Filipino-style Macaroni Salad is a must for any party or celebration! Loaded with chicken, ham, cheese, and crushed pineapple, it’s hearty, delicious, and a sure crowd favorite.
Like spaghetti, Filipino-style macaroni salad is one of the dishes we adapted from the west and gave our own Pinoy twist. Bursting with tropical flavors, it’s the perfect fit for our tastes.
This recipe was first published in September 2013 but I am giving it a little makeover today with new photos and cooking tips because, well, Christmas is almost here. No Filipino party or gathering is complete without chicken macaroni and if I may say so myself, this version of mine is THE mother of all macaroni salads!
With a delicious hodgepodge of hearty pasta, shredded chicken, cubed ham and cheese, crushed pineapples, plump raisins, diced carrots, and chopped eggs, it’s a smorgasbord of flavors and textures your guests wouldn’t be able to get enough of. They will be lining up for seconds thirds!
Good thing this macaroni salad recipe can be easily doubled (or tripled) for a large crowd and can be prepped in advance for less-stress entertaining.
Helpful tips:
- Macaroni is the highlight of the show here so make sure it’s done just right. Do not overcook as it gets tossed with an overwhelming amount of mixed ins and you want it firm enough to hold up.
- Poach the chicken instead of “boil”. This gentle method of cooking ensures the meat is moist and succulent instead of dry and stringy. I like to use boneless chicken breasts but a combination of dark and white meat will work well, too.
- Like poaching the chicken, blanching the carrots is another step that makes a difference. By parboiling in hot water and then immediately shocking them in iced water, the vegetables vibrant and tender-crisp.
- I like to dice sweet gherkin pickles for extra crunch but feel free to swap sweet pickle relish.
- Feel free to experiment with other add-ins such as chopped bell peppers and celery to flavor and color.
- Do not skip the condensed milk! It adds creaminess and a touch of sweetness which counterbalances the savory flavors of the dish.
- For food safety, allow the pasta and ingredients to cool completely before mixing.
- The pasta salad will be a little loose when first combined but it will thicken beautifully after an hour or so in the fridge. I know everyone will be excited to dig in but give it a little time to cool completely and meld.
How long can you keep macaroni salad
- Although you can prep the salad in advance, I don’t recommend keeping it at room temperature for more than 2 hours or for more than 3 days in the refrigerator due to food safety. With mayo, eggs, and other protein-rich ingredients, it will spoil quicker than most foods.
- Unfortunately, due to the nature of the ingredients, this chicken macaroni salad does not freeze well. The fats and oils in the mayonnaise break down and lose creaminess when frozen and thawed.
Include this Filipino macaroni on your holiday or special occasion menu and make A LOT as it’s sure to be a crowd favorite! It’s a great side dish as well as a complete meal-in-itself.
If you’re looking for more festive salads, enjoy the same flavors in potato form! Or try my pasta fruit salad for a delicious Noche Buena dessert option. If you like tuna, I’ve got you covered, too!
Filipino-style Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces uncooked medium elbow macaroni
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 cup ham, cubed
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 14 ounces crushed pineapple
- 1 cup Eden or Velveeta Cheese, cubed
- 1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a pot over medium heat, bring about 4 quarts salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions for about 8 to 9 minutes or until firm to bite. Drain well and allow to cool completely.
- In a pot, add chicken meat and enough water to cover. Bring the water to a boil, skimming scum that floats on top. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through. Drain from the liquid, allow to completely cool and shred. Set aside.
- In a pot, bring water to a boil. Add diced carrots and cook for about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon, remove from water and plunge into an ice bath until completely cool. Drain and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine macaroni, chicken, carrots, ham, eggs, crushed pineapple including packing juice, cheese, sweet pickle relish, raisins, onions, mayonnaise, and sweetened condensed milk. Gently stir together until evenly distributed.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for about 1 hour to cool completely and to allow flavors to meld.
Video
Nutrition
Looks delicious
Thank you!
Hi i love this macaroni salad thanks for sharing. I just want to know you served with what or you just just eat like that
Thanks
Hello there! It can be eaten just like that but it’s usually a side dish.
I will definitely try this recipe that really looks delicious and easy to prepare love it
Enjoy!
Very delicious and very nutritious. Thank you.
Thank you for the 5-star rating. I’m glad you like it.
Awesome recipe – thanks for sharing. Please continue to cook delicious food. Thanks again 👍
You’re welcome. I am glad you find the recipes useful.
i love it 🤩
…iwill tryout soon..
i want to learn more..
hoping for the best result..
.
I always tell my kids if you don’t like the food just say, I don’t like it, thank you but never say yuk, gross or disgusting! Food is food and it’s always good to someone who has the palate for it. And no to hotdogs in my Macaroni Salad, thank you! And this recipe looks yumm!!
Thank you!
I love this Recipes. Thank you for sharing us your Recipes. God bless.
I love this Recipes. Thank you for sharing us your Recipes. God bless.
You’re welcome. Enjoy the recipes 🙂
Hello Ms. Lalaine,
I found your recipes really helpful, i started from your soy chicken and now i can no longer count how many recipes i did try and everything turned out really yum! Thanks a lot! 🤗 i just have some concern here, my macaroni tasted really sour on the following day since i made it, i know of course its probably from the p/a juice but is it really?😟
I am thinking maybe it was spoiled already? Was it left outside of refrigeration? Unfortunately, this spoils fast because of the mayo and eggs 🙁
Hi, made this bfore but today I forgot pickles:( wat can I substitute pls? Thanks
You can skip it and jsut add a bit more crushed pineapples 🙂
Why would you be using ounces or pounds..? It would have been much simpler if they were in grams or kilograms because then I wouldn’t waste my time converting the units…I don’t even see any packaging to be in english units in markets because they are all in metric units which is again…in grams or kilograms.
I live in the United States so I am more familiar with the U.S. customary units and that is what I use when I cook. Also, the recipe cards on the site can be adjusted; just toggle between customary and metric and they will do the switch for you.
The recipes here are free and if a quick conversion is a waste of time for you, maybe buy a cookbook.
Great response! Most of us greatly appreciate the time, effort and resources that’s involved in making one of your awesome posts. A (very) little work on our part is a small price for such deliciousness.
I love it ,and it recipe is very simple to make .
I’m glad you liked it!
Made this today. Skipped the condensed milk, eggs and raisins. Turned out to be amazing. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I am glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I love your recipes
Thank you so much!
I followed this recipe except for the juice of the pineappls and it was so yum. It’s my first time to post a comment online thru cooking recipe/menu sites. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I really like your chicken adobo as well and pancit canton. I am just wondering how to cook the elbow macaroni right? Because I drained and been set for a while because I need to do the other ingredients then it’s sticking to each other. Thank you again and more happy and yummy recipes to come 💖😍 sending you hugs
Hi Frances! Your comment just made my day. Thank you 🙂
I’d tried this recipe and i loved it so much. I’ve been looking for this recipe for a long time. Thank you Ms. Lalaine, I’m one of your avid followers. Keep it up and more power.
Thank you so much Edyn for your words of encouragement. Appreciate it!
hi ms lailani. is there any substitute or alternative for raisins and pickles? because we dont have it here in my place. out of stock. thank you.
this is the first time i will make macaroni salad and unfortunately i cant find any raisins and pickles around.
You can just omit if you don’t have any on hand 🙂
left out the eggs as that doesn’t sit well with me, but still….. it was AMAZING! The pineapple, which I wasn’t sure of, just made it perfect. I did drain it tho. This recipe is one that I KNOW I will make again. Especially for a day course I’m going to in a month. I wasn’t sure of the recipe with all different stuff that I’m use to – but I was willing…… and I’m so glad I was. Thank you for this great, delish recipe. 🙂
Glad it worked out well for you, Cattarina 🙂
I love this recipe, but when i prepare it, it does not come so creamy, what can be the problem? Looking forward to your reply.
You can add more mayonnaise if you like 🙂
I always let the elbows cool in the fridge before mixing. If the elbows are hot or warm the mayo turns to oil.
This is definitely not pilipino style macaroni salad. Pilipino style has no onions, carrots or raisins but it has hotdog. You invented this and someone I know copied it and was embarrass at work coz its disgusting.
I’ve never heard of macaroni salad with hot dogs, are you referring to Baked macaroni perhaps? And no, I did not invent this. I am sorry that someone you know was embarrassed at work, but I am not sure why people would embarrass someone bringing free food. I won’t call this macaroni salad disgusting. Unless of course, you add hot dogs to it then that would really be gross.
How can he/she say that the recipe is not Pinoy macaroni salad??? I may prepare mine with less ingredients but yours is totally a macaroni salad! And his/her version is with hotdogs?? OMG! That’s just gross!
Thanks, Lalaine! I haven’t tried this yet but I’m sure it’ll be delicious!
Thank you, Jessie 🙂
There’s a lot of variations in our cooking, depending on what flavour we are looking for. If one prefers to add hotdogs in hers coz it pleases her tastebuds or palate, then so be it, we respect it. We dont call it diisgusting. Maybe better if we say, “i dont prefer hotdogs in mine”. Only immature people make those rude comments. If i prefer to put ham in mine or shrimps, please respect it coz to me it isnt only very asian, but is also very tasty. Again, if u dont like this recipe Ms Lailani has shared us, we expect u dont copy it. If u want your own recipe, we totally respect it. See, i honestly dont put everything in almost every recipe i see someone had posted. But those recipes give me an idea what ingridients i need, what i may not include that i dont prefer of what i may add that may be some of my favourite ingridients. If u are an experienced cook, u can figure out what u like. Ti thank you all those who posts and share their recipes online. Keep up the good work! Remember, we cant please everyone but still there is lots of people out there who ate pleased with your recipes. Pls dont let critics turn u down? Good job Lailani. And Ms Ayan Fuentes, if Lailani invented this, that even raises more my compliments on her.
Thank you, April. Well said 🙂
I don’t know about you Ayan Fuentes but I never had a macaroni salad with hotdog yet that is definitely something new but if that is what you preferred so be it but I do think that calling someone’s recipe disgusting is absolutely very rude we have to respect each other’s taste buds or preference like your macaroni salad with “hotdog “very interesting I always look up to the recipe of Kawaling Pinoy and they are all amazing even the recipe of their cakes and desserts thank you for sharing them with us ❤️
Thank you so much. I am glad you find the recipes helpful 🙂
Hey Ayan wake up. this is a filipino macaroni salad. how dare you insult the Lalaine, who is just trying to share her recipe. Shame on you for barking on a wrong tree. If you put hotdog in your recipe then you are referring to spaghetti and this is not the menu for spaghetti bec this is purely macaroni salad.
Do you know that this is one of the most liked dish everytime may handaan? i am not considered a good cook, coz I just learned to when I got married😁. But this recipe of yours is delicious! Thanks Lalaine!!!
Hi Lei! Yes, it is one of my favorites to bring during potlucks! Glad it worked out well for you.
I am.preparing this tonight for my husband’s Christmas Party with fellow Pinoys tomorrow night.
Thank you for the recipe.💕💕💕
You’re welcome! I hope they enjoyed it 🙂
I love this recipe.
Thank you!
How much is in one serving? a cup? (I’m making it for a crowd for thanksgiving)
This recipe makes about 12 servings about 1 cup each 🙂
Boy, I haven’t have Macaroni Salad since I left PI 18 years ago. We also have this during Noche Buena and birthday party. And I want mine with lots of cheese in it. I am going to make some of this really soon. My children have not tried it, so that would be interesting to see what they think about it.
Let us know how your kids liked it, Shobelyn!
We love Chicken Macaroni! Thank you Ma’am Lalaine for this yummy dish.😋
You’re very welcome, MaryGrace!
This is an awesome recipe! Enjoyed making it and so delicious. thank you so much for sharing
Thank you so much, Cee, for the feedback. I am glad you enjoyed it!
How much does this cost if I would buy it?😅
Hahaha, I know there is too much to prep and it’s would be much easier to just order it. 🙂 Unfortunately, I don’t cater but one trick I do when I am craving this salad but don’t want to do the work, I use rotisserie chicken and premade macaroni salad from the grocery stores. I just add the rest of the ingredients and it tastes 🙂
Thank you po for sharing. I love macaroni salad too.. Pareho pareho ang recipe na ginagamit ko except for the eggs. I will definitely try adding the eggs.. I’m sure they’ll taste even yummier..
Myla, it’s my pleasure to share recipes for good food!
that looks delicious, i really like macaroni salad ever since i was a kid. love this recipe, i will try it for sure
i really like macaroni salad, it’s really sweet and tasty, i will surely try this one
I hope you do, it’s so good! 🙂
We. Have found a Filipino place we love in Lake Forest called Pam’s Best Filipino Food and they make a macaroni salad to die for. This seems super close except for the sweetened condensed milk. I have been hunting down the Filipino mayo/sandwich spread my hubby remembers as a kid,..even found heirloom carrots that are all kinds of colors. What if we use a sweet onion like a Walla Walla instead on a standard onion? And how about a Canadian style bacon ham? I don’t want it to taste “smoked” and wondered if I should use quail eggs or regular dark yolk hard boiled? I also noticed the raisins were very soft and thought I should over night them in apple juice ?
Hello Ken
I live in Orange County so Lake Forest is not that bad of a drive. I’d love the restaurant as it has good reviews on Yelp. I add condensed milk as it adds a touch of sweetness to sort of balance of tangy pineapple. Sweet onions will be great for this recipe as it’s on the sweet side. I don’t think it’s necessary to soak the raisins as they will soften when mixed together with the rest of the ingredients. I usually just use regular boiled eggs bu quail eggs I guess will be alright. Smoked ham might be an interesting combination, I am sure it will be compliment the sweet and tangy flavors of the macaroni salad, just cube into bite size pieces. Please let me know how it turns 🙂
Thanks. I will. I have most of the stuff to try this out. I will make a big heaping bowl of it. We love the stuff at Pam’s.
Enjoy!
I like the recipe more or less, but find the addition of cheese, ham and raisins to be…for me…over the top. Too rich! But the baseline is pretty good. And making the dish ‘better’ is relative and stating is presumptuous and opinionated; such a western view!
Both have their aspects of goodness, just as two different recipes for the same dish can each shine in their own way.
Note “Filipino style” macaroni salad!?? Very good Filipino style recipe!
I loved your recipies, specially the filipino style macaroni salad. I tried making it and it’s really super delicious.
Thank you!
Love your recipe. They are very easy to follow. I agree it improve my cooking and this one is awesome good.
Thank you, Helen 🙂
If youre using this recipe drain the pineapple instead of using the juice. I used the juice and my salad turned out too sweet/acidic
I wanted to try this recipe to take too my friends 50th birthday party. I did however leave out the carrots and I used shredded cheese instead of velveeta.
Hi. The recipe is good, thanks for sharing. I’m just writing in because of the phrase “By debasing a classic recipe…”
🙂
Wow, what an unnecessary comment!
On a happier, non-debasing note, YUM recipe 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Hello! I am making this macaroni salad right now and was just wondering, what happened to the 6 pieces of coarsely chopped egg?
Thanks and good day!
Hello
The chopped eggs are mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. Thanks.
Love reading ur recipes..it help impR0ves my c0okng aBlty,
Thanks 🙂
loooll sorry didnt read it carefully
🙂
wonder what you need to do with the carrots.. lol you just sliced it and eat? lol
thanks..