Hawaii-Style Potato Mac Salad

Hawaii-Style Potato Mac Salad

Serves 10
Hawaii is known for its "plate lunch." Rather than mainland fast foods that consist of wrapped sandwiches and fries on the side, Hawaiian "local food" purveyors quickly serve up hot plates of hamburger steak, teriyaki chicken, and Kalbi Short Ribs – all with a side of 2 scoops rice and an essential scoop of mac salad. Variations abound, but "local kine" mac salad is usually heavy on Best Foods® mayonnaise and made with extra soft macaroni.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound macaroni (cooked until soft, drained and cooled (see cook's tip))
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise (plus more to taste)
  • 1/2 sweet onion (grated (about cup with juice))
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided use (plus more to taste)
  • 2 russet potatoes (1 1/ pounds) (peeled and cut into 1/-inch cubes)
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs (small diced)
  • 1 carrot (shredded (about /2 cup))

Directions

  1. Place potatoes in a medium pot and cover with 4 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Cook just until fork-tender, but not falling apart, about 10 minutes. Drain well.
  2. While potatoes are cooking, place grated onion with its juice into a large bowl. Stir in mayo, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper until well-combined. Add warm, drained potatoes to bowl. Stir to coat. Add cooked macaroni, eggs, and carrots. Stir to combine.
  3. Refrigerate until ready to serve. It's best made a day ahead to give the flavors time to meld. Taste before serving. It may need a bit more mayo and salt.

Cook Tips

Begin by boiling water for the macaroni and cooking the eggs as these steps will take longer than the potatoes.

While "al dente" may be the standard for most pasta dishes, chewy pasta doesn't translate well in this mac salad. We recommend cooking the macaroni 2-3 minutes longer than the package suggests for perfectly soft noodles.

Stirring grated onion into the mayo helps distribute its flavor. Adding the potatoes while warm, helps them absorb flavor better than cold. Careful, however, as hot potatoes may cause the mayo to break.

Nutrition

Amount Per Serving (based on 10 servings)
  • Calories: 390
  • Fat: 0.0 g
  • Saturated Fat: 4.0 g
  • Trans Fat: 0.0 g
  • Cholesterol: 50.0 mg
  • Sodium: 500.0 mg
  • Carbohydrates: 32.0 g
  • Fiber: 2.0 g
  • Added Sugars: 0.0 g
  • Sugar: 0.0 g
  • Protein: 6.0 g