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This Hawaiian Macaroni Salad is truly island-style, from how it’s made to the ingredients used. This recipe uses pantry ingredients to create a creamy, no-frills macaroni salad that is the perfect side dish for any Barbecue or Luau.
Authentic Hawaiian Mac Salad
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad is one of my biggest guilty pleasures because it reminds me of my time on the North Shore of Oahu. When I lived there, I often frequented a restaurant called L&L Hawaiian Barbecue where I always ordered the same thing: a plate lunch with macaroni salad and rice on the side.
And If you follow a vegan or healthy diet, we’ve added alternate ingredients that will allow you to enjoy this macaroni salad recipe.
For the complete Hawaiian experience, be sure to try our other recipes, such as Malasadas (Hawaii’s version of donuts), Haupia (Hawaiian coconut pudding), and Huli-Huli Chicken (Hawaiian grilled chicken).
Mac salad when you can’t be in Hawaii
This past weekend, I had a flashback to my Hawaii days when we ordered food from Honolulu Grill in St. George, UT. Everything we had there was delicious and seriously the most authentic Hawaiian food I have had since leaving Hawaii.
The macaroni salad, especially, hit home and suddenly made me wonder why we haven’t gotten a good Hawaiian mac salad recipe here on Favorite Family Recipes yet!
Keep it simple
Authentic Hawaiian Mac Salad is ridiculously simple. It is a no-frills mac salad yet, it is so creamy and flavorful. I had a friend in Hawaii who was also a caterer there. He explained to me long ago that true Hawaiian macaroni salad is pretty much just macaroni, carrot, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper. This is the way the locals make it.
There are a few other ingredients you can add like celery, extra onion, potatoes, fresh crab, or relish, but the basic recipe is my favorite. Once you start getting into adding ham or pineapple, you are getting way off course.
Adding ham or pineapple to something does not make it “Hawaiian Food”. Pineapple and ham have no business being in a Hawaiian mac salad. EVER.
Healthy Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
This recipe may seem a little mayo-heavy, it’s true. That is what makes it so stinking good. If you are really concerned about the mayo-ness of it, you can substitute Greek yogurt in whatever amounts you would like (i.e. half mayo, half Greek yogurt).
You will get a likeness of mac salad but I am telling you, it won’t be quite the same. In Hawaii, it’s all about the mayo. As far as the BRAND of mayo, it has got to be Best Foods. Period. No other mayo will taste right.
Substitutions for a Vegan Hawaiian Mac Salad
We are so grateful for comments we get from our readers, especially when adapting recipes for special diets. We received a comment from Mimi that I thought would be helpful for anyone wanting to make this a vegan recipe. She substituted Hellman’s Vegan Mayonnaise for the regular mayo in the recipe, and Silk Unsweetened Cashew Milk for the regular milk. She said it turned out great. Thank you, Mimi!
How to make Hawaiian Mac Salad ahead of time
If you make this ahead of time and it seems a little dried out, add some mayo mixed with a little milk until you get the right consistency back. Fold it in with a large rubber spatula so you don’t tear the macaroni noodles. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
More Delicious Hawaiian Food
If you love this Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, try more of our other authentic Hawaiian recipes:
Authentic Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Video
Equipment
- Stove Top
- Large Sauce Pan
Ingredients
- 1 pound macaroni
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 carrots, shredded
- ¼ cup shredded onion (optional)
- 2 ½ cups Mayonnaise Best Foods or Hellman's mayonnaise (no substitutes!)
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- kosher salt, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well and place in a large bowl.
- While macaroni is still hot, sprinkle on vinegar. Add carrot and onion. Toss together until well combined. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, or until cooled.
- In a separate, small bowl, whisk together mayo, milk, and sugar. Fold the mayo mixture into the macaroni until all the noodles are evenly coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (best if overnight). Gently stir before serving, add a little more milk if needed, no more than a tablespoon or two.
Notes
- I like to put my boiled macaroni and ingredients directly in a Tupperware bowl with a lid so I can easily refrigerate it.
- Make sure you use Best Foods or Hellmann’s mayonnaise-no substitutes!
I added about another tablespoon of cider vinegar and of sugar. I skipped the milk. It’s delicious.
Thanks for sharing your substitutions!
Amazing! Putting the vinegar in while the macaroni is hot so it gets absorbed is genius! This recipe avoids the curd-texture you get when you add vinegar to Mayo. Adding the milk reduces the amount of Mayo too, but retains a creamy texture. Perfect with bbq!
Delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. I used a micro plane to grate the onion fine and added a little extra seasonings and it was wonderful.
I’m so happy you like the recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Why is this called traditional Hawaiian macaroni salad? This is the way I’ve been making macaroni salad ever since my mom taught me the recipe when I was a young girl. What exactly makes this Hawaiian as opposed to traditional American macaroni salad???
This is the traditional salad served with many Hawaiian meals – particularly Hawaiian lunch plates. Around our house, a typical American macaroni salad was made with peas, ham, green onions, and cheese cubes. We weren’t introduced to the Hawaiian Mac Salad until Erica lived in Hawaii and actually worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie. She also had close friends that were caterers there. She brought back many incredible recipes! This was my Mom’s recipe: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/moms-macaroni-salad/
My mom is full Portuguese and grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii. This recipe is by far the best version of “authentic mac salad” my Aunty’s make. So ono!
Thank you so much for posting real recipes and not something with pineapple thrown in to call it Hawaiian.
Is the apple cider vinegar a must for it to taste authentic? I thought I had some but turns out I don’t.
You do need something to add a little acidity to the sauce. I would try substituting 1:1 with lemon juice! Hope this helps!
Should’ve gone to this recipe first!! I was stationed in Oahu for almost 4 years and the Mac salad there was my favorite. I’m making kalua pork and cabbage with a side of rice and needed something else to go with it. I started with a different recipe which was my first mistake- it only used the basic ingredients of onion, carrots, mayonnaise, and salt/pepper and it tasted like straight mayonnaise, yuck! Luckily, I found this and simply added the extra ingredients from this recipe and it literally saved my Mac salad! It tastes just like it did in Hawaii! Thank you so much, I can’t wait till dinner is ready!!
Good authentic Mac salad. Hubby is Hawaii so we eat it a lot but add a small (3 oz) can of tuna because that is how his mom and Aunties make it. You can also use a can of chicken if you don’t like tuna but you don’t really taste tuna. We also let the carrots sit in the cider vinegar while the macaroni cooks and then add it. It softens them.
Yes! I remember the tuna being in there!!!
My uncle who is from Hawaii puts hard boiled eggs in his recipe. He also adds soy sauce to his helping for flavor. So good!!
I asked an employee at L&L Hawaiian BBQ what they put in their pasta salad, and she whispered to me tuna. haha. I haven’t tried it yet. It looks like shrimp to me.
Anyone ever make this kewpie mayo? Thinking of giving this a swing tomorrow. I’ll post the results, thinking this may take it up a notch. Thoughts?
This was delicious! Great flavors and a recipe my whole family enjoyed! That’s a winner in my book.
I love this recipe! Simple is best, and this one tasted great.
Love your recipies! This looks delicious. Could you give a ballpark as to how much salt and pepper are added? Thank you!!
I usually start with a teaspoon of each and then taste it and add more if needed! Hope this helps!
Finally, I found the recipe I’ve looked for over the last 5 years after eating at a Hawaiian restaurant where I loved the macaroni salad. It is perfect as it is, I added some chopped olives stuffed with red peppers since I had them and really liked the addition although it made it less authentic
I used as much apple cider vinegar but the taste of it is a bit much. What can I do to make the vinegar taste less powerful? Will it die down after refrigeration ? Thanks!
You can add a little more mayo or some milk to take down the vinegar taste. Hope this helps!
It looked perfect when I first made it. In the morning all the mayo was curdled and looked like it had been sitting in the case at foodland for a week. I followed the recipe including brand of mayo exactly. I paid 22 dollars to make this and I had to throw it away. 🙁
I am so sorry that this recipe didn’t turn out for you. Was it stored in an air-tight container? Did you also add the milk in the morning, as we suggest in the recipe?
I made it two days ago and it was great. Maybe the milk had gone bad? Also it was a lot less expensive than $22.
Did you put the Mayo in while the macaroni was still hot? Or the vinegar curdled it. This has never happened to me and I make this for my Hawaiian hubby a lot!
How did making THIS recipe cost you $22? It’s macaroni ($3 on the high end), mayo ($4 if you don’t already have a jar), vinegar ($3, again – if you don’t already have THAT in your pantry), a few carrots ($3 for a bunch of organic), an onion (less than $1), milk ($1.99 qt), and salt, pepper, and sugar, which everyone should have on hand. No way would these items rack up $22… And I live in Alaska, where the price of food is similar to prices in Hawaii.
Was thinking the same, $22???? I doubt that! Anyway, I’ve made this a few times and pretty much already had all the ingredients on hand, and as always, delish.
Maybe she’s counting the cost of the entire container versus how much is actually used in the recipe? I live in Hawaii and know that you can spend as much as $10 for a gallon of milk and $8-9 for a large container of BF mayo 😞.
$22??!! I can see if you don’t let the hot macaroni full absorb the vinegar and dump milk into it, there is a possibility for curdling. Or your milk is bad to start with … But even so, there is vinegar in mayo and if the milk is fully mixed in with the mayo, it should not happen. This is a really fool-proof (and super yummy) recipe!
Just made it using:
$2.99 organic imported Italian macaroni
$0.17 organic apple cider vinegar ($2.79 for a bottle of 32 tablespoons)
$0.32 organic carrots ($1.58 for a bag of 10)
$0.11 organic onion ($0.88; used 1/8 of an onion)
$8.80 organic Hellmann’s mayo ($6.62 for a 15oz. jar, used 1 and 1/3 jars)
$0.08 organic grass-fed milk ($4.46 per half gallon, $0.08 per fluid oz, which is 2 tablespoons)
$0.25 organic sugar (got a giant bag at home; pretty sure 2 teaspoons cannot cost more than a quarter)
$0.25 French sea salt and organic white pepper (again, staples at home; probably costs another quarter at most)
GRAND TOTAL: $12.97, and that is using top of the line ingredients.
5 stars all the way for your wonderful macaroni salad. It made a wonderful meal when served with jasmine rice, brioche sweet buns and Hawaiian grilled teriyaki chicken. I’ll be making this quick and easy recipe again and again. It was perfect. Thanks so much for sharing. BK
Delicious and very easy! Everyone really enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing
I tried this with imitation crab and it was so good! Definitely making this again. Thank you!
I have had Macaroni salad at one place in California and seems to me that it has finely shredded chicken brest or white fish…also, the macaroni is over cooked but not bad at all. Can’t seem to fins the recipe for that one 😐
You are correct. My Hawaiian mother in law always adds a small drained can of tuna to hers. You don’t really taste the tuna but it gives it something.
Perfect addition to our luau. Simple to make and delicious to eat n
Just made this last night and had it today. It’s really good, I’m surprised because it’s basic cole slaw ingredients but with macaroni. Another favorite for us, as many of the “3 Sisters” recipes.
Delicious, next time I’ll know to cut the carrots up smaller. I bought the pre cut string carrots and will cut them down a bit. Reminded me of the steak plate shops on the island. Very good job and thank you.
Yellow, white, red or sweet onion? I never bought plate lunch because, oy, two starches🤣, but making for supper club and must have with Kalua pork!.
I usually use a sweet onion!