The Perfect Summer Seafood Macaroni Salad

Shrimp and crab come together to make this DELICIOUS best seafood macaroni salad that’s perfect a cookout summertime dish. It’s a versatile crowd-pleaser that will have your family scraping their plates and coming back for more. This salad pairs well with fried chicken, surf and turf ,fried fish,or sweet hushpuppies. If you need an easy and quick seafood pasta dish, this is the one! 

A bowl of the best creamy seafood macaroni salad with fresh parsley, shrimp, crab, and elbow macaroni

I absolutely love preparing summer foods. Cooking and knowing that I’m about to sit down with my friends and family for a delicious meal outside on the deck just fills me with joy!

To me, nothing says “summertime” like a delicious bowl of seafood macaroni salad. Okay, really ANY kind of macaroni salad would be good for me! But my seafood one is the perfect side dish for any backyard BBQ.

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I love to dress up my summer meals with seafood. I personally think it’s a really nice treat and a way to bring some seasonal elements to meals. Plus, it’s a great way to sneak in a little bt of extra protein! 

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it’s totally customizable. I’m going to give you the framework that you need to make my famous seafood macaroni salad and from there, you can just run with it! Add in whatever you family loves and leave out what they don’t like.

Another thing that I love about macaroni salad is that it’s great to make with the kids. You don’t need to be exact with the measurements here, so if you task the little ones with throwing the ingredients together and they add too much mayonnaise or not enough bell peppers, it’s okay! The real joy comes from everyone participating and spending time together.

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE SEAFOOD SALAD 

  • Elbow macaroni pasta: Or use any kind of small pasta, Fusili, ditali, bow-tie or penne works best.
  • Cooked large shrimp coarsley chopped: You can use small wholes shrimp if you like.I prefer to chop up half my shrimp into smaller pieces and the other half into bigger pieces.
  • Celery: finely chopped
  • Sweet relish: For some pickled sweetness 
  • Mayonnaise: I used a combo of miracle whip and Dukes for amazing flavor  
  • Sour cream: For some tang
  • Apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and mustard for some zesty flavor
  • Fresh Parsley: Fresh parsley really tastes better than dried parsley 
  • Green bell peppers: Use any kind of bell pepper. 
  • Shredded carrots: Shredded carrots for contrast and a bit of sweetness.
  • Red onions: Diced
  • Green onions: white and green parts
  • Onion powder: Just a a few pinches
  • Old bay seasoning: Can’t have seafood with out the Old Bay seasoning 
  • White Pepper and salt. When I’m serving guests, I prefer to use white pepper. It just makes the food look better.  If I’m serving it for myself and the kids,I’ll use black. In terms of flavor, both taste fine in this salad. 

The flavors in this macaroni salad have been tested over and over. They are absolutely delicious! I’ve made this salad a few times for my sister and her family and they love it! 

QUICK TIPS:

While this recipe is pretty customizable and forgiving, I have some tips so that you can make the best macaroni salad possible.

  • Save money and use imitation crab meat. If you aren’t sure what imitation crab meat often called krab meat is read about it HERE.
  • When you fill a large pot with water to boil the pasta in, make sure you salt the water. This will give the macaroni salad an extra boost of flavor
  • Cook your macaroni until it’s al’dente.
  • Add about 1 tsp of olive oil to the cooked pasta. This will prevent the pasta from sticking. 
  • I like to use half Miracle Whip and half Duke mayonnaise, plus sour cream. It tastes amazing that way!
  • Eliminate the shrimp and crab and easily make it southern by adding canned tuna fish. Add in some egg for extra protein. Summertime food should be as fun as summer itself.
  • If you don’t like imitation crab, eliminate it and make it a shrimp macaroni pasta salad.

HOW TO MAKE IT E:

  1. Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil
  2. Cook your macaroni until the noodles are al’dente
  3. Drain the pasta and place it in a  large bowl. Add about 1 tsp of olive oil. Mix until the pasta is no longer sticking. 
  4. Add the crab, shrimp,  green onions, red onions, celery,bell pepper, shredded, relish, carrots and parsley over the pasta. 
  5. To make the dressing, in a smaller bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and mustard. Mix well.
  6. Pour the dressing over the vegetables pasta and seafood. 
  7. Will a large spoon, mix to combine until creamy and the macaroni is evenly coated in the dressing. 
  8. Cover the bowl and refrigerate it until you’re ready to enjoy!

WHAT TO SERVE WITH SEAFOOD MACARONI SALAD

So, now you’ve got the perfect summer side dish. What about the main event? Luckily, there are so many options that go well with shrimp macaroni salad!

  • Fried Chicken: Can’t go wrong with golden hot juicy and crispy fried chicken. Sometime we cheat and order fried chicken from our favorite restaurant. 
  • Surf & turf – when we’re feeling fancy, we like to pull out a few nice steaks and fire up the grill. With this seafood macaroni salad on the side, we’ve got a decadent (but easy) surf & turf meal that everyone always finishes and then goes back for more.
  • Shish Kabobs – chop up some peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and squash, skewer them all, and lay them on the grill. If you’d like, add a few chunks of beef or chicken, too
  • Classic burgers and hot dogs – sometimes just sticking to the summertime classics is the easiest. Cheeseburgers and hot dogs are always a crowd pleaser so you just can’t go wrong! However, this recipe for shrimp macaroni salad will help to bring some special flair to an otherwise simple meal.

The most important thing to do while you’re making this seafood macaroni salad recipe is to have fun! Life goes by fast so we should enjoy the time – and meals – that we have with our family while they last. Summertime is the perfect time of year to create fun memories that you can look back on as a family forever.

HOW TO MAKE IT IN ADVANCE 

Yes you can! However, this salad is best when it’s freshly made. Sometimes when you make it in advance the pasta absorbs the dressy which in turn make it less creamy and sometimes even watery. So yes you can but you should make it the day you need it. 

That doesn’t mean that you can’t prep all the ingredients. I always prep them and place them in separate containers. You can even make the macaroni in advance too.

HOW TO STORE SEAFOOD MACARONI SALAD 

Since this salad contains seafood and mayonnaise, it’s best to serve keep the portions refrigerated. When you are ready to serve place it in a bowl over ice. If you really need to store this seafood macaroni salad, Place it in a airtight container with tight fitted lid. It will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

A bowl of the best creamy seafood macaroni salad with fresh parsley, shrimp, crab, and elbow macaroni

Seafood Macaroni Salad

April Boller Wright
Shrimp and crab come together to make this DELICIOUS best seafood macaroni salad that's perfect a cookout summertime dish. It’s a versatile crowd-pleaser that will have your family scraping their plates and coming back for more.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 10 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American, Southern, Southern American
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

Seafood Macaroni Pasta Dressing

  • 2/3 cup Miracle Whip plus add an additional 2 tbsp
  • 1/3 cup Duke Mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar plus add an additional 1 tsp
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 pinches onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp old bay seasoning
  • 3 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp yellow mustard

For the Pasta

  • 2 cups elbow macaroni cooked al'dente
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp sweet relish
  • 12 oz cooked shrimp half chopped into small pieces, the other half coarsley chopped
  • 6 oz imitation crab flaked style
  • 1/4 cup parsley fresh
  • 1/4 cup shredded carrots
  • 1/4 cup red onions finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup green onions chopped
  • 1/2 cup green bell pepper
  • 1 celery stalk finely chopped
  • salt for taste
  • white or black pepper for taste

Notes

While this recipe is pretty customizable and forgiving, I have some tips so that you can make the best macaroni salad possible.
_________________
  • Save money and use imitation crab meat. If you aren't sure what imitation crab meat often called krab meat is read about it HERE.
  • When you fill a large pot with water to boil the pasta in, make sure you salt the water. This will give the macaroni salad an extra boost of flavor
  • Cook your macaroni until it’s al'dente.
  • Add about 1 tsp of olive oil to the cooked pasta. This will prevent the pasta from sticking. 
  • I like to use half Miracle Whip and half Duke mayonnaise, plus sour cream. It tastes amazing that way!
  • Eliminate the shrimp and crab and easily make it southern by adding canned tuna fish. Add in some egg for extra protein. Summertime food should be as fun as summer itself.
  • If you don't like imitation crab, eliminate it and make it a shrimp macaroni pasta salad.
    _________________

HOW TO MAKE IT IN ADVANCE 

Yes you can! However, this salad is best when it's freshly made. Sometimes when you make it in advance the pasta absorbs the dressy which in turn make it less creamy and sometimes even watery. So yes you can but you should make it the day you need it. 
That doesn't mean that you can't prep all the ingredients. I always prep them and place them in separate containers. You can even make the macaroni in advance too.
_________________

HOW TO STORE SEAFOOD MACARONI SALAD 

Since this salad contains seafood and mayonnaise, it's best to serve keep the portions refrigerated. When you are ready to serve place it in a bowl over ice.

If you really need to store this seafood macaroni salad, Place it in a airtight container with tight fitted lid. It will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Keyword pasta salad with seafood, seafood macaroni salad, seafood pasta salad
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A bowl of the best creamy seafood macaroni salad with fresh parsley, shrimp, crab, and elbow macaroni

 

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3 Comments

  1. I thought this was very good, everybody tweets recipes to their taste but I followed the dressing recipe to the letter and boy it was wonderful !
    Thanks for sharing this 👍

  2. You just made me really hungry with this post. Love the fact that you can use ingredients that can easily be found at the stores these days. Cant wait to make this.5 stars