Dunkley's Famous Macaroni Salad

Submitted by Miss Annie

"For large gatherings, I think this salad would go over great! This is one of the best tasting macaroni salads I have ever had! I know there are a lot of ingredients, but don't skimp. The flavor sensation is absolutely incredible!! I saw this on Food Network's 'Calling All Cooks', and got the recipe from the website. This recipe serves about 25 people. NOTE: The ORIGINAL recipe calls for 1-2 Tbsps. garlic salt, and that's the way I entered the recipe. If you are salt sensitive, I suggest you use less. You can always add more."

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photo by KristyThe Wicked No

Ready In:: 4hrs
Ingredients:: 20
Serves:: 25

ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package salad macaroni (or ditali pasta)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup red onion, diced
1 cup onion, diced (yellow or white)
1 cup medium cheddar, diced
1 cup swiss cheese, diced
¹⁄₂ cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup dill pickle, diced
1 cup salami, diced
1 cup olive, black, sliced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon horseradish
1 -2 tablespoon garlic salt
1 -2 tablespoon garlic, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon white pepper
1 -2 teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
¹⁄₂ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dry mustard
¹⁄₂ teaspoon celery salt
1 (3 ounce) jar diced pimentos, rinsed and drained
1 - 1 ¹⁄₂ cup mayonnaise

directions

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.
Add macaroni and cook until it is al dente, approximately 7-9 minutes.
DO NOT OVERCOOK the pasta or it will fall apart when the salad is tossed together.
Rinse macaroni until cool.
Drain well and let it dry out slightly.
Place pasta in a large bowl.
Carefully fold in celery, onion, cheddar, Swiss cheese, Parmesan, dill pickles, salami, and black olives.
Refrigerate the mixture, covered, overnight (or refrigerate for at least 2 hours).
Mix the garlic salt, minced garlic, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard and celery salt together. Add to the salad.
Fold in pimentos.
Mix 1 cup of mayonnaise and horseradish; fold into the salad. (You may use up to another 1/2 cup mayonnaise, if needed).
Refrigerate for another 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.

Questions & Replies

Did you mean 1-2 TEASPOONS of garlic salt?

John L.
Is the calorie count correct?

ritarudkin

Reviews

Best macaroni salad I have every made, without a doubt. We had a big family get together and it was one of the most popular dishes I served. The mayo sauce is definitely the clincher. Thanks Miss Annie. Appreciate you.

ratherbeswimmin
Yum Yum!!! This was so good! I took it to a fellowship dinner and it was devoured! I omitted the salami and the parmesan cheese and added frozen peas. I used the black olives and added green olives too! Thanks for a great recipe!

Sharon123
I fixed this for a large gathering and there wasn't any left to bring home! I had several requests for the recipe. This was an easy salad to put together and I liked the fact that it sat overnight without the dressing. That was added the next day. One note: I've found that if a macaroni salad has to sit before being served, that a few tablespoons of warm water added will bring back the creaminess without having to add more mayo. Thanks for a great recipe, will be making this one again for sure.

Susan Dillard
I've made this several times and it's always a hit! I use shredded cheese because it's just easier and I mix up all the ingredients at once and refrigerate for several hours. Try it!

Abbeygurl
WARNIGN!!! Please read this before making this recipe. There is way to much salt in this, and I am a salt aholic! I wish i would have taken the advice of a previous review. I made this as directed and it took a lot of adjusting afterwards to salvage this. I think this would be a wonderful salad if you were to cut down on the galic salt. I will make this again because I love the combination of the other ingredients, but will start with 1 teaspoon of garlic salt and then adjust from there. I have to wonder if the measurments of the garlic salt is a type-o.

sugar momma

see 97 more reviews

Tweaks

I never cared for Macaroni salad, but I love this. You do have to cut back on the garlic salt. I use 2 teaspoons and shake the garlic salt well before I use, Most of the time I prefer to use garlic powder and that evens the salt out. I can never find powdered horseradish. I leave it out or sometimes just mix a dab of horseradish out of the jar in with the mayo. I have also substituted the swiss cheese with white jack or white cheddar in a pinch. This salad adapts very well.

Hollybelle2012
I made this for the second time and added bacon instead of salami. WOW! We loved it. Best macaroni salad that I have ever had.

JOY1998
FYI: You can also swap out 'only' the 'macaroni', and replace with 'potatoes': chilled, boiled and diced, for a great tasting potato salad!

rii.jed
I play with this a bit. subbing different pickles, cheeses and meats. It always tasted great. The original formula is perfect for playing. Thank you for posting it here!

wishonabreze
We had mom and dad coming over for chicken on the grill, and I wanted a pasta salad to go with it. From all the good reviews I thought this one would be good to try. I used garlic powder instead of the garlic salt, where I was already using celery salt. With the salty meat and cheeses, I didn't want to overpower it, so it didn't taste good. I will make again sometime, but will probably use a low sodium ham in it, or none at all for that matter! Also, I will leave out the horseradish, as I'm not crazy about it in this dish. Thank you!

ItalianPrincess3