# Chicken macaroni salad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759 "2005-05-06T23:15:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/1 "2005-05-06T23:15:15Z")
Got to make a dish for a bbq tomorrow, and I’m bored with all my regular ol’ recipes. Since there’s a zillion ways to make macaroni salad, there’s got to be a good chicken-mac salad recipe, right? Googling was interesting, lots of recipes using pineapple and chedder cheese and raisons and diced apples, mixed all up in a chicken/noodle/mayo base. I’d try it if offered, but can imagine a lot of raised eyebrows and leftovers if I showed up with something like that. A few others that called for canned mixed veggies, sorta weirding me out in a whole other way than the fruity ones. Anyone have a good crowd-pleasing chicken mac type salad recipe? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/2 "2005-05-06T23:40:49Z")
Interesting idea. When I lived in Hawaii, a staple potluck item at communal barbecues was macaroni salad. Often, the salad would be jazzed up with a few cups of diced potato (so it was like a macaroni-potato salad), but another popular take on it was to add a can or two of tuna fish. Onolicious grinds. If you’re prepared to try this with chicken, you can probably find a can of cooked chicken meat in the supermarket that yields breast meat that would approximate the Star-kist stuff. Full-sizd elbow macaroni, BTW. I never saw salad macaroni in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/3 "2005-05-07T02:40:23Z")
Try mincing up some celery, onion and bell pepper, let it soak in a little cider vinegar and olive oil (or lemon-infused), then throw in the chicken, season with dill weed, salt and pepper, add macaroni and a discreet amount of mayo (remember, you put the oil and vinegar in already), mix together. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/4 "2005-05-07T02:41:41Z")
Actually, you might try shell pasta instead of macaroni. I think it goes over better. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/5 "2005-05-07T12:26:57Z")
Sounds simple enough, and not at all weird, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/6 "2005-05-07T18:01:03Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Interesting idea. When I lived in Hawaii, a staple potluck item at communal barbecues was macaroni salad. Often, the salad would be jazzed up with a few cups of diced potato (so it was like a macaroni-potato salad), but another popular take on it was to add a can or two of tuna fish. Onolicious grinds. > > If you’re prepared to try this with chicken, you can probably find a can of cooked chicken meat in the supermarket that yields breast meat that would approximate the Star-kist stuff. Full-sizd elbow macaroni, BTW. I never saw salad macaroni in Hawaii. Salad macaroni exists here, but we look at it and say to ourselves, “Eh, the other stuff stay cheaper.” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/7 "2005-05-07T20:19:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Try mincing up some celery, onion and bell pepper, let it soak in a little cider vinegar and olive oil (or lemon-infused), then throw in the chicken, season with dill weed, salt and pepper, add macaroni and a discreet amount of mayo (remember, you put the oil and vinegar in already), mix together. Mmm. That sounds good, and today is a nice warm sunny day for it. Your screen name should probably be… oh. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/8 "2005-05-07T22:37:44Z")
Next time you’re stuck, and if **Chefguy** isn’t around, hit [www.allrecipe.com](http://www.allrecipe.com) It’s a free site, has a searchable index, and you can also sign up for free Recipe-A-Day. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/9 "2005-05-08T15:06:57Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Mmm. That sounds good, and today is a nice warm sunny day for it. > > Your screen name should probably be… oh. Nevermind. This recipe works even better with canned medium shrimp, but that’s more money and you were asking about chicken. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/10 "2005-05-08T16:33:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > This recipe works even better with canned medium shrimp, but that’s more money and you were asking about chicken. Actually, **Queen Tonya** is the OP, I just thought is sounded good. The shrimp sounds even better though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-macaroni-salad/302759/11 "2005-05-08T17:39:19Z")
Finely chop a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, a yellow bell pepper, a yellow onion, and some celery. Prepare some red, green, and white spiral pasta (rotellini). Prepare chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Chop into bite-sized chunks. Mix everything together with mayonaise. Add sun-dried tomatoes to taste. Chill and eat.