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June 16, 2020

Herbed Bacon Macaroni Salad

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Looking for a twist on your classic macaroni salad? With its fresh herb, citrusy dressing and smoky bacon, this summer salad boasts a flavorful new take on a traditional favorite side dish. Serve this easy-to-make herbed bacon macaroni salad at your next grill-out and your guests are in for one delicious summer meal.

A bowl of herbed bacon macaroni salad with fresh parsley and lemon slices on the side.

I’m not hating on classic macaroni salad. When I see a big bowl of macaroni covered in creamy mayo with crunchy add-ins at a summer gathering, I don’t hesitate to take an extra big scoop, but at the end of the day, it’s still just macaroni salad — tasty but not necessarily memorable.

But that’s all about to change with this bacon-loaded macaroni salad. Sure, we still use a creamy dressing, but fresh herbs and lemon juice give this dish a welcomed brightness while the bacon adds a depth other macaroni salads lack. And, yes, this means we’re incorporating a few extra steps when making this salad, but they’re simple and take hardly any extra time.

So let’s walk through how to make the world’s best macaroni salad, shall we?

A bowl of macaroni salad on burlap.

How to Make

To start, we need macaroni. Obviously. While we cook our macaroni, I like to take this time to multitask and cook the bacon. While it’s still an extra step, it doesn’t actually add any more prep time.

I like to cook my bacon in the oven, but feel free to cook it in a skillet if you prefer. For thick bacon, I place it on a large parchment paper-lined baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes in a 400-degree oven, flip the bacon and bake for another five minutes.

And now for our herbed dressing. We add mayonnaise with a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, parsley, basil, chives, honey, salt and pepper to a food processor and give it a whirl until smooth like so.

The ingredients of the dressing in a food processor before processing.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can simply mix together the ingredients. With this method, measure the herb leaves first and then finely chop.

From here, we add our macaroni, dressing, bacon, celery, red onion and crumbled hard-boiled eggs to a large bowl.

The ingredients of the macaroni salad in a glass bowl before mixing together.

We simply mix everything together, and all the prep work is done. Easy, huh?

Can You Make Macaroni Salad Ahead of Time?

You sure can. If you plan on serving it the same day, go ahead and store covered in the refrigerator for several hours.

However, if you’d like to make this macaroni salad more than several hours before serving, I recommend storing the cooked macaroni, dressing and crunchy add-ins in separate containers, and then you can mix them all together before serving. For the crunchy add-ins, I recommend keeping the chopped celery in water to help it stay crisp, though you can store the chopped onion, eggs and bacon in one container.

As the macaroni salad sits in the refrigerator, the pasta will absorb some of the dressing, so it won’t be as creamy if it sits mixed in the refrigerator for too long, though a few hours is fine. This ensures your macaroni salad will be the creamy delight everyone loves.

An aerial view of the macaroni salad with a bundle of parsley.

Perfect Pairing

I’m a huge fan of a bubbly hefeweizen with this macaroni salad. With a hefeweizen, we get plenty of citrus that highlights our fresh herbs, and it comes with enough body to stand up to our creamy dressing. Plus, there’s nothing like a hefeweizen on a hot summer day — that beer is made for summer gatherings.

If you prefer wine, try a refreshing chardonnay. I love how the butteriness from the chardonnay works with the dressing, and like the hefeweizen, a chilled chardonnay is perfect for patio sipping on warm nights.

For your next summer barbecue, I hope you try this gourmet take on everyone’s favorite side dish. Please let me know how you enjoyed this herbed bacon macaroni salad in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

Cheers!

Looking straight on at a bowl of herbed bacon macaroni salad on a plate.Looking down at the bowl of herbed bacon macaroni salad on a plate with burlap.

Looking for More Summer Meal Ideas?

  • Roasted broccoli salad (from Eating Works)
  • Salmon-avocado burgers with lime-sriracha aioli
  • Maine-style lobster rolls
  • Burrata-blackened salmon panzanella salad
  • Herbed roasted potato salad
  • Summer squash pasta salad
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A bowl of herbed bacon macaroni salad with fresh parsley and lemon slices on the side.

Herbed Bacon Macaroni Salad


★★★★★

5 from 8 reviews

  • Author: Amanda McGrory-Dixon
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
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Description

Looking for a twist on your classic macaroni salad? With its fresh herb, citrusy dressing and smoky bacon, this summer salad boasts a flavorful new take on a traditional favorite side dish. Serve this easy-to-make herbed bacon macaroni salad at your next grill-out and your guests are in for one delicious summer meal.


Scale

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups dried macaroni
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup torn basil leaves
1/2 cup parsley leaves, removed from stems
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped chives
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup cooked bacon, crumbled, about 6 slices


Instructions

  1. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to help cool the pasta.
  2. In a food processor, add the mayonnaise, basil leaves, parsley leaves, garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, chives, honey, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
  3. Add the macaroni to a large mixing bowl and pour mayonnaise dressing on top. Add the hard-boiled eggs, celery, red onion and cooked bacon. Stir until it becomes one cohesive mixture. Refrigerate for a few hours to chill and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

  • For full tips, please see blog post.
  • Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
  • Category: Side Dishes
  • Method: Stove-Top
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 scoop
  • Calories: 280
  • Sugar: 2
  • Sodium: 388
  • Fat: 20
  • Saturated Fat: 4
  • Unsaturated Fat: 14
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 18
  • Fiber: 0
  • Protein: 6
  • Cholesterol: 69

Keywords: bacon macaroni salad

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Previous Post: « Perfect Buttermilk Waffles
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bernice Hill says

    June 22, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    What a great way to make classic macaroni salad even better! Bacon is a favourite salad ingredient in this house and I’m glad you mentioned batch cooking in the oven. It just makes everything so much easier.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 23, 2020 at 1:04 am

      It truly makes this salad so simple!

      Reply
  2. Chef Dennis says

    June 23, 2020 at 7:58 am

    Now this is making me crave! This herbed bacon macaroni salad looks really delicious and satisfying! I can’t wait to try this

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 23, 2020 at 2:33 pm

      I hope you love it as much as I do!

      Reply
  3. Kathryn Donangelo says

    June 24, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    This looks so good!! I love the added herbs and bacon in the salad. Perfect for our 4th of July bbq! Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 24, 2020 at 3:55 pm

      You’re so welcome! I loved it so much that I plan on serving it again for the 4th.

      Reply
  4. Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli says

    June 24, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    Many amazing flavors in this macaroni salad! This is truly one of the best looking macaroni salad we’ve seen! We would go for big scoops of it if it was in front of us!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 24, 2020 at 9:02 pm

      Thank you! It’s so good — hope you try it!

      Reply
  5. Veronika says

    June 26, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    Love this flavor combination! Plus, bacon makes everything taste better! Saving the recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 27, 2020 at 5:08 pm

      Can’t disagree with that! Hope you enjoy.

      Reply
  6. Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says

    June 26, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    Oh wow! What a deliciously awesome new twist on macaroni salad! I’m LOVING that it has bacon too and the mustard! Definitely adding this to my list of summer must-makes!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 27, 2020 at 5:10 pm

      I think you’ll love it, Lori!

      Reply
  7. Karen says

    June 27, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    Looks like you nailed everything we love about comfort food in one dish! My son will go bonkers for this.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 29, 2020 at 6:26 pm

      I bet he will! It’s so good. 😀

      Reply
  8. Marisa F. Stewart says

    June 28, 2020 at 1:50 pm

    Now this is a memorable macaroni salad. You can never go wrong with bacon and adding the herbs just pushes the pasta salad over the top. This is going to be perfect for our Independence Day gathering.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 29, 2020 at 6:26 pm

      Absolutely! Hope y’all enjoy!

      Reply
  9. Elaine says

    June 28, 2020 at 3:38 pm

    This is definitely something new to try if you like a good old macaroni salad. Love the herb and dressing – my favorite, too! 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 29, 2020 at 6:27 pm

      So happy to hear you enjoyed!

      Reply
  10. Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey says

    June 29, 2020 at 8:01 am

    I’m just like you – I see macaroni at a buffet, and that is the first place I will go! I love the addition of fresh herbs, lemon and bacon to yours!

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 29, 2020 at 6:28 pm

      It really is such a delicious twist!

      Reply

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About Me

I'm a Denver-based lady and believe life is best spent with comforting meals, tasty beverages and good company. When I'm not playing in the kitchen, I'm probably exploring new breweries with my husband, Matt, or obsessing over my adorable dog, Baylor. Read More…

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