Macaroni Salad Alton Brown (2024)

FAQs

Why isn't my macaroni salad creamy? ›

The key to keeping macaroni salad from drying out is the pasta. If you don't cook it enough, the pasta won't grab on to the dressing and will dry out. If you overcook the pasta, it will be completely soggy and gross. Cook the pasta just right, and your macaroni salad will stay perfectly creamy.

There are usually two culprits — not draining off wet ingredients and/or adding too many watery vegetables.

Punch up the flavor in your pasta salad with a double helping of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped up for the salad – along with olives, fresh tomatoes and cubes of feta cheese – and mixed into a savory dressing, with red wine vinegar and capers, for Ina Garten's 5-star recipe.

Making sure the water is salty enough ensures the macaroni is seasoned through (even after rinsing in cold water) and the salad will not be bland. 2. The noodles weren't sufficiently drained. Let the macaroni drain completely in a colander to ensure the sauce isn't diluted with water.

Elbow macaroni: To make this a macaroni salad, use elbow macaroni or substitute it with any small pasta shape (small shells and spiral shapes work nicely). After cooking the pasta, rinse it before tossing it with the dressing. Rinsing removes extra starch, which makes the dressing sticky.

America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated suggests adding a little warm water when your macaroni salad gets a little dry.

As the pasta cools, the vinegar will soak in and every noodle will burst with bright tanginess. After dressing it, you'll get a snap of acid and tons of flavor in every spoonful. You can use this trick on any creamy macaroni salad recipe—just one try will make you a believer.

I make mine and then let it cool in the fridge with the lid off for a few hours. That usually lets the excess water evaporate off and lets the mayo/spices/veggies/pasta/tuna/whatever mix together and absorb with minimal mayo. After a few hours you can add more mayo if needed. Good Luck!

When your noodles are ready, simply pop them in the fridge to chill while you mix up the dressing. Then, pour half of the dressing into the noodles along with the chopped veggies and let the salad chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it.

How do you make macaroni salad less watery? ›

Beyond this, the solution is simple: don't drain as much water from the cooked pasta, and add more dressing. There's a limit to how much moisture pasta will absorb. I would add that another solution is to cool your macaroni salad ingredients overnight separately, then combine before dining.

You don't salt the pasta water, or you salt it too much. "Boiling pasta in unseasoned water is detrimental to the flavor and texture. When cooking the pasta in salted water, the dough absorbs the salt throughout, rather than having to steal some from the surface sauce or not at all," says Underbrink.

Don't skimp on the milk or butter as those ingredients help keep the cooked macaroni ultra-rich and creamy. Use full-fat milk for creamiest results. Also, avoid overbaking, as that will dry out your mac and cheese.

The #1 secret to creamy reheated mac and cheese

"Stir in about 2 Tbs. of milk per 1 cup of mac and cheese and reheat," he says. The milk loosens up the pasta and helps create the creamy sauce as it's reheating. Heavy cream works well in this case too and adds an extra touch of richness to the mac and cheese.

You don't properly cool the pasta.

"It's not wrong, and I have done it before in the past [but] to make a more creamy pasta dish after cooking the pasta, drain it, and cool it on a sheet tray," he advises.

If you use a pot that's not large enough, the water temperature will begin to drop. This will result in clumpy, mushy pasta. Additionally, this will create a higher starch-to-water ratio, which causes the pasta to stick together. In conclusion: Avoid clumpy, mushy, and sticky pasta by using the right pot!