Chicken Cobb Macaroni Salad
When I think of summer barbecues and graduation open houses, I basically just think of ALL THE PASTA SALADS. If there are multiple versions available at any one party, even better!
I love the classic, macaroni salad my mom makes with celery, onion, mustard and mayonnaise – it’s simple and perfect. But you know food bloggers – always trying to jazz everything up.
This mega, super loaded macaroni salad is what I’ve started calling “dinner macaroni salad.” Because it’s loaded with tons of the stuff you would normally eat for dinner anyway – lean chicken, leafy spinach and lots of other veggies.
Oh, and hard boiled eggs, bacon and blue cheese, too (blue cheese lovers, don’t miss my blue cheese mashed potatoes). It’s tossed with a creamy dressing made from Greek yogurt, mayo, buttermilk, and a little bit of mustard, vinegar and garlic.
If you can eat a big bowl of warm pasta for dinner in the winter, why not eat a bowl of cold pasta for a no-sweat lunch or dinner in the summer?
Keep a stash of this in your fridge for the next time you want a great meal that doesn’t involve turning on the oven or stove, or need a dish to pass at a summer party!
Chicken Cobb Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1-1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 slices oven baked bacon, crumbled
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cups lightly packed baby spinach
- 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
- 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
- Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together yogurt, mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Add bacon, eggs, celery, spinach, chicken, tomatoes, blue cheese, onion and cooked pasta to bowl with dressing. Toss until well combined; refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days before serving.
OMG, one of the best pasta salads I have ever had. I think adding some hot sauce is the way to go. Nice recipe!
I should just have a standing note at the bottom of all my recipes: FYI – when we ate this, we probably added hot sauce.
Love how fresh this is for summer entertaining!
Thanks so much, Sandy! I can’t WAIT for summer to actually be here, and summer entertaining to commence ๐
I loooooove macaroni salad and this is such a genius idea — love the addition of chicken.
Thanks so much, Rachel! The chicken definitely bulks it up a bit.
This sounds very nice – definitely a good meal for warmer weather. ย
My husband makes a very simple macaroni salad – macaroni, onion, celery, hard boiled eggs and mayo. ย It’s the best one I’ve ever eaten. ย
Definitely saving this recipe!
Thanks so much, Susan! Your husband’s recipe sounds very much like my mom’s, except my mom doesn’t add hard boiled eggs to her macaroni salad (but does to her potato salad). In any case, macaroni salad never goes out of style, in my book!
This looks amazing. I can’t wait until fresh tomatoes are decent again!ย
I couldn’t agree more, Heather! Nothing better than a great, fresh tomato. With salt!
I’m such a lover of pasta salads, this one is so creative and looks delicious!
Thanks so much, Aggie. I appreciate it!
I can definitely eat macaroni salad as a main course for dinner, and now that you bulked it up, I will now have legit dinner macaroni salad ๐
Yessss! I really want to make Dinner Macaroni Salad a thing ๐
Thanks for the shout out on my classic macaroni salad. I’m thinking your salad looks great. BTW, great looking eggs, Lor!
I think I FINALLY figured out hard-boiled eggs. My checklist of life goals for 2015 is now complete.
Wow, this looks great for a picnic lunch. I’m going to make it a goal this year to go on more hikes and picnics. I definitely will be bringing this pasta salad along. I have a fear of celery, so I’d leave that veggie out, but the rest is golden!! ๐
Now you have me wanting to go on a hiking picnic, Erin! We had a bit of spring (almost summer!)-like weather here in Michigan last weekend, but now it’s back to chilly, dark and rainy. Oh, the humanity! Come on, summer!