by Alyssa Rivers
A delicious macaroni pasta salad with ham, pineapple, shredded carrots, and green onions. It has such amazing flavor and it coated in a sweet and tangy pineapple dressing.
Isn’t it crazy to think that summer is halfway over! It is kind of a sad thought! I have been loving the sun and all of the fun activities that come with summer. Especially the BBQ’s and potlucks!
I always love a good pasta salad when you go to a potluck. And this pasta salad is truly incredible and unique!
The ingredients are simple but come together so well. The ham and pineapple give this salad a hawaiian feel and add such delicious flavor. It doesn’t need a lot added to it because the ham and pineapple is the star of the show.
But lets just talk about the one amazing thing that sets this macaroni salad apart from the others. The sweet and tangy pineapple dressing. It is so phenomenal and gave the salad such great flavor. It will set your macaroni salad apart from all of the rest and it is sure to be a huge hit!
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
A delicious macaroni pasta salad with ham, pineapple, shredded carrots, and green onions. It has such amazing flavor and it coated in a sweet and tangy pineapple dressing.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound dry elbow macaroni prepared according to package directions and rinsed in cold water
- 1 can pineapple chunks 20 ounces, drained (reserve 1/2 cup liquid for dressing)
- 2 cups ham cubed cooked
- 1/2 cup carrot shredded
- 1/4 cup green onion
Pineapple Dressing:
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice reserved
- 1/2 light mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine macaroni, pineapple chunks, ham, carrots, and green onion in a bowl. set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, greek yogurt, cider vinegar, and sugar. Pour over pasta and stir to coat. Enjoy!
What are all the dark bits all over the salad? I don’t see anything in the ingredients.
Possibly pepper.
I sprinkled some poppy seed into mine.
I was wondering also If the black specs were pepper since the recipe does not state anywhere to season with salt and pepper. After making it, I searched online to see if I should season my salad. I guess I will try it. Don’t want it too salty though, the ham is probably salty enough.
very nice..
Thank you for the recipe.. 🙂
Has anyone ever tried to make this with Spam? I’m on a one man mission to bring Spam back!
Haha! The funny thing is my sister in law introduced me to fried rice and uses spam! It tasted amazing! So I say go for the spam! 🙂
Spam is a staple in hawaiian food.
YES! Love the Spam in it. I make this all the time and people requests it at potlucks!!
Whoa! Hold the pineapple juice! I didn’t need nearly a half cup. You may want to add that at the end.
How much mayo? 1/2 what?
Cup.
I have an intense dislike for mayo, any ideas on substitution? Use all greek yogurt?
Yes! Use greek yogurt. Or half mayo half greek yogurt. 🙂
This is now a family favorite. Thanks!
The pineapple juice is the right amount because after it chills for a couple of hours the dressing becomes absorbed by the macaroni so try the recipe before paying attention to the above comment then decide.
I agree this would taste great with spam as its Hawaiian inspired. Thanks for the tip about the pineapple juice! I poured the whole 1/2C and thought it was too much at first too. Will definitely make again 🙂
Can you use light Miracle Whip instead of mayo?
I’m going to use light miracle whip. Also, may try the pineapple greek yogurt next time, too!
If I don’t have apple cider vinegar, what’s a good replacement?
Lemon juice is a,good substitute
sweet pickle juice is a great replacement for vinegar in any macaroni or potato salad!!!
Don’t see where pineapple juice is used – assuming I mix into dressing?
Is there a substitute for the cider vinegar? Maybe fresh lemon juice?
The salad sounds delicious. I will try it.
sweet pickle juice is a great substitute for vinegar in potato and macaroni salads… also in sweet salad dressings like on spinach salad!!!
How long will this last if refrigerated? Could you make the day before?
just a note in ingredients it says to save pineapple juice and then in dressing instructions it doesn’t say to add it into the mix 🙂
This sounds & looks yummy! Can’t wait to try. Thanks so much!
I want to take to a potluck, would i keep it cold, and then take it. Itwill be sitting out at least 2 hrs in the shade. any suggestion. I want tomake this bad.
I had a recipe that I came up with years ago…. I didn’t write it down 🙁 and can’t remember everything I put i it! This seems close! I also added mandarin oranges and cooked shrimp instead of ham.
DELISH!!I added some garlic pepper and cilantro.
I make this with spam and also add mandarin oranges . It’s delicious! !
This looks delish & I’m really excited to make it. Does anyone know the calories??
Plug it into fitness pal, it might even be in there already
Superb pasta!i’ve crushed fresh pineapple to make the juice n its so wayyyy delicious
Turned out pretty well. Next time I would add at least half a cup more of ham and maybe hold the green onions unless I happened to have some around. I would also cut each of the pineapple chunks in half or in thirds as I thought they were a bit too big. As others have said, the half cup of pineapple juice is NOT too much.
What kind of ham is this?
It is cooked cubed ham. You can buy it in the deli section or have it diced to size by a butcher at any grocery store.
Will this recipe work with fresh pineapple?
Yes, of course! Even better! XOXO
Am I crazy, or is the recipe missing “pineapple juice” in the second step? The one where you mix together all of the dressing ingredients?
The dressing ingredients will have the 1/2 cup of pineapple juice that you saved from the second step. Let me know if you have any other questions I can help with! Thanks so much! XOXO
I was a little nervous while making this as the dressing is on the runnier side. It is only simple ingredients but it tastes sooo good and it’s not all the way chilled yet! I never rinse my noodles but let them cool in the colander for at least 5 minutes stirring often. Then I add them to the rest of the ingredients warm. I find it makes the pasta absorb the flavors of the dressing more. Thanks for this great recipe! It’s a keeper!
Great tip on the warm pasta! Thank you so much! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing and following along with me! XOXO
This stuff is awesome!! I’m eating a bowl of it as I write this comment! 🙂 I was a bit worried when the dressing was so liquidy- but don’t cut the pineapple juice. It absorbs into the pasta, so I suggest making ahead of time. I made mine last night to serve today. Thanks for a great recipe.
The Hawaiian Salad was delicious. I doubled the recipe. While making it I thought of other spins on it. Next time may buy a whole pineapple and slice it and grill it, then cut up and add to salad. Maybe add some Baby Swiss cheese also. Yum!
Great idea! I love it! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
This is really tasty! Next time I think I would add some celery for extra crunch.
MMM! That sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
So yummy! I added a 1/2 cup each of frozen corn and peas to the colander before pouring in the pasta, and 1/4 t. pepper after I tasted it. I also don’t rinse my pasta after cooking it, so the dressing stuck to it nicely! Thanks for a great recipe!
Would bacon work?
Yes, this will taste good.
We really enjoyed this salad. We had a “Luau” in the middle of winter, and this sweet and tangy salad went so well with BBQ pork and baked Hawaiian beans! I was making the dressing (YUM!) when I realized I was out of yogurt, so I subbed sour cream. I added about a teaspoon of salt to the dressing and some black pepper. This recipe will be filed for future use. Thank you!
Made it according to the directions.
Ate it according to the directions.
Delish as is!
Loved the comments on adding additional ingredients.
Adding cilantro & mandrin oranges certainly pushes this in a northern Thai direction, but who cares, it’s all good groceries!