Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
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Turn your favorite Southern appetizer into your new favorite summer side dish with this tasty recipe for Deviled Egg Pasta Salad! It’s loaded with hard boiled eggs, crisp vegetables, sweet relish, and a creamy dressing creating an incredibly flavorful macaroni salad, with the delicious taste of deviled eggs.
Table of contents
If you’re a fan of deviled eggs, this is a must-try recipe for you! It has all of the same flavors of a traditional Southern deviled egg with relish, but in the form of an absolutely delightful pasta salad.
I served this macaroni salad for a Memorial Day weekend bbq and 4th of July party, and both times it was met with rave reviews! The delicious combination of creamy mayonnaise dressing, mixed with sweet relish, crisp onions and celery, tender macaroni noodles and chopped up hard boiled eggs, is one that can not be beat!
Serve this salad at a bbq, bring it to a potluck, or simply whip it up in the morning and serve it with your favorite meal on the grill for a weeknight dinner. It’s delicious anytime and honestly might just be my new favorite pasta salad recipe!
Ingredients
- Hard boiled eggs – click the link for my step-by-step guide on how to hard boil eggs perfectly every time. You can make these up to a week in advance and store them in the fridge unpeeled, until you’re ready to make the salad. Once you peel the hard boiled eggs, they should be stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 days.
- Macaroni noodles – or use another small pasta shape, like small shells, rotini, penne, or cavatappi.
- Mayonnaise – if you’re not a fan of mayo, you can substitute it with sour cream. It will give the recipe a slightly different taste and texture.
- Dijon mustard – for this recipe, I prefer dijon mustard over yellow mustard for it’s tang and spice. But yellow mustard can also be used in it’s place, if you prefer it over dijon or if that’s simply what you have on hand.
- Sweet pickle relish – I do not recommend dill relish (as seen pictured above). After making this recipe a few times, everyone prefers the flavor of the sweet pickle relish. It adds a slight sweetness to the salad that pairs perfectly with the other rich, tangy, and salty flavors in the salad. If you only have dill relish on hand, I recommend adding 1 teaspoon granulated sugar to the dressing at the same time as the salt and pepper.
- White vinegar – just a couple of teaspoons adds a nice acidity to the dressing to balance out the richness of the mayonnaise.
- Salt + black pepper + paprika – to season the pasta salad.
- Red onion – I prefer to use red onions when serving them raw in a salad. I enjoy the bite of the red onion, but you could also use a sweet onion if you want a sweeter, more mellow flavor.
- Celery – for a nice, crisp addition to the salad.
- Chives (optional) – to garnish the deviled egg pasta salad.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare the hard boiled eggs. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove. Once boiling, add 1 teaspoon baking soda, then gently add a dozen eggs to the boiling water. Cover the pot with a lid, reduce the heat on the stove down to medium and cook the eggs for 11 minutes. Remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs from the water and immediately place them in an ice water bath. Let them sit in the ice water for 15 minutes, then peel the eggs. For a more detailed guide on how to hard boil eggs, click the link to the left.
- Cook the pasta. While the eggs are sitting in the ice water bath, bring another large pot of water to boil on the stove. Add the elbow macaroni noodles and cook according to the package directions. Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander in the sink. Rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool down the noodles. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl and set them aside.
- Prepare the pasta salad dressing. Once the eggs have been hard boiled and peeled, slice them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and place them in a medium bowl. Use a fork to mash the egg yolks. Add mayonnaise, sweet relish, dijon mustard, white vinegar, salt, pepper, and paprika to the bowl with the mashed egg yolks. Stir to combine everything, then set the salad dressing aside.
- Assemble the salad. Chop up the egg whites and add them to the large bowl with the cooked macaroni noodles. Add diced onions and celery to the bowl, then pour the dressing into the bowl. Use a spatula to gently toss all of the salad ingredients together until they’re fully coated in the dressing. Place the salad in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill and allow the flavors to develop. I recommend garnishing the salad with chopped chives and paprika before serving, but this step is optional.
Make ahead and storage tips
You can make this recipe ahead of time. In fact, the pasta salad gets even better as it sits and soaks in the flavors of the dressing. If you’re making the salad 24 hours in advance, or more, be sure to cover it before placing it in the fridge.
Store deviled egg pasta salad leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I always recommend eating the salad cold, and storing it in an airtight container to preserve the fresh flavors.
Optional additions
Stir in any of these additions to mix up the flavor of this deviled egg pasta salad!
- ½ cup cooked, crumbled bacon
- ½ cup diced sharp cheddar cheese or colby jack cheese
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or a couple dashes of hot sauce, like Tabasco
- ½ cup minced green or red bell pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder with the salt and pepper
And to make this recipe gluten free, substitute in gluten-free macaroni noodles.
What to serve it with
This deviled egg pasta salad is the quintessential summer side dish. It’s light and refreshing, but also creamy and flavorful.
You can’t go wrong serving this salad with an easy weeknight meal, or at a backyard bbq, with any of these delicious main dishes!
More summer salads
Try these other scrumptious salads, perfect for summer BBQ’s, potlucks and picnics!
Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 hard boiled eggs
- 1 pound uncooked macaroni noodles
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sweet pickle relish
- 1 ½ tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ cup minced red onion
- ½ cup minced celery
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives, optional garnish
Instructions
Prepare the hard boiled eggs.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove. Once boiling, add 1 teaspoon baking soda, then gently add a dozen eggs to the boiling water. Cover the pot with a lid, reduce the heat on the stove down to medium and cook the eggs for 11 minutes. Remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs from the water and immediately place them in an ice water bath. Let them sit in the ice water for 15 minutes, then peel the eggs. For a more detailed guide on how to hard boil eggs, click the link to the left.
- Prepare the pasta salad.
- While the eggs are sitting in the ice water bath, bring another large pot of salted water to boil on the stove. Add the macaroni noodles and cook according to the package directions.
- Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander in the sink. Rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool down the noodles. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl and set them aside.
- Once the eggs are boiled and peeled, slice them in half lengthwise, remove the egg yolks and place them in a medium mixing bowl. Dice the egg whites and add them to the bowl with the pasta.
- Use a fork to mash the egg yolks, then add the mayonnaise, sweet relish, dijon mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, and paprika to the bowl. Stir to combine everything.
- Add the minced red onions and celery to the bowl with the pasta. Pour the dressing into the bowl and toss to combine everything.
- Cover and place the salad in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours. This will allow the flavors of the salad to develop.
- Top with a shake of paprika and chopped chives before serving (optional).
Notes
- The hard boiled eggs can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge, unpeeled, until you’re ready to make the salad. Once you peel the hard boiled eggs, they should be stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 days.
- If you’re using dill relish, instead of sweet relish, I recommend adding 1 teaspoon granulated sugar to the dressing at the same time as the salt and pepper.
- Store deviled egg pasta salad leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I always recommend eating the salad cold, and storing it in an airtight container to preserve the fresh flavors.
- To make this recipe gluten free, substitute in gluten-free macaroni noodles.
Nutrition Facts
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