Patriotic Classic Macaroni Salad Recipe

I’m always looking for easy Patriotic food ideas to bring to a summer potluck or a Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day BBQ. This creamy summer pasta salad recipe is made with stars and stripes pasta from World Market. Stop by the lake and learn how to make this Patriotic classic macaroni salad recipe for all your summer lake days.

In my opinion, a summer BBQ wouldn’t be complete without a classic macaroni salad on the table. A tailgating party wouldn’t be complete without it either!

Now that I think about it, we pretty much enjoy macaroni salad in our household year round. I love it so much!

There’s something about pasta covered in a creamy sweet sauce that sends my brain into sheer happiness. Plus, I can easily trick myself into thinking I’m eating somewhat healthy with the addition of veggies found inside the pasta salad.

It’s really a win-win!

If I’m strapped for time, or decide to have people over last minute, I’ll purchase the premade stuff from Publix or Target. The store-bought variety is yummy, but the flavor you get from a homemade macaroni salad just doesn’t compare.

You’ll be shocked when you see how easy it is to make your own version of macaroni salad at home. The hardest part of the entire process is having the patience to wait for the flavors of the macaroni salad to marry together. You’ll need a minimum of four hours but I personally prefer to make it the night before.

**On a side note, having things you can make ahead of time for a summer BBQ or any gathering for that matter is one of my tips to throwing a stress-free party. I have plenty more tricks up my sleeve so go take a look!

I normally make my classic macaroni salad with elbow macaroni but I couldn’t resist giving the World Market Stars & Stripes pasta variety a try. I was out and about with Patrick running some errands the other day and came across it in my local store.

Inside there are 3 shapes: American flags, The Liberty Bell and Stars. They come in red and white. Aren’t they just adorable?!?!

World Market usually creates one of these fun kinds of pasta for each of the main holidays. I just looked at their website and they have a St. Patrick’s Day and Easter variety on sale. The pasta is good for a couple of years so an item like this would be a great buy when all the holiday merchandise goes on Clearance. I’ll probably try to snag some more of this Stars & Stripes variety for the 4th of July and Labor Day.

Are you ready to see how easy this recipe is?!

Patriotic Classic Macaroni Salad Recipe

16 oz. World Market Stars & Stripes pasta (can substitute 16 oz. elbow macaroni), 1 cup of mayonnaise, ¼ cup of white vinegar, ⅔ cup of sugar, 2 ½ tbsp of yellow mustard, 1 ½ tsp of salt, ½ tsp of pepper, 1 large onion (finely diced), 2 stalks of celery (finely diced), 1 red bell pepper (finely diced), about ¼ cup of carrots (finely diced)

**I have to apologize for my mishap before we get started. Instead of grabbing the red bell pepper from my refrigerator I made a boo-boo and took the green one. I was so bummed! I normally use the green variety but wanted to use red this time for the Patriotic-theme. There’s always next time, I guess.

Begin by preparing your pasta according to the package directions.

Make sure that you pay close attention to your pasta so you don’t overcook it. The World Market Stars & Stripes pasta cooks very quickly, like 5 – 6 minutes. If you leave the pasta in too long the shapes will break apart and you’ll be left with random pieces of pasta that don’t look like anything.

As soon as the pasta is cooked through, strain and run it under cold water to stop the cooking process. Let the pasta drain in the sink while you put together the rest of the ingredients.

Start by finely dicing up all your veggies. I like to use my Pampered Chef food chopper to cut the vegetables into teeny tiny pieces.

With the food chopper, you’ll have finely diced onions, celery, carrots, and bell pepper in no time!

Next, in the bottom of a large mixing bowl, add all your ingredients for the creamy mayonnaise sauce: mayo, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, and pepper.

Mix it all together until the sauce mixture is well-combined.

Gently stir to combine the Stars and Stripes pasta with the mayonnaise mixture.  

Add all the finely diced vegetables into the bowl and continue to stir the ingredients together being cautious not to break up the pasta shapes by stirring to hard.

Doesn’t it look so beautiful with everything combined together?!?!

Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours but preferably overnight if at all possible.

Before you’re ready to serve the macaroni salad, gently give it one more good stir to make sure everything is coated.

You can’t tell me this recipe isn’t easy?! There’s definitely no reason you can’t make this summer pasta side dish for your next potluck or BBQ. I can guarantee your friends and family will be blown away with this Patriotic Classic Macaroni Salad recipe. Give it a whirl and tell me what you think. Happy Summer!

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