5 from 5 votes

Hawaiian-Style Macaroni Salad is unlike any other pasta salad! It is packed full of flavor! It's like a cross between cole slaw and potato salad! #pastasalad #sidedish

Hawaiian-Style Macaroni Salad is unlike any other pasta salad! It is packed full of flavor! It’s a cross between cole slaw and potato salad!

This post is sponsored by The Little Potato Company. All text and opinions are my own.

HAWAIIAN-STYLE MACARONI SALAD

Name: HAWAIIAN-STYLE MACARONI SALAD
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs Little Potato Co. Baby Boomer creamer potatoes; 1 cup macaroni, (uncooked); 2 hard-cooked peeled eggs, (chopped); 1/2 cup shredded carrots; 1 15 oz bottle coleslaw dressing; sliced green onions, (for garnish)

I had a friend, Leilani, who made it her goal to educate folks on all things Hawai’i. She was a military brat, like myself, and was born and raised there. She would always half-joke about our (and by “our” – I mean us mainlanders) use of pineapple. “Mainlanders think that just cause you put pineapple in something, it automatically becomes ‘Hawaiian’.” So, of course, we had to constantly joke with her. She’d come into the break room and ask what we were eating and it became a competition on who could come up with the best (and by ‘best’- I mean horrifyingly gross) use of pineapple in a made-up dish.

She would tell me about her favorite meal of Teriyaki Burgers (which, ironically enough, do have pineapple on them) with a side of Hawaiian-Style Macaroni Salad. She made it for me once and the dressing tasted so much like a cole slaw dressing to me. Hers was such a simple salad of macaroni, mayonnaise-based dressing, sliced carrots & celery with a hint of onion. Simple but perfect.

NO PINEAPPLE – ALL GOOD!

So using that recipe as inspiration, I created this recipe. I’ve had friends tell me that at some Hawaiian barbecue joints, they add potatoes to the mac salad. So that is just what I did here. I’m using my favorite Little Potato Company creamer potatoes. They go perfectly with this dish since they are easy to dice and are super tasty. And to make it even easier, I am using a pre-made cole slaw dressing AND we are going to boil the potatoes and noodles together to save time and dirty dishes. Boom! This is so good y’all – no pineapple needed!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Little Potato Co. creamer potatoes
elbow macaroni noodles
hard-cooked peeled eggs
shredded carrots
coleslaw dressing
green onions

You can usually find the hard-cooked peeled eggs over in the refrigerated section of the grocery store near the other eggs. It’s a great time saver!

HOW TO MAKE HAWAIIAN STYLE MACARONI SALAD:

Cut up your little potatoes into halves (or quarters – depending on how big they are.) You basically want a 1-inch size chunk of potato.

Put them into a large pot of water over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle boil.

Once the water starts boiling, add in macaroni. Stir well.

Make sure to stir the potatoes and macaroni occasionally while cooking so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Once the noodles are tender, drain the potatoes and noodles and allow them to cool for about 15 minutes or so.

Once they’re cooled off, add potatoes and noodles to a large bowl. Mix in chopped hard-cooked eggs, sliced carrots and coleslaw dressing.

Stir well. You can serve right away.

coleslaw dressing added to macaroni salad

Or, cover with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge until ready to serve!

creamy hawaiian macaroni salad on lettuce

Enjoy!