New York deli macaroni salad is a creamy side dish that’s found in nearly every deli in the NY metro area. It’s perfect with sandwiches, burgers, and barbecue and is sure to stand out at any backyard gathering!

Macaroni salad can get a bad rap at times.
Homemade versions are often a clumpy mess with little to no flavor, but anytime I’ve eaten New York deli macaroni salad, it’s been awesome!
I’ve worked in a number of delis in my life and this is the real-deal, tried and true way to ensure a tangy, creamy macaroni salad.
The vinegar brine is the key to this salad, as it is to New York deli potato salad, German potato salad, coleslaw, and others.
While many deli mac salads include just macaroni, or macaroni and a touch of celery, I added just a bit of red and green bell pepper to mine for texture and flavor.
Serve this mac salad with burgers, barbecue, or alongside an Italian hero/sub, chicken salad sandwich, or deli roast beef sandwich for the full NY deli experience!
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- In a large bowl whisk together 1/3 cup of white vinegar, 3 tablespoons of water, 1/3 cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, a 1/2 cup of grated or pureed onion, 1 1/4 teaspoons of fine sea salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper. Finely dice half of one small green or red bell pepper and 1 rib of celery.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook 1 pound of elbow macaroni to al dente. Drain and run the pasta under cold water to cool it off and stop the cooking process. Whisk the brine again and add the macaroni along with the bell pepper and celery. Mix well to coat, cover with a lid or plastic wrap, and refrigerate the macaroni overnight to allow the flavors to absorb.
- The next day add 3/4 cup of mayonnaise and mix well until you achieve a creamy consistency, adding more mayo as needed.
- Taste test and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Top tips
- The brine. Brining the macaroni 1 day in advance yields maximum flavor, and the longer it sits in the brine the better it will taste. This is the key to the quintessential New York deli flavor! Most delis (all of the ones I worked at) will leave macaroni, potato, and cabbage for coleslaw in the brine overnight or longer. Then the next day they can mix up a perfect smooth batch for customers. This works for presentation but also for taste.
- Pepper. I used white pepper in the brine to keep everything uniform in color, but you can certainly use black pepper. In fact, I used some black pepper at the end to season it to taste.
- Vegetable oil. I get a lot of comments about vegetable oil and some folks prefer to not use it. This is the oil that’s being used in most delis. Using olive oil here will change the flavor. If you don’t want to use vegetable oil, something with little taste, like avocado oil, would be an ok substitute. The only use for the oil is to aid in the smoothness and creaminess of the mac salad.
More summer side recipes
This NY deli-style macaroni salad is great all year long but is especially good in the summer. Here are a few more side ideas for warm weather.
- Sun-Dried tomato pasta salad – with mozzarella and artichoke hearts.
- Cucumber salad – with onions, dill, and a sweet vinegar brine.
- Italian cauliflower salad – with capers and lemon.
- Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad – with homemade pesto.
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New York Deli Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
For the brine
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup onion grated or pureed
- 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Remaining ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise plus more to achieve a smooth consistency
- 1/2 small green or red bell pepper finely diced
- 1 rib celery finely diced
Instructions
For the brine
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the brine ingredients and set aside.
For the macaroni salad
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook elbow macaroni to al dente. Drain and run the pasta under cold water to cool it off and stop the cooking process.
- Whisk the brine again then add the elbow macaroni along with the bell pepper and celery. Mix well to coat. At this time it is best to refrigerate the macaroni overnight so that the flavors absorb.
- The next day, add the mayo and mix well again. Add more mayo as required to get a creamy consistency. Taste test and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Notes
- The key to getting that New York deli macaroni salad flavor is the brine. If you can wait let the macaroni sit in the brine for 1-2 days before mixing with mayo. This is how most delis do it.
- White pepper can be used for appearance.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 5 days and taste even better after a few days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I skip the onions or are they critical to the flavor?
They’re an important part of the recipe but if you prefer no onions you can omit.
This is awesome. Just resist the temptation to not let it sit in the brine overnight and add the mayo (as James says, you can add a little at a time until you get the right creaminess and flavor), and it tastes just like NY deli mac salad.
For me, I had some leftover brine because Iโd just recently made Jamesโs NY deli cole slaw, but thatโs become a staple go-to so when I found myself with a bunch of leftover elbow macaroni and just didnโt feel like a hot dish with a red or white sauce, BINGO! Add the existing brine, add in my case red onion (my celery wasnโt so fresh by the time I thought of making this and I didnโt want to ruin the macaroni salad with bad celery).
This is a winner!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Michael!
Love this! The secret is the brine and leaving overnight before adding mayo!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Ann!
Itโs been a long time since I was in my native northern Jersey and this looks amazing. I followed the directions step by step and itโs in the fridge in the brine. It smells awesome and we can not wait to try it all done up tomorrow! You guys rock. Love from FL.
We’re so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Peter!
We actually had this today and wow, itโs fantastic. It may actually be the best tasting macaroni salad Iโve ever had lol. My wife and I canโt stop eating it and my mother, whoโs from Union, NJ said it was delicious. The magic is that brine. Next time Iโd love to let it sit for 2 days before adding mayo but itโs so good thatโll be a tough wait lol. Thanks again guys for one the best yet surprisingly simply recipes ever.
I’m so happy to hear this, Peter!
I didn’t have bell peppers. I had shredded carrots instead and celery and onions. I made for Sunday.It is sitting in the brine right now looks good. Thank you for sharing your recipe
Hope you enjoy and thanks for the comment, Lisa!
I came from Massapequa Long Island and prepped in 3 delis a LONG time ago. I am so glad I stumbled upon your recipes. Live in Florida and NOBODY can make this salad! It all came back to me when I saw your ingredients. Awesome!
So happy you’re enjoying the deli recipes, Patrick!
Being a Texan, I never liked the southern style macaroni salad. I have never been to NY, or been to a NY style deli. I made your macaroni salad. It is fantastic, and not swimming in eggs and mayo.
We’re so happy to hear that, Hadley!
If a person wanted to make just 1/3 of this recipe would all of the ingredients including the brine be reduced?
Hi Essi, yes, everything would be reduced.
I’m not from NY and never had NY deli salad. Tried this on a whim and Wow. The brining really does add a unique flavor. It’s a tang, but it’s not the unpleasant tang of supermarket macaroni salad. It’s a delicious tanginess, not overly vinegary, more complex. Not sure how to describe. I brined for a full 2 days. It’s really no extra work. An extra 2 days but no extra work, just quickly add mayo when brining is done. Give this a try for sure.
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Janine!
Finally got around to trying this one; it came out great! Thanks so much for the recipe. I love your channel.
So happy you enjoyed, Bruce!
Excellent recipes!
Great recipe! Next time, I might sub a small jar of pimentos for the chopped red pepper, and decrease the white vinegar a bit, just because I’m lazy.
I’m sorry, we didn’t like this at all.
Hi Robin, we’re sorry to hear you didn’t have success with this recipe.
My dear friend Rick worked at the best German deli in our North Shore City.
To this day I have “Joneses” for having a pound of their superb mac and potato salds.
He said it was so good they kept the recipes in a safe at the back of the deli.
I tried leaving a positive comment but it vanished before I had the chance to send it. It happened after I posted my name.
Used to live on Long Island and always got Mac salad. Since moving to Central NY (about 300+ miles from the closest Long Island deli) I’ve been searching the web for something similar. I honestly cried when I tasted this and grabbed my husband to taste. He said it’s good (but he is from Queens and doesn’t get it).
Hands down the best macaroni salad I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for this!!
These are the types of comments we LOVE to read. Thank you, Jocelyn! We’re so happy this recipe resonated with you!
I only have apple cider vinegar can i use that
Hi Debra, it won’t have quite the same taste but you can definitely use apple cider vinegar.
Jim & Tara – this one was a winner. I made this for a friend’s birthday pool party and us all being southerners (from Texas), we’ve never had NY-style mac salad before. I got comments from 4-5 different people saying how they usually don’t like this type of salad but this was “GOOD!” People kept going back for more. And I got asked for the recipe. So…thanks for foolproof winning recipe here – I made it exactly per your instructions (brined 24 hours, etc) and only change was using black pepper instead of white!
We’re so happy to hear this James! Thanks so much for the comment!