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 liked the components of my bacon and 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? It’s 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 Italian 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.
I have made this before and loved it! I made it for a church picnic and ended up having to share the recipe with others! I will be making it again in the near future!
Made this but doubled it for a large gathering. Didn’t have red onion so used green & substituted seasoned rice vinegar for cider. Added a little extra tomato. . . was a big hit.
Hi! Found your recipe today and it looks delicious!
I’m making it for an impromptu picnic tonight with the following alterations:
1 lb. bacon instead of 4 strips (’cause you can never have too much bacon!)
1 pt. cherry tomatoes, cut in half, macerated in 1 t. sugar and salt, then spun out in a mini salad spinner (to remove most of water and seeds)
Used this dressing instead of mayo: 2 cloves garlic, 1/3 c. red wine vinegar, 1 t. sugar, dash Worcestershire sauce, 4 dashes Tabasco sauce, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper, 1 c. olive oil. Blend all ingredients except olive oil in food processor. With processor running, slowly add oil in a steady stream.
I also like to cook my pasta until al dente, then spread it on a cookie sheet to cool. Then I assemble the salad, pour about 1/2 of the dressing on and let it blend. Pour remaining dressing on before serving. Cooking the pasta to an al dente state and then only adding 1/2 the dressing allows the pasta to soak it up, without becoming “squishy” and then the remaining 1/2 actually “dresses” the salad.
Bon apatite!
I made this for the first time today for a company BBQ. (Yes, I broke the ‘try it first’ rule for a new recipe – I knew it was a winner when I read it.) It was voted 1st place side dish! Now you can call it “Award Winning” Bacon and Tomato Macaroni Salad if the mood strikes! Thank you!
That’s fun to hear- thank you!
I’m going to make this at Easter brunch. This looks so good and it had bacon!! Yum and thanks
Just tryed this today, without celery though. Not real keen on celery. I must say it was very good. Thanks!
Oh Lordy this is so good! I made it to accompany our dinner tonight. This is now a “go to” dish. Thank you!