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.
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American, Southern, Southern American
Keyword pasta salad with seafood, seafood macaroni salad, seafood pasta salad
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 6people
Author April Boller Wright
Ingredients
Seafood Macaroni Pasta Dressing
2/3cup Miracle Whipplus add an additional 2 tbsp
1/3cup Duke Mayonnaise
2tbsp sour cream
2tbsp apple cider vinegarplus add an additional 1 tsp
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2pinchesonion powder
1/2tsp old bay seasoning
3tsp sugar
2tbspfresh lemon juice
1tsp yellow mustard
For the Pasta
2cups elbow macaronicooked al'dente
1tsp olive oil
1tbsp sweet relish
12 ozcooked shrimphalf chopped into small pieces, the other half coarsley chopped
6ozimitation crabflaked style
1/4cup parsley fresh
1/4cup shredded carrots
1/4cup red onions finely chopped
1/4cup green onions chopped
1/2cupgreen bell pepper
1celery 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.