This is the BEST Macaroni Salad made with tomatoes and black olives, and a simple creamy mayo-based dressing, a perfect summer side dish!
Macaroni Salad with Tomatoes
When the weather starts to warm up, you can find me outside, taking advantage of the sunshine. I especially love a good outdoor summer BBQ, and this creamy Macaroni Salad with Tomatoes is perfect for the occasion. It’s my go-to all summer long! Some other delicious pasta salads that you should try are this Summer Macaroni Salad with Tomatoes and Zucchini, BLT Macaroni Salad, and Mayo-less Tuna Macaroni Salad.
This easy macaroni salad recipe is excellent for parties. You can make it the day before to save time the day of your event. All you have to do is cook the pasta and then stir everything together. I usually mix the summer tomatoes in with the other ingredients in a bowl while the pasta cooks. The tomatoes release their juice and make the sauce creamy and saucy.
Ingredients
- Pasta: Uncooked elbow macaroni, wheat or gluten-free
- Vegetables: Ripe tomatoes such as plum, vine-ripe or campari tomatoes, sliced black olives and chopped red onion.
- Herbs and spices: garlic powder, dried oregano, salt (or adobo seasoning salt) and black pepper
- Salad Dressing: mayonnaise and white vinegar (optional, add a few dashes of Franks Hot Sauce)
How To Make The Best Macaroni Salad
The combination of these flavors just work! You can see my suggestions below, but I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. Here’s how to make it:
- Cook the macaroni in salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Meanwhile combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, tomatoes (and all of juice from the tomatoes), olives, onion, garlic powder, oregano salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well.
- When the pasta is ready, add to the bowl and mix well.
- Serve room temperature right away or chill it in the refrigerator to serve later. If you serve it later, you may need to add more mayo.
Variations
- Add cucumbers, red bell peppers or celery for more vegetables and crunch
- You can use whole wheat macaroni for more protein and fiber or gluten-free macaroni for a gluten-free macaroni salad.
- Use apple cider vinegar instead of white
What to Serve with Macaroni Salad
- Burgers – Turkey Burgers or Salmon Burgers are perfect with elbow pasta salad.
- Chicken Breast – Juicy, flavorful Grilled Chicken Breast or Air Fryer Chicken Breast.
- Chicken Thighs – Juicier and more flavorful than chicken breast, these Grilled Chicken Thighs are a winner in my house. If you have an air fryer, make these Air Fryer Chicken Thighs.
- Steak – Grilled steaks or Air Fryer Steak
- More Side Dishes: Round out your summer potluck with Creamy Cucumber Salad, Greek Pasta Salad, Red Potato Salad or Grilled Corn.
Should you rinse pasta before making macaroni salad?
Yes, it’s best to rinse hot pasta with cold water before making macaroni salad. Typically, if you’re eating your pasta cold, like in a pasta salad, you’ll want to rinse it with cold water right after it’s done cooking. The cold water stops the cooking process, cools off the pasta, and helps prevent the noodles from clumping together.
More Pasta Salad Recipes You’ll Love:
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Chilled Italian Shrimp Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Summer Pasta Salad with Baby Greens
- Warm Pasta Salad with Corn and Zucchini
- Lemon Asparagus Couscous Salad with Tomatoes
Macaroni Salad with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 6 oz uncooked elbows, wheat or gluten-free
- 2 ripe medium tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 red onion, or white, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Hellmann's light mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2.5 oz can sliced black olives
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions.
- Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, tomatoes (and all of the juice from the tomatoes), olives, onion, garlic powder, oregano salt and pepper. Mix well.
- When the pasta is done, mix it in and serve right away room temperature or chilled.
This is the best salad ever. The whole family is now making it. It always turns out good. Will have guests on Friday and make this salad for the people which don’t like mushrooms, because I make your mushroom stroganoff. This is delicious also!
I made this salad a couple of weeks ago and added a hard boiled egg and celery. It was delicious! Tomorrow I’m making it again and will add shrimp. Hopefully it will be just as good.
I love this recipe and make it all the time, especially in the summer.
Good, not as good as I expected. It will definitely be eaten but I doubt I will make it again.
I’ve made this a few times with shrimp added & everyone loves it.
Definitely a keeper
An excellent side dish for a summer barbecue on our boat. Easy to make and refreshes with a little Mayo and vinegar.
So delicious! It’s an excellent summer side dish.
I made this twice this weekend fir two separate events, everyone enjoyed it. I’ll be making this again.
One of my favorite summer salads! Light, refreshing, and easy to make!
Really enjoyed this salad! I added cucumbers as well and since I accidentally boiled an entire box of pasta, doubled the seasoning/mayo and vinegar. Added a bit of red pepper flakes as well. Give this simple pasta salad a try!
This is delicious. I had it for lunch and added an egg. It’s hard not to go back and get more. And so easy to make.
This is one of my favorites too!
Made this as a recipe for 10 for our Memorial BBQ. It was very bland so I doctored it up as much as possible with what I had on hand. Definitely needed more spices/flavor. So many rave reviews so i was surprised.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy it, we love it with really good quality tomatoes.
Great macaroni salad! Tripled it for a party! It was a big hit!
This is a Easy and delicious recipes! My new favorite go to snack or side dish for dinner.
I have a question. This salad sounds perfect for work lunches, but will it last in the fridge for three days (for 3 lunch days) or should it be consumed the day it’s made?
I prefer it the same day but leftovers can certainly be eaten the next.
Have made this several times and love the fresh flavour!
This was such a great side with bbq pork chops. I used chick pea cavatappi, and there was about 2 ounces over but I didn’t change anything and still thought the mayo coverage was perfect. I thought I had olives as I usually do since I love them. Almost didn’t make it when I discovered I didn’t, but I saw a recommendation to replace with roasted red peppers and that was an excellent idea!! I make a lot of bbq pork and chicken so will be using this as a side a lot! Also, the roasted parm green beans worked well to balance it all out.
Made this today for the Labor Day weekend. This salad recipe is very good and yes lite. I added celery because I love the crunch. Used the last of my heirloom pear little tomatoes. Will make this again!
I made the macaroni salad with tomatoes . It wasn’t your typical Mac sals but was a delightful and refreshing change. The flavor improved after I refrigerated it for several hours as the sauce penetrated the noodles.
I just went to the farm and bought the first great summer tomatoes. I was hoping for a toasted tomato sandwich (with mayo); had no bread. I found this recipe; just made it and it is great! I didn’t use onions (I don’t like raw onions); I used a little apple cider vinegar. Everything else I used. It is SO GOOD. In the fridge and can’t wait for us to have it tonight.
Love your recipes.
I’ve made many good pasta and macaroni salads before but none have been good enough to make again. I was about to buy some for a bbq but decided to try this one and I have no reason to make any other kind again. So much flavor and so easy to make. I don’t like black olives so my only change like others was red peppers instead.
made this. It was good. We had some leftover ahi tuna turned that into tuna fish to go on top..Perfect
This salad is delicious and so easy to make. I’m not on WW but saw this recipe and knew we would love it. The red onion comes through so nicely. I added 1/2 diced red pepper as I needed to use it. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Love your rcipes.
Very easy to make. Great to have in the fridge for lunch or a quick side for dinner. Will be having it with some ribs tonight.
Delish! Even my very picky husband loved it went back for seconds and thirds. We don’t like olives so I just added some extra salt, bell pepper and some cucumbers! Will deff make again!
Is there a substitute for Mayo? Looking for a healthier alternative. Thanks!
I do not have fresh oregano could I sub for dried.
Sure!
Try subbing 1/2 of Mayo with plain fat free greek yogurt
That’s all I use in pasta salads….Way better than black olives as they have a lot more flavour 🙂 You will enjoy!
I thought this was a little bland. I added cucumber. I’m glad I did. It was better the next day. It was quick to make. I will probably make it again.
Forgot to rate this, “5”
Awesome
Made this today. It was excellent! Thanks for the recipe!
My wife wants me to replace the olives with red peppers next time.
BTW, my first time using Hellmann’s light mayonnaise. Loved it!!
Just made this tonight. Followed recipe with the exception of: used Kalamata Olives(all I had)used Orecchiette pasta(had it in pantry)large cherry tomatoes on the vine(again what I had)used Dukes Mayo(all I use). Put in fridge to thicken up and add one slices scallion. Husband grilled burgers.
Great meal, great salad. Thanks.
Perfect!
This was delicious! It’s a great pasta for the summer!
Don’t skip the oregano! I am not a fan of oregano and was going to use another herb, but my family convinced me to try the recipe as it was written. I am so glad I did. The oregano adds the right note to it. This is such a simple, tasty recipe. I will definitely make this again!
So simple and so delish. Will definitely be a staple this summer.
Really nice, light salad. Enjoyed it. Would like to try adding some cucumbers to the salad next time.
This salad looks amazing, olives are not a huge hit in my house, any substitute you can recommend, or others have tried?
Won’t the points for purple be a lot less if you use whole wheat pasta?
How would this taste using Kalamata olives?
Are the leaves in the top picture fresh oregano? It looks easy to prepare. Thanks.
Hello,
I put this recipe in my WW app to see if the points would be different using 150 Calorie Hy Vee white noodles. Could someone do the same and make sure I am doing it right? It came up same points I would rather have white noodles than whole wheat. Thanks
Hi! Do you recommend any kind of gluten free pasta that tastes good cold? Thanks so much!!
Delallo or Barilla. 🙂
Can you confirm the calories per serving please? The nutritional information below the recipe does not indicate the calories. Thanks!
This salad was amazing!
This was really good. My husband grilled some steak last night and I was looking for a salad to go with it and this was perfect. Thank you.
I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Just made this (tripled to go with mine & BF’s lunches) and it really is delicious! Didn’t change or add anything, though I think I added a bit too much red onion. Still really good, can’t believe the low points!
great!
I love this one too!
Is this salad served cold or hot?
Cold or room temp
Made this twice in 2 weeks. It’s great to have in the fridge to use as a side or a quick lunch.
Seemed a little bland to me… maybe try apple cider vinegar next time or miracle whip for a little more zing.
I put it in a recipe calculator. It is around 106 calories per serving.
What are the calories per serving?
My husband and I loved this!! So simple yet so delicious! Thanks Gina!
How much calorie would this meal be?
Turkey pepperoni would be a perfect add in along with some diced up Lite String Cheese!!!!
Am I missing something? I do not see the calories.
Looks amazing though
I made this followed it to the T. it is soooooooo good!
I'm trying this recipe tonight, but am not a fan of olives…so I'm substituting scallions. I'm so excited!!
Emily – It may lower the points. So jealous! Wish I had a lot of free time!
Would using fat free mayo make a difference with points?
I just discovered your blog and am in heaven! I am a teacher, so I have A LOT of free time on my hands right now… so, my summer plan is to cook my way through your blog! 🙂
-Emily
Gina, do you know how this recipe translates into calories per serving? Thank you!! I'm so excited that I found this website!! 🙂
I made this last night for dinner, everyone but my 10 year old loved it. I will for sure be keeping this in my recipe box………
Looks so good! In your video you add hot sauce, but it’s not included in the recipe. If added how much would that be?
Just a few dashes of Franks
So it's 4 Points plus per serving, using WW NEW system? I love this recipe, but didn't know how much it was Points +
I came up with 4 points under the PointsPlus system
I would like to try this recipe as it looks amazing, but I'm wondering if anyone knows the carbs per serving on this..Thanks!
I made this dish and it was soooo delicious! I've also made the Avacado Mango Salsa, Baby Red Potato Salad, Holy Slaw,& the Southwestern Salad. I'm in heaven!
Thanks so much for these great recipes. I will be trying many others in the near future.
I can't wait to try this one. Thanks so much for all these wonderful recipes.
I'm not sure how canned shrimp would effect the points, you'd have to check on your recipe builder.
Anonymous- Good for you for changing your eating habits to a healthier one. You can now have a new hobby, lightening up your favorite recipes!! Thanks for leaving a comment!
I love this salad. I knew I would just from the photo, but it taste even better than it looks!
I am not on the weight watchers program, but stumbled on to this site due to health issues. Time and habits have caught up to me and I must really make a change in lifestyles. At first this felt like such a punishment.Food not only brought me comfort by eating, but also sharing my talents in the kitchen with others. One of my "hobbies " was searching out and trying new recipes. Thanks for this site and allowing me to still have fun AND be healthy!
I LOVED this recipe!! I used Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne, instead of regular elbow. I also used Fat Free Mayo, saving me a point. And I saw a comment on here to try Italian seasoning in place of oregano. Awsesome! I got my guilty pleasure and I took for a BBQ for the 4th and everyone loved it!!
What if u added a can of shrimmp? How does that effect the points?? Thanks
I just "discovered" this site and tried this recipe almost immediately as an accompaniment to grilled portabella burgers. It was a very nice alternative to the usual unhealthy BBQ side dishes, and my partner didn't even notice that it was specifically low-calorie. I look forward to more of your recipes!
I am trying this recipe this weekend for my family that is coming into town!!! I am excited!
Since points and calories are calculated based on oz, this is the standard. I'm assuming you don't have a food scale. I recommend buying an inexpensive one, so helpful!! Generally 2 oz uncooked is 1 cup cooked pasta. So this is about 3 cups of cooked elbows. Hope that helps.
I always have trouble when you use oz with pasta and other ingrediants. it would be helpful to know how many cups or tbsp to use.
They sell it in the pasta section of the supermarket by me. I'm not sure if it's available everywhere.
Where would I get the Dreamfields and Ronzini SmartTaste high fiber pastas?
@Anonymous on 5/24/10 – 6 oz is 3/4 cup liquid measurement. Perhaps the 6 oz referred to in the recipe is by weight.
6oz is only 3/4 of a cup.
As long as it's 3 points for 2 oz uncooked, should be good. Dreamfields or whole wheat also work fine.
Hi! great recipe, and I'd really like to try it, but I can't find the elbow pasta in the smart taste that you recomended. Are any of the others equal substitutes? The one I bought was 180 cals. 7 grams fiber and 0.5 grams fat per serving. It was also smart taste, but it was a different kind.thank you!!!!
That's great! No need to be on WW to make any of my recipes.
My gosh, I just love your blog. I don't follow WW but your recipes are all so tasty and healthy. Thank you.
This makes me think of Summer, I can't wait!!
Just made it tonight and paired it with some turkey burgers and fruit! Excellent light side dish…the oregano especially gives it a nice unique kick away from the usual cold pasta salad. Loved it! Thanks!
Loved this recipe!! Simple, light, easy to make! A great addition to any meal.
@ Anonymous – Yes, 6 oz dry is 1-1/2 cups dry elbows which yields about 3-3/4 cups cooked.
This looks so yummy — love your site! One question…. is this one really supposed to be 6 oz (3/4 cup) dry pasta for serving 7? Thanks!
I loved it.One of my friends made it tonight and it was to die for. I am so making it tomorrow. Just amazing that it is so good and yet healthy for ya.
Thank you so much Gina.
I just made this today, it's fantastic. I also added some diced cucumber and used italian seasoning instead of just oregano.
I like adding more free green veggies in this without adding more points!
Thanks so much for this recipe. It's a huge help for those pasta cravings, and is just delicious without the high points…
I have to refrain from making it too often 🙂
i made this for a memorial day bbq and it was a HUGE hit!! there were 4 women who watch points, but the guys loved it just as much!
gabbie
wow! Great job at point-skimming! This looks fantastically satisfying without the burdening points!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy the long weekend!
My husband cannot eat pasta due to a surgical procedure, cannot digest pasta well. Does anyone have viable pasta substitutes for these wonderful pasta salad recipes? Thank you for any ideas!
Looks wonderful and light. I still love the old fattening kind that my Mom used to make, but I bet if I made this one I’d like it too. Nice to have the lighter options.
Looks so good!
Great picnic side and I love how precise you are with points!
The olives and tomatoes look great…nice colors.
This looks so good! Great recipe for the up-and coming Memorial Day weekend!
🙂 thanks!
Looks great! I fool my family with the Dreamfields pasta all the time, too!
@ erica, you can always omit the olives.
@kat, i will have to try that brand. my family is picky with pasta too and they had no idea I switched pasta on them. I wish I liked whole wheat pasta but I would be lying if I said I did. Thank God for all these great high fiber pastas!
That looks great – I will have to try this one for sure.
I’m not sure how points are calculated, but I like using Fiber Gourmet Pasta, which has a load of fiber but doesn’t taste like it – tastes like regular pasta! Even my picky son can’t tell it isn’t his regular pasta (and he won’t touch anything that is whole wheat).
I don’t love black olives, but yor sald looks wonderful!