts.
Then there is the tender al dente cooked pasta. With its sweet, creamy dressing, it’s pretty hard to resist going in for seconds. And because its a salad, there is no need to feel guilty! 😉
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MACARONI COLESLAW
Pretty simple salad ingredients. In fact this tasty salad makes use of a few convenience ingredients, but shhh! We don't tell if you don't tell!
For the salad:
- 1 cup (115g) dry ring macaroni or ditalini
- 1/2 package (7 ounces) coleslaw mix (cabbage, carrot, etc.)
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1/2 English cucumber, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1/2 medium green pepper, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1 small can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
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For the dressing:
- 3/4 cup (165g) good quality mayonnaise
- 2 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 TBS cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
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Today I used Ditalini pasta, but you can use any similar shaped pasta, even elbow macaroni if that is all you have. The important thing is that it have lots of nooks and crannies to grab onto that delicious creamy dressing!
By coleslaw mix I mean a pre-grated mix of cabbage, carrot, etc. You will see it by the bag-ful in the salad section of the chiller aisle in the grocery store. I think you can get the in a few different varieties. Some even have grated broccoli stems in them.
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As far as that goes you can even grate your own salad mix of cabbage, carrot, etc. This one had both red and green cabbage in it. That made for plenty of color and crunch! I do so love cabbage!
I used approximately half of an English Cucumber, washed and quartered. I like to remove the seeds and discard them. I know they call them seedless, but there are some seeds and they can make a salad watery if left for too long.
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I always like to de-string my celery. This is by no means necessary, but it does make it a little bit less chewy. Some of those strings are really coarse.
Just grab one end of the strings, one at a time, and catch it between your thumb and a knife and pull down. It should come away easily. Then chop the celery as per the recipe.
Maybe I am just too picky? If you don't have them, you can leave out the water chestnuts but I hope that you do have them and that you use them. They add a really lovely crunch!
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HOW TO MAKE MACARONI COLESLAW
This is a really simple salad to make. I am rather lazy you know. Most of the work involves chopping, but that is a kind of mindless activity that I don't mind in the least.
Whisk all of the ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cook the macaroni, in a pot of lightly salted boiling water, according to the package directions. Drain well. Rinse in cold water and drain again. Transfer to a medium sized bowl.
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Add the coleslaw mix, cucumber, green pepper, celery and water chestnuts. Toss to mix together.
Add the dressing, tossing everything together to coat well. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour prior to serving.
This will keep, chilled and covered, for at least 8 hours, if not longer. Its a great salad to make ahead to take to potlucks and such.
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There is no shortage of coleslaw recipes here on the blog. It is one of my favorite food groups after all! Some you might enjoy are:
DELI STYLE COLESLAW - A delicious mix of crunchy vegetables in a fabulously sweet and tangy vinaigrette dressing. This one keeps for days in the refrigerator and if anything gets even better as the days go along!
CHEESE SLAW - A decidedly delicious British version which is created by adding grated cheddar cheese to coleslaw. Its fantastic and a real favorite here!
And that's just two to get you started! There is a whole list of them here.
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I can't think of a better, more delicious way to kick off Salad Season 2022! Crisp and filled with plenty of crunch and texture.
Colorful and incredibly tasty! You are sure to love salad served this along side of all your favorite grills and BBQ. Yum yum!!
Macaroni Coleslaw
Yield: 8
Author: Marie Rayner
Prep time: 25 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 25 M
With salad season upon us this is one salad everyone will enjoy. Its a cross between a tangy coleslaw and a macaroni salad. In short, delicious!!
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 cup (115g) dry ring macaroni or ditalini
- 1/2 pkg (7 ounces) coleslaw mix (cabbage, carrot, etc.)
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1/2 English cucumber, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1/2 medium green pepper, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1 small can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
For the dressing:
- 3/4 cup (165g) good quality mayonnaise
- 2 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 TBS cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook the macaroni in a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Drain well. Rinse in cold water and drain again. Transfer to a medium sized bowl.
- Add the coleslaw mix, cucumber, green pepper, celery and water chestnuts. Toss to mix together.
- Add the dressing, tossing everything together to coat well.
- Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour prior to serving.
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