The season for picnics, reunions, grilling outside, and potlucks is upon us. It is also the season for old-fashioned pasta salads. A hundred-year-old issue of Ladies Home Journal contained a recipe of Macaroni Chicken Salad, and I decided to give it a try.
The Macaroni Chicken Salad differed from many modern pasta salads in that it contained no celery or onion. Instead, the recipe called for a cucumber, as well as for two chopped pimentos (which I interpreted to mean red peppers), in a mayonnaise dressing.
The salad was creamy, colorful, and flavorful. The chopped cucumber added a refreshing crunch, with the chicken providing a slightly savory protein. It would be a perfect side dish at a pot luck or other gathering. It is also lovely as a light lunch or dinner main dish.
Here is the original recipe:
The original recipe called for one cup of mayonnaise. If this much mayonnaise was used, the salad components would be thickly coated. I wanted a lighter dressing, so used ½ cup of mayonnaise.
I used a boneless chicken breast when making this recipe – though other parts of the chicken (or left-over rotisserie chicken) would also work well. If the water was not salted when making the macaroni (or if the diced chicken did not contain salt), a little salt might enhance the flavor.
I chopped an unpeeled cucumber rather than slicing it.
My sense is that red peppers were smaller a hundred years ago than what they are today, so I used just one red pepper.
I ignored the serving suggestions. I ate this salad for lunch, and it was sufficiently substantive without the addition of brown bread sandwiches. The salad was colorful with just the chopped red pepper and cucumbers, so I did not garnish with julienne strips of red pepper.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Macaroni Chicken Salad
2 cups cold, cooked macaroni (approximately ¾ cup uncooked macaroni)
2 cups cold cooked chicken, coarsely chopped or shredded
1 cucumber, chopped or thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 medium red pepper
½ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
Put the macaroni, chicken, cucumber, and red pepper in a bowl; stir gently to mix. Add mayonnaise (and, if desired, salt); stir gently to coat the other ingredients.
That looks delicious. I’m wondering, though, if by pimento they meant the jarred roasted peppers I remember my mother using in a number of dishes.
When I first saw this recipe, I also thought of the canned pimento pieces that come in little jars at the store, but I was confused by the way the ingredient list called for “2 pimentos, chopped.” I have never seen canned whole pimentos, which made me think that the recipe was calling for some type of fresh pimento.
I try hard to never be a downer when commenting on a post, but I also strive to be completely honest.
Macaroni salad is extremely popular. It is always at every social event that features a covered dish dinner. I guess from the age of this recipe it has been popular for many years.
However…..I don’t like macaroni salad!! I have tried and tried to develop a taste for it, with no luck.
I love macaroni in any other form- just not in a salad.
I love potato salad and could eat it every day!!
(I hope we can still be friends) 😉😂😂
I bet its a texture thing on cold pasta….
It could be. I love any other pasta dishes.
We definitely can still be friends – though it sounds like this isn’t a recipe for you.
Thank you for being understanding! lol I am really enjoying following your posts. Cooking has always been one of my favorite pasttimes!
I have a lot of fun doing the posts, and it’s wonderful to hear that you enjoy them. I have enjoyed getting to know you via our blogs.
Same here!! I’m so glad I made this site. It’s perfect for me!!
I never saw chicken in mac salad. That addition makes a complete meal in one dish.
We have added canned tuna or bacon bits, diced ham or pepperoni to pasta salad for years.
They all sound like wonderful additions to pasta salad.
Exactly, the chicken really does make this salad a complete meal.
What are brown bread sandwiches? I was very surprised that pasta salad was popular a hundred years ago.
It may be referring to Boston Brown Bread. I’ve recipes for it in hundred-year-old cookbooks though have never made it. Boston Brown Bread is a steamed bread that generally contained molasses, corn meal, graham flour (or whole wheat flour), and other ingredients. A metal coffee can often was used as a mold when making the bread.
I’ve heard of Boston Brown Bread, but didn’t know it was used for sandwiches. It must have been popular for sandwiches because it was sweet or considered a health food.
I’m actually not sure whether it was used for sandwiches. It was just a guess.
Sounds like a good summer salad.
This would be a lovely summer salad.
Carbs and protein never looked so good – yummy!
It’s tasty.
Love pasta salads with some protein in the summer….
Pasta salads with an added protein make the salad more of a meal.
It looks good…. Although my preference would be to leave the chicken out .. grill the chicken , serve grilled chicken with the salad.
Works for me.
Cherry peppers are generally 2.5 inches x 1.5 inches in size, aka pimento peppers. They range below jalapeno and above bell peppers in piquancy. Their size is obviously why most folks started buying them in pickled in jars when they came to market.
I’m gonna try this a couple ways, first just as the recipe says, then making Pimento-cheese Chicken Macaroni Salad. We’re adults, and no one can tell us we can’t play with our food.
Big Smile. Thanks for the recipe Sheryl
Sorta like “I am a big girl now and I will take a nap whenever I want too”
Yuppers, I concur and in our house we both take advantage of that as it seems we are always healing from our disabilities, allergies, high stress, recently a surgery, and much more.
Btw, Response Emotional Tone, Meaning
Yes Neutral, factual
Yup Casual acknowledgment
Yupper Friendly agreement with upbeat energy
Yuppers Playfully amplified enthusiasm
In my book that makes it right up there along with ‘ya sure, you betcha’, and dontcha know. I love slang.
Note: I bought Ditalini is also known as Salad pasta, it is small, tubular for holding sauce, and it will be easy for my spouse to chew before she gets her dentures.
Peace to all y’all. Happy eating.
Thanks for explaining what a pimento pepper is. I think that you will enjoy this salad and variations of it.
Sounds delicious!
It’s yummy.
Some of these recipes are still very well used. I remember my mom making a version of this salad when I was a child and then recently seeing a very similar one at an event but yes, with onion in it. I agree that sounds like too much mayo and I would skip the sandwiches as well. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
It’s wonderful to hear that this post brought back some warm food memories. A nice thing about pasta salads is how it is easy to make different variations of the basic recipe.