Crab Macaroni Salad

Flaked crab is tossed with cooked macaroni, dill pickles, and cheese in this Crab Macaroni Salad. The dressing is both creamy and tangy and is prepared with mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and old bay seasoning. This make-ahead salad is great for backyard barbecues and picnics!

Crab is one of those things that you might think I had a lot of while growing up. Newfoundlanders have the ocean right at their fingertips, and seafood is readily available. But, my family didn’t eat fish as often as some other Newfoundland families. And, when it came to shellfish of any kind, that wasn’t happening at all! I’m making up for all of that lost time with recipes like this Crab Macaroni Salad!

I don’t know about the people who live in your home, but in ours, it’s rare that we all agree on the same recipe and/or food item. But, it just so happens that we all love dill, cheese, crab, and of course, a really good macaroni salad. It just made sense to combine all of these things into one! This salad is so fast and easy to make too, so there’s no excuse to not whip up a big bowl of this anytime the craving takes you!

I love a quick and easy recipe. I love it even more so when I don’t need to cook – except boiling a bit of pasta here, of course! Besides the excellent taste, that’s what makes this macaroni salad so good. It can be the answer to that hateful question – What should I serve with this? As the primary cook in our home, it’s so easy to come up with a main for dinner, but deciding on a side is the one thing I despise the most about preparing a meal. This salad fits the bill in so many instances!

If you love dill as much as we do, then I have a few recipes here that will be sure to satisfy all of your dill cravings. Have you ever had dill on a pizza? Try my Bacon Dill Pickle Pizza; you’ll love it! I’ve also used dill pickles and fresh dill in a Dill Pickle Ranch Pasta dish. I bake with fresh dill too. My Savoury Dill and Feta Scones are perfect for those of you who love the combination of dill and cheese.

IMITATION CRAB

Every time I share a recipe with imitation crab as the star or one of the contributing ingredients, I click on the publish button and wait for the mean comments to fire my way. There is some serious hate out there for imitation crab! The great thing about imitation crab is that it fits into almost every budget. But, if you’re rich and can afford real crab, be my guest! I’d rather save real crab for a seafood boil and use imitation in recipes like these Crab Macaroni Salad.

There is nothing wrong with imitation crab. There, I’ve said it! I have been buying imitation crab for almost twenty years. Would I prefer real crab meat? Of course, I would! But, I’m far from rich, and I live nowhere near an ocean. Depending on where you live, crab meat can be very expensive. And, to be honest, imitation crab is quite good!

You might need to try a few brands to find the right imitation crab for you. I’ve tried a few that I didn’t care for too much at all. Sometimes, they can be too salty, and sometimes, they can taste like nothing. I mean that! In the past, I have purchased imitation crab that had absolutely zero flavours. So, before you give up on it, try a few brands first.

My favourite brand, SeaQuest, is luckily the most recognizable and easily found imitation crab. Here in Ontario, it’s available in almost every grocery store. From my experience, flaked imitation crab tastes better than stick imitation crab. If you’re new to imitation crab, start with flaked crab first. It always has a better flavour and texture.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Crab – Actually, it’s imitation crab! I love it and I’m not ashamed to say so! You can 100% use real cooked crab meat here if you wish.
• Pasta – You can use any short pasta, like macaroni, rotini, penne, etc.
• Cheese – Cheddar cheese is so good in this salad. If you use shredded cheese, it gets too soft, so buy a brick of cheese and dice it for the best results.
• Dill Pickles – Use your favourite dill pickle. Chop them very finely.
• Mayonnaise – You can use any mayonnaise, even the fat-free stuff!
• Vinegar
• Honey Mustard – This adds a bit of warmth and sweetness to the salad. You can use spicy mustard too.
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Salt & Ground Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder and Onion Powder

HOW TO MAKE CRAB MACARONI SALAD

Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, old bay seasoning, ground black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the cooled macaroni, flaked crab, diced cheese, and chopped dill pickles to the bowl as well. Toss gently and coat evenly. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

OLD BAY SEASONING

Here’s a bit of trivia for you. Did you know that Old Bay Seasoning was developed by a German immigrant to Maryland, US, in 1939? Fresh crab was so popular to the area that local bars used to cook them up and give them to their patrons for free – kinda like some bars nowadays with bowls of peanuts. Well, to encourage patrons to buy more drinks at the bar, the seasoning blend was invented by Gustav Brunn with excess amounts of salt; the more seasoned crab patrons ate, the thirstier they became!

The seasoning mix includes mustard, paprika, celery salt, bay leaf, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, mace, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger. The seasoning is mostly used to season crab and shrimp, but it can also be used in chowders and stews.

THE BEST DILL PICKLE FOR THIS SALAD

Well, Dear Reader, the best type of dill pickle for this Dill Pickle Macaroni Salad recipe is quite simply the dill pickle that you buy each time you buy pickles. I find some dills too salty, but if that’s the type you like, buy those.

Some dills are too dilly, but if that floats your boat, get that kind! For us, there’s only one brand of dills that we buy and we have never bought any other brand for the past 10 years. They’re the Bick’s Polskie Ogorki. They have just the right amount of dill-salt-garlic ratio and they’re always crunchy.

MORE IMITATION CRAB RECIPES

If you have read this far, you might have guessed that I’m a big fan of imitation crab. I have no issues whatsoever with real crabs, mind you! But, if I’m going to spend a lot of money on crab meat, I’m not going to mask the flavour of it with lots of ingredients, like you might find in a salad recipe, for example. Nope, my real crab meat is going to taste super fresh on its own with just a little bit of melted butter or a seafood boil dipping sauce.

I have a few other imitation crab recipes here if you’re interested! In no particular order of preference, one of my favourites are Crab Rangoon Egg Rolls. These are my go-to recipes. Every single time I make these, everyone loves them and asks me to make them again and again. They’re certainly one of my specialties! Much like this salad, my Crab and Potato Salad is super fresh and filling too. I like to make this one in the summertime and serve it with grilled steak.

The last imitation crab recipe that I shared got rave reviews from readers. If you like going out for sushi, you just might have had Japanese Kani Salad. This homemade version is so delicious and easy to make. I don’t like sushi at all, but I love a good kani salad!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!