Hawaiian Mac Salad is the cornerstone of a good “plate lunch,” i.e. a bed of rice, a scoop of mac salad, and a heaping serving of a meat dish like lau lau, kalua pork, or huli huli chicken. In other words, it’s a peak highlight of Hawaii’s food scene (with the exception, perhaps of the mountains of delicious poke).
My Favorite Food in Hawaii?
For me, mac (“macaroni”) salad was the unexpected MVP of our first trip to Hawaii. It seems so unassuming, but the brilliance of Hawaiian mac salad is that it’s not a gloopy, undifferentiated mayonnaise-y mess like what you might find on the mainland.
It’s a wonderfully complex carb-tastic side-dish, augmented with chunky potatoes, which give it lots of texture and body. Its subtle vinegary sweetness makes it a main event in and of itself, not just a side.
In short, mac salad is everything you could want as the highly valued sidekick on your plate lunch.
On our most recent trip to Maui, here are the ways this irrational love for Hawaiian mac salad manifested itself…
- When we did have mac salad for a plate lunch shared among my sister and two cousins, I was verging on wolfishly protective over the small scoop of mac salad it came with.
- Was at a restaurant with a huge plate of food and a dwindling pile of mac salad. Proved my glutton status by ordering another scoop of mac salad. Proceeded to neglect the rest of my dinner and just eat the mac salad.
- Went to Foodland to see if they sold house-made mac salad. They did not. Tragic. (But we did salvage these trips with poke. Lots and lots of poke.)
- Ate a mountain of mac salad at a luau, augmented with small piles of everything else. People in the buffet line stared with zero shame as I scooped—also with zero shame.
So, for anyone else who has returned from a Hawaiian vacation and is searching for the elusive taste of paradise, here’s our version of a Hawaiian mac salad recipe!
Hawaiian Mac Salad Recipe Instructions
Boil the macaroni and the potatoes in two separate pots simultaneously. Cook the macaroni until it’s fully softened—not necessarily al dente. Cook the potatoes until fork tender. In a separate bowl, mash the potatoes into a coarse mash. It should be about half chunky and half smooth.
Next, mix the dressing: add the mayonnaise, milk, cider vinegar, and sugar.
In a large bowl, mix the boiled macaroni with the peas, carrots, and grated onion. Pour the dressing in. Mix thoroughly. Now add the mashed potatoes.
Add salt to taste.
Serve with tasty slow cooked BBQ, grilled meat, or a big scoop of Spam Fried Rice! Stay tuned for that recipe in a couple of days!
~Aloha~
Hawaiian Mac Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces elbow macaroni
- 3 medium russet potatoes (peeled and cut into large chunks)
- 2 cups mayonnaise (or to taste)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1-2 tablespoons cider vinegar (to taste)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 1 carrot (grated, about 1 cup)
- 1 small onion (grated)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Boil the macaroni and the potatoes in two separate pots simultaneously. Cook the macaroni until it’s fully softened—not necessarily al dente. Cook the potatoes until fork tender. In a separate bowl, mash the potatoes into a coarse mash. It should be about half chunky and half smooth.
- Next, mix the dressing: add the mayonnaise, milk, cider vinegar, and sugar.
- In a large bowl, mix the boiled macaroni with the peas, carrots, and grated onion. Pour the dressing in. Mix thoroughly. Now add the mashed potatoes. Add salt to taste.
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