Macaroni Chicken Salad: An easy pasta salad recipe using pasta, mayo, mustard, seasoned salt, pepper, celery, onion, and chicken to create a side dish or main course, favorite!
This creamy pasta salad is perfect for summer BBQs, a special occasion, or even just a recipe to add to your favorite lunch recipes, along with our delicious shrimp macaroni salad!
You may also love this curry chicken salad recipe!
Chicken Macaroni Salad
This is one of the simple pantry staple side dish recipes and salad recipes that you’ll want to hang on to. With the chicken in it, it could also easily be considered one of the easiest and lightest main dish recipes you could make for summer!
It’s a simple creamy dressing tossed with tender pasta, chicken, celery, and onion that’s done in a flash.
Hey Fantabulosity readers! It’s Meg from Meg’s Everyday Indulgence popping in with a delicious recipe to satisfy all your carb cravings.
How ready are you all for summer food? I adore any kind of pasta or macaroni salad, especially when the weather is warm, and I’m hoping you all feel the same way.
This recipe is incredibly easy so beginner cooks will love making it and experienced cooks will love how something so easy, tastes so delicious!
We know you’ll also love this cold tuna pasta salad recipe!
Ingredient Checklist
You only need a few ingredients to make this easy chicken macaroni salad recipe. Here’s everything you need:
- Pasta (we use macaroni noodles but feel free to use whatever pasta you prefer!)
- Mayo
- Classic yellow mustard
- Seasoned salt
- Black pepper
- Celery
- Onion
- Chicken (We use boneless chicken breast, but you can use canned chicken to make it even easier!)
I’m betting you already have everything you need on hand to make this macaroni salad.
What kind of pasta to use for macaroni salad
I chose to use elbow macaroni to keep it looking classic but you can use whatever short cut pasta you have in your pantry.
And if you don’t have seasoned salt, don’t fret. You can use kosher salt in its place and it will still be delicious. I prefer the seasoned salt here because it just gives it that extra little interest and flavor.
Cold pasta will help keep the mayonnaise from absorbing in to the noodles. So a good thing you can do is either refrigerate the pasta after cooking, or you can simply run cold water over the noodles while in a colander until the past has cooled off.
Macaroni salad will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, if stored in an air-tight container.
You can eat it cold or hot but most of the time it’s served cold.
How to Make Chicken Macaroni Salad
I love using rotisserie chicken in recipes like these for a few reasons. First, it’s super easy. It’s already cooked and ready to go so all you have to do is dice it.
It’s also often cheaper than buying raw chicken and taking the time to cook it. For a busy mom, it’s kind of a no-brainer.
You can even find it pre-shredded now at your grocery store or Costco.
Or, using any leftover chicken in the refrigerator is always a great idea! When you know you’re going to be making this, cook two extra chicken breasts with dinner the night before or while you’re meal prepping so that assembly is a snap.
Assembling this easy macaroni salad recipe
Mixing up this Chicken Macaroni Salad couldn’t get easier.
- First thing, while the pasta is cooking, whisk together the mayo, mustard, seasoned salt, and pepper. Set that aside while you prep the onion and celery.
- Thinly slice a large stalk of celery and dice ½ cup of onion. You can use a sweet onion for a milder flavor or a red onion if you love that pop of color. Any variety will work here. Mix the chopped veggies into the dressing and it’s ready for the pasta.
- Once the pasta is cooked to al dente, rinse it with cold water and drain it well. You don’t want to add hot pasta to a cold, mayo-based dressing.
- You can serve it right away or refrigerate it and serve later. However, it’s recommended to make it the day of, so that creamy mayonnaise dressing won’t soak in too much!
What do you eat macaroni salad with?
Macaroni salad pairs really well with so many dishes but here are some of our favorites:
- cheeseburgers
- hot dogs
- pork steaks
- smoked chicken
- fried shrimp
- beef tenderloin
- chicken wings
- oven baked steak
- bratwursts
- chicken tenders
- chicken legs
- pork tenderloin
- oven roasted turkey
- venison steak
- bbq ribs
- pulled pork sandwiches
- burnt ends
- smoked meats
More pasta add-in ideas
If you want to experiment and add in other items to this pasta salad, here are some great ideas to try:
- chopped bell peppers
- cheddar cheese
- chopped carrots
- chopped hard boiled eggs
- sweet pickle relish
- sour cream
- chopped green onions
- Fritos (Yeah! Wouldn’t that add a fun crunch?)
- sriracha
- liquid smoke (but just a drop! It’s very overpowering if you add too much.)
- fresh basil leaves or fresh parsley
You’ll Also Love:
If you need more ideas of what to add to your barbecue, keep this Amish Potato Salad, Summer Side Salad, Easy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad, crab salad recipe and Tomato Mozzarella Avocado Salad in mind.
Related recipes:
- Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
Pro Tip
If you make a batch of shredded chicken in the slow cooker, you can use it in this recipe, along with other chicken recipes here on the blog!
Did You Make This?
Snap a pic and hashtag it #Fantabulosity — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
📖 Recipe
Chicken Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 16 oz. elbow macaroni
- 1 cup mayo
- 4 tsp. yellow mustard
- 1 tsp. seasoned salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup sliced celery, about 1 large stalk
- 2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook elbow macaroni according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the mayo, mustard, seasoned salt, black pepper, onion, celery and chicken. Set aside.
- Rinse elbows in cold water and drain very well. Add to the bowl and stir until well coated. Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Reba says
I was basically looking for the sauce part. I made it with what I had on hand. I used 1 tsp regular salt and boy was it salty. I didn’t have yellow mustard so i used 2 tsps spicy brown mustard. I did not have red onions so I used a 1/8 tsp onion powder. I added a few sprinkles of sugar and another 1/2 cup of mayo to cut down on the saltiness, and it tasted pretty good. I also added 1/2 cup or so of frozen peas.
SoCalGal619 says
Did you use red, white, or yellow onion?
Jessica says
If you have a favorite type of onion, you can use it! But I believe it was a yellow onion in this recipe. 🙂
Diane D says
Great recipe. I added some orange bell pepper, celery salt, herbs de Provence and fresh lemon juice to punch up the flavor even more. Needed a little more Mayo and mustard too to coat all the pasta. Thanks for this!
Pamela G. Fite says
This was a fabulous recipe, and I add a few of my favorite spices, garlic powder, rosemary, and a herb special mixed! Splendid@
Jessica says
Oh yum!! Thank you so much for sharing what you did!! It’s always fun to hear.
Diane Kratz says
Yes I made it and it was yummy! Next time I might add crumbled bacon and grated cheese.
Jessica says
Oh yum!! Bacon and cheese on this macaroni chicken salad would be great! Thank you!
Candy Noble says
I modified the recipe using 2 cans of chicken breast, and 4-5 sweet gherkin pickles with the pickle juice. It was delicious. My husband and I used it for our evening meal.
Jessica says
That sounds great! Thank you for sharing!
Rob C. says
Better than my Mother’s. TY : )
Jessica says
Hi Rob! You’re so welcome and thank you for the kind words!
Tylor says
Going to give this a try. Is there a recommended amount of Maui and mustard to use?
Jessica says
Hi Tylor!
You can see all of the measurements for the recipe, in the recipe card at the bottom of the post in case that’s helpful!
Linda says
I added hard boiled eggs, just the yolk because I don’t like the white, green onions, green part too, sweet pickle relish and several mini sweet colored peppers diced.
The green part of the green onion, relish and mini sweet colored peppers, red, orange and yellow, add beautiful colors and texture to this delicious pasta salad!!!
Jessica says
Oh wow!!! What great additions to this macaroni chicken salad!! I’m going to have to try that. Thank you so much for sharing and for leaving a comment and a review!
Malina Debrie says
Sounds delicious. Next time, can you add a picture of the final dish? I would love to see the outcome, but it sounds delicious with or without all the add-ins. Thank you for the add-in recommendations.
Jen says
I picked up a rotisserie chicken from Costco and made this for lunch. It’s so easy to make and very delicious! I can see this being my new go-to dish for potlucks in the future.
Jessica says
Thank you so much Jen!!
Marissa Gonzalez says
What brand of Mayo do you recommend?
Jessica says
I love the Kraft real Mayo! I hope that helps!
Beth says
I made it for my husband’s lunch and took a bite, and it’s so delicious! Can’t wait to make this again!
Jessica says
Excellent!! So glad to hear that. Thank you Beth!
Melissa says
Chicken Mac salad is so good! Great recipe!!
Jessica says
Thank you Melissa!!