The Best Vegan Macaroni Salad
Hands down the best Vegan Macaroni Salad, made with all the classic ingredients and tossed in a simple creamy sauce. This picnic-perfect dish is sure to be a hit at every potluck!
Equipment
- 1 Pressure cooker
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 8 ounces macaroni noodles gluten free works if you need it
- 2 ribs celery minced
- ½ medium red bell pepper minced
- ¼ small red onion minced, can leave out if it’s not your fave
- ¼ cup chopped sweet pickles or sweet pickle relish
- ¼ cup minced fresh dill so yummy, but parsley is ok if dill’s not your vibe
- 1 cup vegan mayo creamy base to tie it all together
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle juice kinda the secret to that zing
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar brightens up the whole salad
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons mustard (yellow or dijon), ¼ teaspoon salt, black pepper, and a tiny pinch garlic powder these seasonings bring it all home
Instructions
Instructions
- Put your macaroni noodles into the pressure cooker with minimal broth depth — just enough so they don’t stick. Seal it up tight with that trusty sealing ring.
- Set your cooker to high pressure for about 3 minutes. It’s crazy fast but nails perfect al dente every time.
- When pressure’s done, don’t be in a rush — use natural release for about 5 minutes and then slow release the rest to keep noodles tender without overcooking.
- Carefully open the lid, drain pasta, then rinse under cold water right away. This stops the cooking and cools your noodles for perfect salad texture.
- Toss the drained noodles with a teaspoon of olive oil so they don’t stick together while you prep the veggies.
- Finely chop your celery, red bell pepper, red onion, sweet pickles, and dill. Toss ‘em in with the noodles.
- Whisk up your creamy dressing by mixing vegan mayo, sweet pickle juice, apple cider vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder until smooth.
- Pour that dressing over your noodle-veg combo and toss until everything’s coated like you want. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes to let flavors marry. Enjoy!
Notes
I used regular macaroni noodles, but you can make this gluten free if needed by using gluten free pasta. Feel free to leave out any vegetables you don’t like, such as the celery, red onion or red bell pepper. Instead of apple cider vinegar, you may use red wine vinegar. Or lemon juice if you can’t have vinegar.