Hawaiian Pasta Salad Recipe
Our Hawaiian Pasta Salad is an addictive, delectable delight thanks to the sweet, creamy dressing that bathes the pasta shells.
We love a good pasta salad at our house. It is really a staple dish in the summer months. My hubby will often take a box of Suddenly Salad and add his own ingredients for a couple of work lunches.
We make a pretty good Tuna Pasta Salad too! Grab that recipe here.
Onion substitute
We left the onions out. Gasp! Authentic Hawaiian Pasta Salad does contain onions, but everyone doesn’t like onions as much as I do, so I use Onion Powder instead. Shhhhh, it’s a bit of a secret. If you simply insist, add about a 1/2 Cup of finely chopped onions to the recipe.
Pasta Shells
Listen, this is some good stuff, folks. It’s lip-smacking delicious because the made-from-scratch dressing is so stinking good! Pasta shells provide that little opening for more of the dressing to get trapped in! It’s just that simple. You can use the regular macaroni noodles if you insist, but I promise you, the shells are just better for this pasta salad.
This recipe was created for our summer Luau party. We have since enjoyed this easy Hawaiian salad recipe many times at our dinner table.
Heavy on the Dressing!
Don’t freak out when you read the recipe and see how much milk and mayonnaise it takes to create the dressing. The big thing about a Hawaiian macaroni salad is for it to be almost swimming in dressing.
If you don’t think you’d like quite that much, add less to the bowl when you start stirring. But you should know that the pasta shells are going to soak up that yummy goodness, so I wouldn’t scrimp on the dressing. Trust me on this!
Hawaiian Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Milk (I use 2%)
- 1 ½ cups Mayonnaise (I use Dukes)
- 1 Tbsp Light brown sugar
- 1 tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Onion powder
- ¼ Cup Apple cider vinegar
- 1 lb. box Medium Pasta shells
- 10 oz. bag Matchstick carrots
- ¾ Cup Celery, sliced thin
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix; milk, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and Onion powder. Stir until well blended using a whisk. Set aside.
- In a large pot, boil the pasta shells according to package directions and drain. You want soft shells that will absorb the flavor of the dressing. Al dente shells are not recommended for this recipe.
- Allow your cooked shells to cool.
- Dump the cooled pasta shells into a large bowl. Pour all but 1/2 cup of the dressing over the pasta shells and stir.
- Now add the celery and carrot sticks. Fold into the pasta with the dressing until mixed well.
- Pour the remaining dressing into the pasta salad mixture and stir to blend well. Cover and chill for at least one hour in the refrigerator before serving.
- This Hawaiian Pasta Salad can be made one day ahead and stored, covered in the refrigerator before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Take it to a Pot Luck!
This Hawaiian Pasta Salad is a great dish to take to a potluck. Everyone loves it; expect no leftovers. You can make it a day ahead if you like. It will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
~~~Follow our Salads Board on Pinterest~~~
Also see our Tips for Hosting A Potluck
My friend Erlene over at My Pinterventures has a fabulous Hawaiian Ice Cream Guri Guri recipe. She says it’s as if a Slushie and Ice Cream had a baby! Whoa! Get her Guri Guri recipe here.
