Chicken Macaroni Salad

,Macaroni salad with chicken in a white bowl.

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 Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Author: Precious

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
⅓ 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
⅛ 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

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