Macaroni salad is always a big hit at a buffet or pot luck.
When it comes to serving macaroni salad, you need to keep things simple. The key to a successful macaroni salad is keeping everything fresh and using quality ingredients.
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See our How to Select the best salads for a party resource page.
If you’re having a party, here are some tips on how to serve macaroni salad to a large group of people.
1. Keep Everything Fresh
The first thing you should do when preparing a macaroni salad is to make sure everything is kept cold. This means that the pasta needs to be cooked ahead of time, and the dressing needs to be made ahead of time.
2. Use Quality Ingredients
When it comes to macaroni salad, the quality of the ingredients matters. You want to use high-quality pasta, and you want to use quality mayonnaise, or even make you own homemade.
3. Add A Little Bit Of Flavor
It doesn’t matter what kind of flavor you add to your macaroni salad, just make sure that it adds something special. For example, you can add bacon bits, chopped nuts, or shredded cheese.
4. Serve In Individual Portions
Serve macaroni salad in individual bowls instead of one big bowl. This makes it easier for everyone to eat, and it keeps the macaroni salad from getting soggy.
Plus it helps the salad go further which is good for the budget.
One of the biggest concerns is how you will serve it to ensure all guests receive their fair share. To do this, you will need to serve each person a small scoop to accompany the main dish. After everyone has been served, if there are left overs, you can offer seconds to the group. The upcoming sections are hints about the best ways to serve macaroni salad for a big group of hungry people.
How to Keep the Salad Fresh While Serving it
As you are serving macaroni salad, you want to ensure the salad in the bowl stays fresh. Macaroni salad is made with mayonnaise and you need to keep it from getting warm and attracting bacteria. Keep the salad in buffet trays filled with ice to provide a refrigeration effect. In addition, cover all unused portions with plastic wrap or secure-fitting covers.
Keep Macaroni Salad from Drying Out
When serving macaroni salad at a buffet, you need to keep it from drying out. Dry pasta salad is not appealing nor an appetizing side dish. When the pasta is not properly cooked, the noodles attach themselves to the dressing or mayonnaise in search of moisture. In order to assure, you serve a creamier macaroni salad, cook the noodles exactly as directed in your recipe.
Set Up a Tray to Keep Your Macaroni Salad Cool & Fresh
As you know, mayonnaise can become a form of poison, if it is allowed to get warm and collect bacteria. In order to avert this from occurring, you can set up a tray to keep your salad fresh and cool. The way to do this is to purchase a shallow rectangular container (large enough to place your macaroni salad bowl inside of). First place a large picnic style blanket in the bottom of the “tray”. Then fill the tray with ice cubes–a couple inches deep. Wrap the blanket up and over to cover the ice. Now you have a nice area to set your bowl of macaroni salad on that will keep it cool. You might need to replenish the ice, depending on how long the event lasts.
Scoop Should Offer Equal Servings
One of the best ways to serve macaroni salad for a big group is to assign one person to scoop out equal servings. But how do you know what size spoon to use? An ideal scoop of macaroni salad is one-quarter cup. With that in mind, you need to ensure your spoon is large enough to scoop out a quarter cup of salad. What this means is you need your scoop to be 1.7 ounces in size. With this scoop, you will be able to move the buffet line along quickly. Scooping the salad onto each guest’s plate without having to stop and measure first.
Portion the Salad in Eco-Friendly Containers First
One way to ensure guests get the same amount of macaroni salad is to portion each serving into eco-friendly containers. Eating food scooped from a large bowl might not be appetizing for those afraid of contracting coronavirus or its variants. A safe way to ensure each guest gets some of your delicious macaroni salad is to use these containers. The use of these containers will also provide a place for leftovers and extra servings.
The heated entrees can also be served in larger, oven-safe containers to serve along with the macaroni containers. Place a little garnish on top of the macaroni salad inside the container to make it attractive to guests. Examples of garnish might be a sprig of parsley or a vegetable cut in the shape of a flower.
What Does Macaroni Salad Pair With?
Today, macaroni salad is often served alongside chicken, fish, or pork dishes. However, it can also be paired with salads such as potato salad, coleslaw, and garden salad.
Conclusion:
Macaroni salads are often served at buffets or pot lucks. You can make your own by mixing together pasta, cheese, vegetables, and dressing and with the right portion control, you can feed a lot of people on a budget. Plus tell the kids it has macaroni in the salad they will eat it – or certainly try it.