Pickle pasta salad is the perfect cold noodle side dish. Bring it to a barbecue, a potluck, or for your family, it’s packed with dill pickles and rocks!
Pickle pasta salad is my newest obsession, it will be yours once you take a bite too! Macaroni salad packed with dill pickles and diced veggies will be your new favorite side dish.
- If you’re having a holiday get together, or want to get oohs and ahhhs from your own family at dinnertime you’ve got to make this.
- Our bacon pasta salad is pretty amazing too.
Yes we love cold macaroni salad but the addition of diced dill pickles takes it over the top!
Pickle macaroni salad
This is so good. It’s that tang you can’t get with any other food other than PICKLES y’all! The more the better if you ask us. I add them to everything including deviled eggs, tuna sandwiches, ALL THE THINGS I tell you.
What is the best pasta for pasta salad?
That’s a good question, and the answers will vary depending on who you ask. For me it depends on my mood really, or what I have in my cupboard at the time.
In general though it needs to be short pasta shapes. Their small size makes them easy to serve and eat. Their little folds and pockets provide plenty of spaces to trap dressing, herbs, and small ingredients. Popular styles are:
- elbow macaroni
- fusilli
- farfalle
- rotini
- penne
A pasta salad is so versatile because you can really add anything and everything you love inside. Another great addition if I have them on hand are sliced hard boiled eggs.
How do you make pasta salad from scratch?
We will show you here. You can then add to or omit any ingredients you like. The possibilities are endless.
What goes with pasta salad?
This is what we added to our dill pickle pasta salad time:
- Diced dill pickles, jarred or this is how to make pickles at home
- Bell peppers
- Red onion
- Celery
- Mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper
- Seasonings
This time we used both mayo and Greek yogurt, you could opt for one or the other. The yoghurt adds some protein is a good egg free choice. Other options would be:
- Diced hard boiled eggs
- Olives
- Sliced mushrooms
- Feta or cheddar cheese
- Pickle juice
- White onions
- Can do 50/50 mayo sour cream mixture
- Garlic powder or other seasonings you love
Pickle pasta salad recipe
- Cook pasta in a large pot until al dente (my preference)
- rinse with cold water
- In a large bowl combine cooked noodles and diced vegetables you love
- Combine mayo, yogurt, salt, pepper and dill in a small bowl and mix together
- Pour this into your bowl with elbow macaroni noodles and gently mix so everything is coated well.
- Gently fold in pickles, add a bit of pickle juice for a more intense pickle flavor
How do you dice a pickle?
I slice it lengthwise, put flat side down on cutting board, slice lengthwise again and then several times width wise to make them as small as I want.
- Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese and/or diced green onions or other favorite ingredients on top and refrigerate so it gets nice and cold
Looking for more of the best pickle recipes? Try our air fryer fried pickles too!
What is the best pickle?
That probably depends on who you ask but according to a survey, these are the most popular. I will tell you the refrigerated versions like Claussen are the BEST to us!
- Claussen dill
- Vlasic
- Van Holten’s
- Brooklyn Brine Company has some good ones
- Bubbies sweet slices are great
- McClure’s spicy pickles are yummy if you like a little spice in your life
- You could make your own if you wanted too
Next try our asparagus pasta salad and shredded brussel sprout salad too.
Printable recipe below with nutritional information listed as well. Calories, saturated fat and other amounts will vary if you change recipe at all. Enjoy!
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Pickle Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb elbow macaroni
- 1 c bell pepper diced
- 1/3 c red onion diced
- 3/4 c dill pickles or more, diced into small bites
- 1/4 c celery sliced, diced
- 1/2 c mayonnaise
- 1/4 c Greek yogurt plain flavor, unsweetened, or substitute for more mayo
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dill
Instructions
- Cook the pasta until it is as tender as you'd like it. Drain the water completely and rinse with cold water so noodles cool off.
- In a bowl combine mayo, yogurt, salt, pepper and dill in a bowl and mix well.
- In another bowl put your cooled, cooked macaroni noodles and diced veggies in and toss together.
- Put mayo dressing on and gently stir so every piece is coated with creamy dressing.
- Best if refrigerated for at least 1 hour after this so it can get nice and cold. Then serve!