Ham Macaroni Salad

Ham macaroni salad is a quick and easy chilled dessert salad made with a mixture of mayonnaise, apple, carrots, pineapple tidbits, cheese, raisins, and onions all tossed over some chewy macaroni pasta. This dish is usually served during Christmas but can also be served during celebrations alongside other pasta and noodles. The colorful aesthetic of the ham macaroni salad brought about by the vast variety of ingredients used made this salad extra appetizing especially when served chilled.

What is Salad

According to the dictionary, a salad is a “mixture containing a specified ingredient served with a dressing”. Most salad recipes you can find in the internet are made mostly of either fruits or vegetables. One interesting salad which is made mostly of carbs is the macaroni salad. This salad uses pasta as a base and then added with different toppings and ingredients. The ham macaroni salad is featured in this article.

Ham Macaroni Salad

Being a corpo-slave is really a sad thought, not until they give you the benefits which comes with it. I’ve been transferring to a new wallet and found a coupon which our company gave us last Christmas. There were 2 coupons, 1 for ham and 1 for keso de bola! I was anxious for a while as I checked upon the expiration date. Gladly, that day was 2 days before the expiration date. I immediately rushed to the grocery and use the coupon. But unfortunately, the ball of ham, which was the primary choice of use for the coupon, was already out of stock. The coupon suggests to simply choose other frozen products under the same brand.

I strolled through the frozen section aisle and targeted my eyes on the ham slices. What I love about these ham slices is that they are more affordable than the whole ham, taste just like the smoked ham, and is always available all year round! As the keso de bola was also already out of stock, I went through the cheese aisle next to get some boxed cheese.

With a lot of ham and cheese, the first dish which came into my mind was the ham macaroni salad! Since the coupon was actually intended for a Christmas dish, then the macaroni salad is the perfect dish to create even after Christmas. I gathered the rest of the items and went home to prepare it.

Another thing I love when making macaroni salad is that everyone is always watching me while doing it. Everyone is waiting as I mix up all the ingredients in a large bowl. It was always funny when everyone has their bowls ready just right after I mixed everything! Of course I told them to wait for a few hours of chilling first, to make sure that the sauce will fully sip in the pasta.

If you wanna know how to make some ham macaroni salad at home, read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!

How to Make Ham Macaroni Salad

If you have tried making any type of salad in the past, then the steps below would be familiar to you. Just like any other salad, the goal of this dish is to create a combination of ingredients that will come together perfectly in every single bite.

The best pasta to use for this type of salad is the macaroni salad. You can choose either elbow macaroni or salad macaroni. The only difference between the two is the size. The salad macaroni are shorter. To start the dish, cook the macaroni pasta according to package instructions.

The next steps would include preparing individual ingredients. Let’s prepare the ham first. I used around 6 slices of ham for this recipe but you can use the whole pack if you like. I fried them first before slicing them to prevent shrinkage. For the apples, simply slice them into small cubes.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients and seasonings and a large bowl. The ideal ingredients to add in a macaroni salad includes apple, carrots, pineapple tidbits, cheese, raisins, and onions. You can add more ingredients if you like to.

Even when making just 400 grams of macaroni, I always make sure to use a large bowl or sometimes a medium sized talyasi to toss my macaroni salad well. My technique is to mix the ingredients and seasonings first separately before adding them into the cooked macaroni pasta.  In this way, you can easily adjust the flavors. To make it a little sweeter, you can use condensed milk.

Toss the ingredients well and chill for a few hours before serving. People often use fork when eating their macaroni salad. But for me, I always use a large spoon to have all the ingredients in one bite. Yum!

Ham Macaroni Salad Recipe in Tagalog

Mga Sangkap:

• 400 grams macaroni pasta
• 4 – 6 hiwa ng ham (hiniwa ng square)
• 1 mansanas (hiniwa ng cubes)
• 1 maliit na carrot (shredded)
• 115 grams pineapple tidbits
• 160 grams cheese (hiniwa ng cubes)
• 1/3 tasang raisins (optional)
• 1 sibuyas (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 1 1/2 tasang mayonnaise
• 1/2 tasang condensed milk
• 1/2 kutsaritang paminta
• 1/2 kutsaritang gpaprika powder

Paano Lutuin:

1. Maglagay ng isang litro ng tubig sa isang pot at pakuluan. Lagyan ito ng konting mantika at asin. Sunod na ilagay ang macaroni pasta at sundin ang packaging instructions para maluto ito. Haluin ito paminsan minsan para hindi masunog. Kapag luto na, salain ang mga ito at isantabi ang pasta.
2. Magpainit ng mantika sa kawali at iprito ang mga ham. Baliktarin ang mga ito para maluto ang kabilang side. Saka ito hiwain ng maliliit na squares. Hugasan ang mansanas, balatan, at hiwain din ito ng cubes. Ibabad ang mga ito sa tubig para hingi mangitim. Hiwain din ng cubes ang iyong cheese.
3. Paghaluin ang mayonnaise, condensed milk, sibuyas, paminta at paprika powder sa isang bowl. Tikman ito at iadjust ang lasa. Isantabi.
4. Kumuha ng mas malaking bowl. Ilagay dito ang macaroni pasta. Sunod na ilagay ang mansanas, ham, pineapple tidbits, cheese, carrots at raisins. Huling ilagay ang macaroni dressing. Haluin ito ng mabuti.
5. Palamigin ang macaroni salad ng 2 hours o magdamag bago ihain.
6. Maglagay ng dahon ng lettuce sa serving bowl bago ilagay ang macaroni salad. Budburan pa ng mas maraming grated cheese and ibabaw ng salad. Yum!