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!
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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!
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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.
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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 grated white onion 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
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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.
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Made this salad and enjoyed eating it for several days ALL BY MYSELF. it was delicious!
Thank you James for this great recipe . I made it for my husband who rarely eats macaroni salad but your recipe he throughly enjoyed . This is truly a NY deli salad , no other that I used told you to brine, which makes all the difference . You need to be from NY to understand. This was excellent . Can’t wait to try your NY tuna salad.
So glad you enjoyed, Ginger!
Oh My Goodness this is what I have been looking for. THE BEST MACARONI SALAD EVER! I make all my own salads but for some reason we also like the storebought/deli macaroni & potato salads. I think it’s the vinegar taste. This brine method is perfect and this salad is wonderful and creamy going on 3 days now. It gets better every day. I used to have a problem with the pasta absorbing the mayonnaise and having to keep adding mayonnaise to make it creamy. Well, I don’t have to do that with this recipe. It’s perfect and stays that way. Thank You So Much for sharing your recipe. I will be trying some of your other Deli Salads in the future. This is such an easy recipe to understand and put together with wonderful results. Only change I made was using black pepper instead of white. WOW! Thanks again.
We’re so happy to hear that, Dee!
DEEElicious!
So glad you enjoyed, Judith!
Hi Jim and Tara! I’ve been following your deli series and the tip about brining the macaroni overnight is a total game changer—it finally tastes like the salad I used to get in Brooklyn. I was trying to find a specific type of Brazilian seasoning salt that a friend recommended for this recipe, and I came across this link but I’m getting a weird error on my end. Have you ever heard of using any South American spices or specific “finishing” salts to kick up the tang even more, or should I just stick to the white pepper as you suggested?
Hi Sheila, we are so happy you’re enjoying the deli series. We’re not familiar with the seasoning you mentioned. We think the white pepper works perfectly well for this recipe.
I use lemon juice instead of vinegar for my macaroni salad & my potato salad. It tastes so good! I use dill & celery seed & finely chopped onion preferably red but yellow is ok too
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes you post. Being married 50 years, it’s quite difficult to come up with things to prepare for dinner. You sure do help with that. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your recipes, stories and videos.
THE BEST macaroni salad I’ve ever had! The brining is the game changer! Absolutely delicious and a crowd pleaser!
Thank you Jim and Tara for taking the extra time and effort to make your recipes easy to follow and so tasty. We served this pasta salad a a fund raiser for a child with leukemia and it was a crowd favorite! Many folks asked us to include this pasta salad at our next event.
Thanks for the comment and we’re so happy you enjoyed. We’re honored our recipe was used at an event for such a great cause. Wishing you all the best and hope the fundraiser was a huge success.
Great flavour. Love it
Great recipe and I was born in Brooklyn. Use it all the time.
Glad you enjoyed!
Does using durum wheat elbow macaroni change the brine recipe amounts?
It shouldn’t, though we haven’t tested the recipe using durum wheat elbows.
Thank you, James! This is the first mac salad I’ve made where the mayo didn’t completely disappear. I let it brine for about 8 hours and then added lots of mayo. The flavors are mild and easy to adjust but overall, this is a winner!
So glad you enjoyed!
The best macaroni salad I ever made.
Everyone loved it!
Happy to hear that!
You have no idea how grateful I am for this. Next up your Salisbury Steak, I hope it is as good as Encore. Hey, no laughing…okay we know yours is great.
Chef’s Kiss for sure! THE best macaroni salad I’ve made. The brining is a game changer!
Your show is the best. I got your cookbook as a gift and look forward to working through the recipes front to back!
Thanks for what you do – all of you keep up the awesome work, you are a joy to watch and learn from.
We’re so happy to hear that, Carla, and thank you for buying the book!
I was very disappointed in the NY style macaroni salad. My nephew from Jersey was coming to NC to visit me and for lunch I made that salad with lots of other dishes. I did exactly what the recipe called for as well as keeping it in the refrigerator for two days and then the day of put in the mayo. Sorry to tell you this but felt I should after all my work and time.
We’re sorry to hear you didn’t have success with this recipe.
I originally made this for Thanksgiving , so a couple of day prior I made this with a couple of modifications , my wife doesn’t like onion so I used a red onion dice so she could pick it out , I used 3 colors of bell pepper, carrots, pineapple tidbits , cheddar cheese and shredded chicken .
My family made the a main meal the night before not leaving much for Thanksgiving 😞
This is a great recipe the basics made a great foundation.
So glad you enjoyed, Kevin!
I’m really picky on macaroni salad because my mom made the best, but this is a solid contender for second place (can’t beat nostalgia James 🙂
That said, this is seriously tasty with the subtle tang from the brining really kicking up the flavor. I shared with coworkers and already shared the recipe.
We’re glad yu and your coworkers enjoyed, Lynn! Thanks for the comment!
Thank you Sip and Feast again! I also didn’t have any bell pepper. So I minced a couple of pepperonis from the jar, and added a tbs or two of the brine from the jar. So good! Love you guys!
So glad you enjoyed, Christine!
Did you mean peperoncino? If so, that’s a fantastic idea! Would definitely add a kick to the brine.