Gluten Free Macaroni Salad

As a Board Certified Health Coach and someone that tries to make healthy swaps to all my favorite recipes, I had to tackle a summer staple, macaroni salad. Some of my favorite summer side dishes include potato salad and broccoli salad, but a healthy macaroni salad definitely is one of my top go-to's at a summer barbecue. There is something about the pasta combined with crispy veggies that makes for the perfect pair.

Gluten free Macaroni Salad is a classic and delicious side dish that is perfect for picnics, barbecues, or as a refreshing accompaniment to any summer meal. It's an easy and versatile dish that combines cooked macaroni pasta with a variety of vegetables, dressing, and seasonings. My version is not only gluten-free, but dairy-free and uses no mayo, yet it is still creamy and delicious!

What You'll Love About This Recipe:

Customizable: You can make this with any veggies you have on hand or your favorite gluten-free pasta.

Easy to double: This recipe is perfect for your small family or to feed a crowd. You can even make it ahead of time if you are taking it to a barbecue this summer.

Dairy-free: This recipe is completely dairy-free and doesn't use any mayo! Instead it uses tahini and dairy-free sour cream to make a deliciously cream dressing.

Ingredients You'll Need

Gluten-free Pasta: I like Banza Pasta the best. This chickpea pasta is much higher in protein and fiber than regular pasta.

Red Onions: These give a nice crunch to the macaroni salad. Red onions are full of antioxidants which help fight inflammation. They also have folate, manganese, and some vitamin C. They are antibacterial, help digestion (for some), and can help reduce your risk of cancer.

Red Bell Peppers: These add a nice sweetness to the macaroni salad. They are full of Vitamin A and Vitamin C so they can help boost your immune system and can support you overall eye health.

Celery: Another ingredient in this salad that adds a delicious crunch. While many people celery has no nutritional benefit, that is far from true! It has lots of fiber and water content, but also is good for digestion, an antioxidant, can help reduce inflammation, and has a very low glycemic index (making it really great for stable blood sugars).

Frozen peas and carrots: These both add a really nice sweetness to help balance out the macaroni salad. Another misconception is that frozen produce doesn't have the same nutrient content as fresh. This couldn't be further from the truth! Frozen produce is picked at the peak of freshness and frozen right away, making it at the top of its nutrient content!

Tahini: I like Artisana Naturals or Artisana Organics the best because they are silky smooth. Tahini is simply just ground sesame seeds so it makes for a great neutral flavor when added to a recipe.

Red Wine Vinegar: This adds a delicious tang to the dressing. I use Thrive Market's vinegars because I know that they have no added ingredients to them.

Dairy-free Sour Cream: I use Forager sour cream. I find this one to be the best because it also does not have any unnecessary ingredients like some of the other dairy-free sour creams. It also tastes the most similar to "reguar" sour cream! You can also use Kite Hill or add in your favorite dairy sour cream if you can eat dairy.

Maple Syrup: This is my favorite sweetener to use because it is natural and typically you don't need a lot to get the sweetness that you are looking for. I like to get mine from Costco because it is the cheapest, but if you don't have a Costco, just be sure you are getting pure maple syrup without any added ingredients.

Spices: Garlic Powder, dill, red pepper flakes.

How to Make Gluten Free Macaroni Salad

Boil the pasta according to the package, then drain and rinse with cold water. It is really important to follow the directions on the package, especially for gluten-free pasta because they tend to start to fall apart if you overcook them. If you don't want to make regular pasta, you can always substitute non-gluten free macaroni, too!

Chop all the veggies to evenly sized pieces. For this recipe I just used my knife, but you can also use a food process to speed up this process. I love my Ninja food processor.

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce. Whisk until smooth, sometimes tahini can be a bit of a pain to combine so if you want to speed up the process use a blender or immersion blender to help you out.

Add veggies, pasta, and sauce into a bowl. Mix until evenly coated. You then serve as is or chill it in the fridge until you are ready to eat it.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

Serving: I like to serve this cold so being sure to let the macaroni cool before serving is key. You can also chill it in the fridge overnight if you are making it ahead of time for a party.

Troubleshooting: The key to gluten-free pasta is to not cook it too long. I like to cook it according to the package and then drain and rinse thoroughly so that it stops the cooking process. If you overcook gluten-free pasta it tends to fall apart and lose its pasta like texture.

Leftovers: I really like serving this as a lunch for leftovers. To make it more filling, sometimes I will add it to a side salad! It adds protein from the chickpea pasta and you are getting some extra veggies, too.

Recipe Variations

This recipe is made with Banza Pasta, which is made from chickpeas. If you are looking to create a Paleo friendly recipe you can easily substitute the noodles for Jovial grain free noodles or any other cassava pasta that you enjoy.

Storage Tips

Did you know the number of food poisoning cases increases during the summer months? Bacteria grows on foods much quicker in warmer weather! Macaroni salad is typically one of the major culprits because it normally has mayo in it. Luckily this one is made without mayo so it can stay out for 2 hours with no chilling or will stay for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

FAQs About Gluten Free Macaroni Salad

What brand of gluten-free pasta is the best?

I really like Banza pasta because I think it is the most similar to real pasta, it also holds it's shape. Other brands that I like are Thrive Market's generic brand and Jovial Pasta as well.

What does gluten-free pasta taste like?

I think that is has a neutral flavor much like any other pasta. I think that it takes the flavor of whatever you are serving over it.

Can you freeze macaroni salad?

I do not recommend freezing macaroni salad.