Creamy Macaroni Salad
A cold pasta salad that brings its own crunch. Whole wheat macaroni and garden peas meet raw bell pepper, celery, red onion, and three whole pickles, all tossed in a tangy honey-mustard dressing. 671 kcal and 19g of fiber in a single bowl.
The pickles and vinegar in that dressing aren't just flavor. They deliver acetic acid from two separate sources, and a crossover trial found that compound reduced the glycemic impact of starchy meals by 45%.
Ingredients
- macaroni, whole wheat 3 ounces
- garden peas (frozen) 5 ounces
- red onion 0.25
- bell pepper 1
- pickles 3
- celery 1 stalk
- mayonnaise 1.5 tablespoon
- vinegar 0.5 tablespoon
- honey 0.5 tablespoon
- yellow mustard 1 teaspoon
Method
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Cook the macaroni according to the package instructions. Add the peas during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
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Meanwhile, finely chop the onion. Dice the bell pepper and pickles. Slice the celery into thin rings.
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In a large bowl, mix the macaroni and peas with the onion, bell pepper, pickles and celery.
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In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, vinegar, honey and mustard into a dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
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Pour the dressing over the macaroni salad and mix well.
Toss the dressing with the pasta while it's still slightly warm. Warm macaroni absorbs the dressing into the noodle instead of just wearing it on the surface, so the flavor runs deeper once the salad cools.
Acetic acid, the compound that makes pickles and vinegar sour, slows the enzymes that break starch into sugar. In a crossover trial with 10 healthy adults, adding pickled cucumber to a starchy meal dropped the glycemic index from 78 to 43. This salad delivers acetic acid from both the pickles in the bowl and the vinegar in the dressing.
Östman et al., 2005 — Acetic acid and glycemic response · DOIBehind this recipe
Where does the 19g of fiber come from?
Two sources carry most of it. Whole wheat macaroni keeps the bran layer that white pasta strips away, and 140g of garden peas adds roughly 7–8g of fiber on its own. The bell pepper, celery, and onion contribute smaller amounts. Together they push a single bowl past what many people eat in an entire day.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I make this ahead for meal prep?
Cold pasta salad holds well in the fridge for 2–3 days. The dressing actually soaks into the macaroni overnight, so day-two leftovers often taste better than the first serving. Keep it sealed and stir before eating. If the salad feels dry after sitting, add a small splash of vinegar to refresh it.
Why are pickles and vinegar both in the recipe?
They both contain acetic acid, the compound responsible for their sour flavor. A crossover trial found that acetic acid reduced the glycemic impact of a starchy meal by 45%. Most recipes use one source or the other. This salad combines three whole pickles with half a tablespoon of vinegar in the dressing, delivering the compound from two directions onto the same whole wheat starch.
