Chicken Macaroni Salad

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Chicken Macaroni Salad is creamy and meaty, with a slight crunch from crisp, fresh veggies. It is the perfect summer salad to serve with grilled meats. Plus, learn my trick to ensure that your macaroni salad stays creamy and doesn’t turn dry on you!

,Macaroni salad with chicken in a white bowl.

Serve this tasty salad alongside Grilled Sockeye Salmon, Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger, and Watermelon Lemonade.

If you would love more salads recipes, check out my Italian Chopped Salad, Tropical Fruit Salad and Mango Avocado Salsa.

Chicken Macaroni Salad Recipe

Something about summer just calls for a creamy pasta salad. Specifically, a tasty, cold chicken macaroni salad.

After some trials, I am proud to present to you my very tasty version of an easy Chicken Macaroni Salad recipe. This perfect salad has lots of flavors and is easy enough for beginner cooks.

It contains just enough dressing to hug the salad, just the right amount of tang, and it is so rich and tasty. My family members can’t get enough! It’s a crowd pleaser and certainly next-level compared to the usual macaroni salad.

Wooden spoon lifted up of macaroni salad

The mayo-based dressing, cooked macaroni, hard-boiled eggs, and crunchy veggies all team up to create something nothing short of phenomenal. Your mouth will be watering just looking at its vibrant colors and succulent look!

Believe me when I say this is the best chicken macaroni salad you’ll ever get your hands on. Serve this creamy chicken macaroni salad on a special occasion with a hearty main dish, like hot dogs, Pan Seared Ribeye Steak, Baked Dry Rub Ribs, or Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs.

The perfect mac salad for potlucks, summer BBQs, or picnics! It tastes great with fruit salad, potato salad, or other summery festive salads.

Watch How To Make It

You can watch me making Chicken Macaroni Salad on my YouTube channel. For more quality recipes, subscribe to my YouTube channel beneath the video.

YouTube video

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Ingredients Needed

Here are the ingredients you need for Chicken Macaroni Salad.

Ingredients for macaroni salad laid out on a chopping board.
  • Elbow Macaroni. Elbows are classic, but you could use any other small-shaped pasta you have on hand.
  • Chicken. Precooked chicken like rotisserie chicken works well here. You could also cook skinless chicken breasts in water or chicken broth with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder then use it. (See recipe notes for detailed instructions on how to do this.) For this great recipe, I used chicken breasts from a whole chicken I grilled. You could also utilize some of my chicken recipes like pan seared Thin Sliced Chicken Breasts or Baked Thin Chicken Breasts. Or, even use canned chicken or leftover plain cooked chicken from last night’s dinner! The leftover chicken can come in handy, for sure.
  • Mayonnaise. For the dressing and to add creaminess to the salad. Use full fat mayonnaise for the best creaminess. If you don’t want to use all mayonnaise in your salad, substitute half of the mayo for Greek yogurt or sour cream.
  • Lemon Juice. For a little tang which balances quite well with the slight sweetness from the sweetened condensed milk.
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk. For added creaminess and a little sweetness. This won’t be a sweet salad. The sweetness of the two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk used will just balance the flavors.
  • Veggies. For crunch and freshness. You’ll be using fresh celery and red onion.

The exact ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below. If you’re looking for nutrient information, you can also find the available nutrient data to track your daily values. This healthy side dish contains a good amount of potassium, iron, calcium, and protein!

How To Make Chicken Macaroni Salad

Before you begin, make sure to cook elbow macaroni according to package instructions and gather all of the needed ingredients. Then, you can make this delicious macaroni salad in four easy steps.

Ingredients for macaroni chicken salad in a large bowl.

1. Assemble all ingredients for the salad in a large mixing bowl, including the tender chicken and cooked macaroni.

Creamy dressing with a whisk in a bowl

2. In a separate bowl, mix together all ingredients for the dressing.

Creamy dressing over salad ingredients

3. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients.

Mixed creamy macaroni salad

4. Toss everything together to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Chill then serve!

Hint: It is important to let the pasta cool down completely and chill before you add the other ingredients. After assembling, keep the Chicken Macaroni Salad in the fridge. Before serving, toss to redistribute the dressing.

Two large bowls of chicken macaroni salad

For more delicious recipes with pasta, check out this Spaghetti Stir Fry Steak and Pasta, and Garlic Butter Chicken Pasta.

Expert Tips

  • When you cut the boneless chicken breasts, you want them to be a little chunky rather than super small pieces. It is nice to have the bite-sized pieces because it adds a pleasant texture!
  • Although you can immediately serve this classic pasta salad recipe, it tastes even better when you allow the flavors to marry for a bit. If you plan to use it with your main course at dinner, you can always make it earlier that day!
  • Get the pasta going first, then work on chopping the veggies and meat while it cooks. This will save you time.
  • To stop macaroni salad from absorbing the creamy dressing, rinse the macaroni thoroughly with cool water after it’s done and let it chill in the fridge until completely cold then use it to make the salad. Also, rather than cooking the macaroni al dente, it is best to make tender pasta. This is because al dente pasta can soak up all of the dressing.
  • Keep this classic macaroni salad covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. If transporting this salad during the summer, it’s a great idea to put it in a bowl and tightly cover it. Then, put it in a cooler with ice so it stays cool. You can also keep it in an airtight container. Remember not to keep it out at room temperature for too long.
  • DO NOT freeze chicken macaroni salad. Mayo doesn’t freeze well and will separate and become oily once it thaws.
Landscape picture of macaroni salad

Variations For Chicken Macaroni Salad Recipe

Make macaroni salad your own by trying the following variations and add-ins.

  • Protein Type: Include diced ham, bacon, or tuna with chicken or in its place.
  • More Veggies: For instance, add peas, red bell peppers, and yellow or green bell peppers. You can also add corn, shredded carrots, or sliced jalapenos!
  • Cheese: Add cheddar cheese cubes or shredded cheese.
  • Herbs: Add green onions, cilantro, or parsley.

Substitutions

  • Vinegar: Although I suggest using the lemon juice, you can always substitute it with another acidic ingredient, like white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar to give the salad some tang.
  • Relish: Instead of sweet pickle relish, you can use chopped dill pickles or dill pickle relish instead, which has a less sweet flavor.
  • Salt and Pepper: You can swap the black pepper with white pepper in a pinch. For the salt, you can use kosher or sea salt instead of table salt.
  • Onions: In place of red onions, you can use shallots or yellow or white onions. They will just provide a slightly different flavor!
  • Mustard: Yellow mustard or Dijon mustard both work.

Also, leave out any ingredients in the salad if you do not love them!

To quickly chill the macaroni after cooking it, spread it on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 5 minutes or until completely chilled. After that, remove it from the freezer and keep in the fridge until ready to use in the chicken macaroni salad.

Serving

Hope you enjoy this Chicken Macaroni Salad recipe! Serve it alongside:

If you make this recipe please leave a star rating below. Your rating helps others find the recipe plus I love hearing from you! Thank you!

,Macaroni salad with chicken in a white bowl.

Chicken Macaroni Salad

5 from 3 votes
How to make really tasty and creamy Chicken Macaroni Salad. The perfect make-ahead summer side dish! Make this salad for your next potluck, backyard summer BBQ or summer party!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients  

Chicken Macaroni Salad

  • 16 oz elbow macaroni
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 cups diced cooked chicken use any precooked chicken, rotisserie chicken or canned chicken. See recipe notes below for how to cook chicken from scratch.
  • ¼ cup diced celery stalk
  • cup diced red onions or shallots

Dressing

  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed from about 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon mustard yellow mustard or Dijon mustard is fine
  • 4 teaspoons sweet relish
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • teaspoon ground black pepper or white pepper

Instructions 

  • Cook Macaroni. Put 4-6 quarts of water in a large pot and and bring to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for 1 minute past al dente I cooked mine for 8 minutes.
  • Chill Macaroni. Spread the macaroni on a baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then remove the baking sheet from the freezer and place in the fridge to chill until ready to use.
    Note: Chilling the macaroni is a crucial step in this recipe. When the macaroni is chilled, the macaroni salad will stay creamy. When the macaroni is even slightly warm, it will melt the dressing, turn the mayo oily resulting in a dry salad.
  • Hard-boil eggs then peel and dice them. Put eggs in a small pot. Add water to completely cover the eggs. Bring to a boil. Let it boil for 8 minutes. Place 3 cups of water and 1 cup of ice into a medium mixing bowl. Remove the eggs from boiling water and add to the ice water bowl. Let them cool for 5 minutes. Peel and dice the eggs.
  • Make the dressing. In a medium bowl combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk, mustard, and sweet relish. Whisk together until well combined.
  • Assemble salad. To a large mixing bowl add the chilled macaroni, cooked and diced chicken, diced hardboiled eggs, celery, onions or shallots. Pour the dressing over all the ingredients then toss to combine.
  • Add salt and pepper, and adjust seasoning. Add the salt and pepper then toss well to combine. Taste the salad and adjust seasoning if needed. Cover salad and chill until ready to serve.
  • Serve Chicken Macaroni Salad cold alongside your favorite pan seared or grilled meats.

Video

YouTube video

Notes

1. You could cook chicken breasts in water with salt pepper, garlic and onion powder then use it. To do this, place 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts in a pot with 2 cups of water. Add a teaspoon of salt and ground black pepper to taste. Add a teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder or add your favorite seasonings. Cook on medium heat until the chicken is completely cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Remove chicken from liquid and let it cool down. Then dice it and use in your salad.
2. Before serving, toss to redistribute the dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 441kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 403mg | Potassium: 147mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 132IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 4mg

Additional Info

Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 441
Tried this recipe?Mention @preciouscore or tag #PreciousCore!

About Precious

Welcome to my core! I am Precious Nkeih, the recipe developer and writer right here on my blog, Precious Core. My goal is to show you insanely delicious recipes you can replicate in your kitchen. And I love to tell stories too. Hope you find recipes here that will make cooking easier for you! Check me out on YouTube at YouTube.com/PreciousKitchen.


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4 Comments

  1. Dear Mme Precious,

    I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for the amazing recipe you shared. I recently tried it out and it turned out to be absolutely delicious! The flavors were perfectly balanced and the dish came together beautifully.

    Your recipe was easy to follow and the instructions were very clear. I appreciate the time and effort you put into creating and sharing this recipe with others.

    Thank you once again for sharing your culinary expertise with the world. Your recipe has definitely become a favorite in my household and I can’t wait to try out more of your creations in the future.

    Sincerely,
    Laetitia

    1. Hi Laetitia, it’s so thoughtful of you to take time out to let you know. Your comment has encouraged me and put a smile on my face. Thank you!

  2. Oh Precious! My gorgeous amazon queen!! Thank you so much for this recipe, I tried it last night for dinner and it was a Treat!!! Everyone at my table went for seconds and third and asked for more ๐Ÿ™‚

    I am not usually a pasta person but boy!!! Did this recipe deliver!!! Thank you, thank you! I appreciate you for taking the time to share your passion with the world. I have learnt to prepare some finger licking foods all from visiting your site. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Blessings upon blessings for the year ahead!!

    With a grateful heart,
    Cynthia.

    1. Dear Cynthia, your comment has totally made my day! Thank you! Thank you!
      My favorite part of sharing recipes is when you make a recipe and enjoy it.
      Thank you so much for the amazing feedback!
      Merry Christmas, darling.