Macaroni Salad With Lemon and Herbs
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:10 to 12 servings
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- ⅔cup minced bread-and-butter pickles
- 2large stalks celery, peeled and finely chopped
- 4scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- ½cup mayonnaise
- ½cup buttermilk (see Tip)
- ⅓cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley, plus more for garnish
- ¼cup chopped fresh dill, plus small sprigs for garnish
- ¼cup drained jarred capers, chopped, plus 3 tablespoons caper brine
- 4teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1teaspoon fresh lemon zest and 4 teaspoons juice (from 1 large lemon)
- 1teaspoon granulated sugar
- 16ounces elbow macaroni
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
227 calories; 8 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 260 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high.
- Step 2
While the water comes to a boil, prepare your dressing: In a large bowl, stir together pickles, celery, scallions, mayonnaise, buttermilk, parsley, dill, capers and brine, mustard, lemon zest and juice, and sugar. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
- Step 3
Cook the macaroni in the boiling water until al dente, about 6 minutes; drain well and let cool for a few minutes.
- Step 4
Once cooled, toss macaroni with dressing, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate until chilled. Top with extra scallions, parsley and dill to garnish just before serving.
Tip
- If you want to streamline the ingredient list, you could skip the buttermilk, increase the mayonnaise to ¾ cup and use ¼ cup milk.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
dimmerswitch
At its' delicious best when chilled for a couple to a few hours. And delicious it is. I was tempted to eat the entire dish all by myself. The 'peel the celery' instruction is a good one. I always do this for use in cold salads of any kind because it makes a difference - here too. I'll use grainy mustard next time and no caper brine. If you're absent buttermilk, I think sour cream could work fine to substitute. This is now in keep and often repeat file.
vicki
Swap garbanzos for macaroni. Gluten free!
Robert L. "Doc" Chapman
I learned this recipe from my gourmet-chef mother. I have made this delicious and welcome cold salad (with variations) at least 6 dozen times. I always make a double batch and use sour cream instead of buttermilk. I never peel the celery, and I mix the mayo the night before with 2 fresh large cloves of micro-planed garlic and add all the herbs and chill overnight in a sealed glass container. I only put out one batch because it's usually gone before the party's over and I eat the rest later. Yum
Bellaverdi
A traditional substitute for buttermilk: using a one cup measure, first add 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice, fill with milk to make one cup. Let sit 10-15 minutes. Voila!
Renee
Made as is except I swapped the macaroni for Yukon gold fingerling potatoes. It made for a really delicious twist on potato salad.
Rich
Macaroni salad is the only thing we use Miracle Whip for.
Janeen
Fold in medium sized seasoned (Old Bay) cooked shrimp into this dish and thank me later.
Alexa Weibel, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
It can totally sit in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, Brian! And a tip: Take it out of the fridge 30 minutes or so before serving, so it's not totally frigid, and stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of water just before eating, to get it luxuriously glossy again!
Jean
MDS: I suspect you actually got cilantro instead of parsley - they look similar. People who have a problem with cilantro report that it tastes like soap. Try Italian (flat leaf) parsley.
Randy
I would just swap in the yogurt in the same amount. It's got the tanginess you're looking for. And if needs thinning I'd add water, lemon juice or cider vinegar. I'm sure it'd work.
Mike Schmidt
Having just made this again tonight for a barbecue on Saturday…just one comment, which applies to most of the great recipes I get from the NYT…could you please start being more realistic about the prep times? If someone can put this together in 25 minutes please send me the video…it takes me an hour and I’m a pretty seasoned cook!
Bellaverdi
What a light, subtle summer salad. I loved the usage of buttermilk/mayo mix. I left out the pickles due to preference. I served it with cold roasted chicken and grated carrot salad. It’s summer in Houston now. This will be part of my summer rotation. In the future, I think I will use more parsley, though. This will feed a crowd!
lisa peterson
My mom always added canned tuna fish and a little pickle relish to her mac salad, which everyone I have served it to since thinks is crazy. But that's the family recipe. I also like adding tarragon, for an alternate version. Looking forward to trying this!
barbie
Due to quarantine, lack of access to ingredients, & my desire for something non-potato - I used ditalini pasta, for the buttermilk, I had 1/2C low fat milk + 2T buttermilk powder. For the fresh herbs, I used 2 T dried dill, heaping 2T dried parsley and no zest, so just the lemon juice from a bottle. Everything else as written. All I can say is holy cow! This is amazing! My new favorite - not a fan of deli macaroni salad in general, but this one I could eat in one sitting! THANK YOU!
Slim Pickins
Made this with vegan mayo, gluten free pasta, and skipped the buttermilk, added a little more lemon to the mayo mix. Really good to have around for afternoon lunch in between zoom meetings.
donna lee
This is absolutely the best macaroni salad!
Kelly
I really wanted to give this four stars. But it was WAY too salty. I suggest not adding the two teaspoons of table salt at the end, like it instructs. You already have the three teaspoons of caper brine. I ended up having to add more pasta and mayo to cut back on the salt because it was overkill.
Eve
We adore this! We swapped out sweet pickle relish for the pickles because we had the relish on hand. We used 1/2 mayo and 1/2 low-fat yogurt (not a strained variety) and refreshed the salad as needed with a little more buttermilk to make up for the pasta’s tendency to absorb liquids. The yogurt cuts down on the fat and calories, but more importantly, adds an extra little tang. We used cavatappi, cutting back to 12 ounces, and using the full amount of everything else.
Mo
This mac salad rocks. I like to add a little *personal touch* by finely dicing some preserved lemon rind that I have curing in my fridge at all times.
Mrs. Da Silva
I recommend doubling the dressing!
Paige
A summer favorite…everyone LOVES
Ross
Two teaspoons of salt was way too much and almost ruined it.
Alicia M
Loved this as a cold dish for summer lunches. I add in some canned salmon for protein-- a delightful twist on a tuna pasta salad my grandmother used to make.
JYL
While a few in my family loved this, it was not for me. It's just too sour and dill heavy. I ended up adding a tablespoon or so of maple syrup and some additional buttermilk to try to calm it down. Still not a great salad in my opinion.
Forrest Chumley
This salad is as good as everyone says. I followed the recipe closely, including peeling the celery. I had never peeled celery before, but it's absolutely worth the trouble. It's hard to describe how it changes the mouth feel, but it's significant and very nice. I chilled the salad for about 4 hours before serving. That was good, too.
Ashley
This is my favorite pasta salad. I use Wickles pickles with some of the pickle brine and skip the capers. Don’t skimp on the fresh herbs! Healthy handful of both makes all the difference.
Lynn Lozer
Wickles Pickes is the best!
McP
Perfect and delicious. What you think Macaroni Salad should be and never is - this is it! Made exactly as written.
Pam from MN
Fresh and delicious. Took me an hour from start to finish, which wasn’t too bad (but not 25 min). Next time I would use pickle spears, as chopping slices was tedious. Peeling the celery was a breeze and worth it. My brand of buttermilk was not as thick as others, so I’ll probably add some sour cream next time to thicken it up a bit. Will definitely make again! This dish is a nice accompaniment to any summer gathering.
Teresa
This salad is my go to of pasta salads. it's so good!
Kym
This was an absolute hit at the BBQ I brought it to. I had hardly any left to bring home, and two people asked for the recipe. It's nice and light--a perfect pasta salad on a hot day.
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