Just in time for summer gatherings around the grill or smoker, here’s a macaroni salad with a little sumpin’ sumpin’ extra:
Sriracha, ranch dressing, maple roasted bacon; and, of course, that staple of macaroni salads everywhere; Kraft Dinner.
?!?
Oh, and there’s also my own, home made version of another Kraft fave; Catalina salad dressing – and home made Ranch, as well.
It all comes together to form a very tasty, slight zippy, macaroni salad that’ll have folk wondering what, exactly (but in a good way, trust me), you’ve gone and put into it.
INGREDIENTS
•2 boxes Kraft Dinner
•1 stick (8 tbsp) butter
•1/2 cup milk
•2/3 cup Tante Marie’s French Dressing
(or, Catalina French from the store)
•2 tsp Sriracha
•2/3 cup mayonnaise
•1 tsp Sriracha
•1/2 cup ranch dressing
•Chopped scallions
•Diced celery
•Diced carrots
•4 slices maple roasted bacon, chopped
Make Kraft Dinner according to package directions, adding the Tante Marie’s dressing and two teaspoons of Sriracha. Stir until well mixed, then set aside to cool.
Give it a taste, and, if you think it needs it (I did), whisk the remaining teaspoon of Sriracha into the mayonnaise and stir into the cooled macaroni.
Cover and stash in the fridge a couple of hours or overnight.
When you come back to the salad later, the pasta will have absorbed a lot of the moisture from the mayonnaise, which is why 
we want to stir in the half cup of ranch dressing along with the veggies and bacon to loosen the pasta up and add another layer of flavor.
Toss to combine and serve.
This salad was pretty popular at a backyard gathering, and leftovers were more than welcome here at home along side grilled Polish sausages on poppy seed rolls.