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.
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.