Name: Pimento Cheese Macaroni Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 16 oz box elbow noodles; 1 12 oz tub pimento cheese; 1/2 - 3/4 cup mayonnaise; 1 2.8 oz pkg real bacon bits; 1 small bunch green onions (thinly sliced); salt & pepper (to taste)

Jump to Recipe

Pimento cheese macaroni salad combines two Southern classic side dishes into one winning recipe. With only 20 minutes of hands prep, a handful of ingredients, and big flavors, this will be a hit at any potluck, picnic, or barbecue!

Warm weather means barbecue season is here!

And whether I am hosting one or attending one, you can bet I’ll be making this pimento cheese macaroni salad.

It’s always a hit with the bold pimento cheese acting as part of the dressing.

And it’s just so easy to make that I don’t mind making this over and over all summer long.

Plus it’s a nice way to add some variety to traditional classic macaroni salad or even sweet macaroni salad.

Ingredients

To make this you’ll need:

Noodles– A 16 ounce box of elbow macaroni. You could substitute another short pasta if that’s what you have on hand.
Pimento cheese– A 12 ounce store bought tub or you can use homemade pimento cheese
Mayonnaise– Use real full fat mayo. Not a fan of mayo? Substitute plain Greek yogurt or sour cream.
Bacon bits– Real bacon bits. You could step this up even more and cook up some bacon crisply and crumble it.
Green onions– A small, thinly sliced bunch.
Salt and pepper– To taste

How to Make

This pimento cheese macaroni salad is so easy to make!

To do it, cook the pasta to al dente according to the package instructions.

Drain off all the water and put the drained pasta in a large mixing bowl.

Stir in the pimento cheese and mayonnaise until they evenly coat the pasta.

Then stir in the bacon bits and onion until evenly incorporated.

Give the pasta salad a taste and season it with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cover and chill for 1-2 hours.

Serve and enjoy!

Storing

Store the macaroni salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Keep in mind, the longer the salad sits, the more it will soak up the pimento cheese mayonnaise mixture.

You may need to add more mayo.

Tips and Tricks

Don’t like mayo? You can sub greek yogurt or sour cream.
The pasta will soak up the sauce as it sits, so add more mayo if needed.
Prefer a vegetarian pasta salad? Omit the bacon.
Love bacon? Add extra!

Other Pimento Cheese Recipes

Pimento cheese macaroni salad is a sure fire hit at any picnic, potluck, or barbecue.

Make it and enjoy!

Looking for other pimento cheese recipes?

Try these:

If you’ve tried this PIMENTO CHEESE MACARONI SALAD, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!