WATCH: How To Make Macaroni Salad Extra Delicious

Macaroni salad is a staple at every Filipino Christmas table. The recipe is a time-honored tradition, just like the fruit salad, the jamon, and other family Noche Buena recipes that have become your favorite.   

• READ THESE: MORE ARTICLES ABOUT MACARONI
• These Are The Chicken + Macaroni Recipes You Need In Your Life
• These Are The Macaroni Salad Shortcuts You Need To Know

Here are tips on how to make the macaroni salad for the Christmas buffet table extra delicious this year. 

Photo by Public Domain Pictures

1 Choose different shapes of pasta.

Elbow macaroni isn’t the only shape available. When you find the shop has run out of this popular shape or you want to rebel against tradition, use bow ties, twists, shells, and yes, even broken spaghetti.

2 Pre-cook the pasta.

Pre-cook the pasta! It’s cold so it’s the perfect make-ahead recipe. You will have the time to store it for at least 2 days before you need to dress it up. Did you know that you can even use overcooked pasta? That’s because cold pasta is firmer than hot pasta.  

Photo by Roselle Miranda

3 Use leftover chicken.

When you don’t have the time to cook the chicken or you have leftover chicken, use that. Roast chicken works perfectly but so will leftover fried chicken. Just shred the meat from the bones. 

The best thing about leftover chicken? It’s already tasty. Plus, there’s rotisserie chicken available in almost every neighborhood. 

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

4 Add fruit cocktail, too.

Nothing says Christmas and Pinoy than a good can of fruit cocktail. Our sweet tooth transcends dishes and the macaroni salad is not an exception. Make it even more delicious with a generous helping of these syrup-marinated chunks of fruits. Plus, it’s a great sweet alternative to sweetened condensed milk.

5 Add frozen vegetables.

If you’re not a fan of prepping too many ingredients, why not grab and use the veggies in this frozen packet? No need to chop ingredients! You can boil it together with the pasta for easy prep.

• READ THESE: MORE ARTICLES ABOUT MACARONI
• These Are The Chicken + Macaroni Recipes You Need In Your Life
• These Are The Macaroni Salad Shortcuts You Need To Know

6 Make the dressing super flavorful.

Pasta mutes flavors because it’s bland. The macaroni salad needs all the help it needs because it’s cold, so make the dressing more flavorful than usual. Season and taste it again after mixing the dressing with the pasta. You might find it needs more than you thought. 

ALSO READ: 

WATCH: These Delicious Macaroni Dishes Are Made With Kitchen Staples Posted in: Cooking

WATCH: This Macaroni Salad + Fruit Salad Mashup Is Christmas In A Bowl Posted in: Cooking

Everything You Need To Know To Make The Best Tasting Macaroni Salad Posted in: Cooking

***

Thinking about what to cook next? Join our Facebook group, Yummy Pinoy Cooking Club, to get more recipe ideas, share your own dishes, and find out what the rest of the community are making and eating!

Got your own version of the classic dishes? Pa-share naman! Get your recipe published on Yummy.ph by submitting your recipe here!