With a few additional ingredients, transform Kraft Dinner or a box of regular Mac & Cheese into a delicious Cheesy Macaroni Salad. This salad is sure to be a very popular side dish at your dinner table!
KRAFT DINNER IS THE SAME AS BOXED MAC & CHEESE
Before we get started, let me just point out that in Canada, we call it Kraft Dinner. We do not call it Macaroni & Cheese or Mac & Cheese. Those two names refer to homemade mac and cheese that is baked in the oven usually with breadcrumbs on top. If it’s to be macaroni in a powdered cheese sauce from a box, it’s Kraft Dinner.
I don’t know of anyone who does not purchase a box of Kraft Dinner once in a while – especially anyone with kids! It was very common in our home when we were growing up. My mom would make it often. She would serve it with hot dogs sometimes. My favourite way to eat it was with a slice of bread that had been smeared liberally with strawberry jam. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Now, I have to be honest. I’m not a huge fan of Kraft Dinner. McKenna, however, loves it. So, I do buy it for her. This particular recipe was prepared with two boxes of Kraft Dinner that I stole from her stash in the pantry.
If I ever get a craving for Kraft Dinner, I usually make my own. I find that the homemade version has so much more flavour! In fact, you can try it too! I have a Homemade Canadian Kraft Dinner recipe published already. Click on the title to get the recipe.
MY INSPIRATION FOR THIS DISH
In late June, I was planning for a little Canada Day dinner for the three of us to have in the backyard. My plan was to cook hot dogs over the fire, and to have a traditional Newfoundland potato salad and my mom’s macaroni salad on the side.
For some reason, I remembered how we used to buy family meals at KFC for these types of occasions. We would usually gather at mom’s or dad’s and enjoy the day together. That thought led me to think about the macaroni salad that we used to get from KFC.
Either my memory is accurate, or it’s playing tricks on me, but I seem to recall the macaroni salad from KFC being orange in colour. I can’t seem to find evidence of that anymore, so I could be wrong. I’m sure my friend, Vera, will know! I’ll have to ask her the next time I see her.
Anyway, I decided to try to make a copycat version of it. And, guess what, Dear Reader!? I have succeeded!! Now, I don’t know if the orange-coloured macaroni salad was from KFC or not, but it was from somewhere, and this one tastes just like it! And, I’ve used Kraft Dinner to help me get it just right!
PREPARING THE SALAD
It’s clear that the orange colour in this macaroni salad comes from the packets of cheese powder in the boxed Kraft Dinner. But, what else goes into a macaroni salad of this nature?
Most store-bought prepared macaroni salads have finely chopped veggies in them. One of those is celery. I didn’t use celery, because McKenna doesn’t like it. What I did use were some not-so-obvious choices. But, the key was to crack the taste and I was certainly able to do that!
I used just a little bit of red bell pepper, because that is often found in macaroni salads. Next, I diced up jarred pickled onions and jarred gherkins. I love the burst of tang from the onions and the smokiness from the gherkins.
All that was left to work out was the cheese sauce mixture. I whisked the cheese powder together with some mayonnaise and some heavy cream to help thin it out. I seasoned the sauce quite well with a bit of salt and pepper too. In the end, this Cheesy Macaroni Salad was perfect! I cannot wait to make it again!
Cheesy Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 2 boxes Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft Dinner)
- 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup diced gherkins
- 1/4 cup diced jarred pickled onions
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the macaroni pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse cooked macaroni under cold water. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the two packets of powdered cheese, mayonnaise, heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
- Add the macaroni, red pepper, gherkins, and onions. Toss to coat well in the cheese sauce.
- Cover and refrigerate for two hours. Before serving, toss again.
Nutrition
Marilyn Tsigaris says
I’m in my 70’s and you are correct, back in the day the macaroni salad from KFC was orange. I remember it well. We used to get it when we were up at the cottage, when it
was just too hot to cook, as we didn’t have air conditioning at the lake. Funny how one remembers the food we had when we were kids.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you for confirming that my memory is not so bad after all, Marilyn. 🙂
Erin Kenny says
I’m in my 50’s, and KFC’s macaroni salad was DEFINITELY orange – I have no idea why.
Haven’t tried your recipe yet because I need to figure out what to swap for heavy cream (lactose intolerant) – maybe coconut cream (I just don’t want it to taste too coconutty)? I’m also going to mess with the additions since I dont like onions or gerkins (or I may leave them be since my son adores them and is quite frankly likely to eat a LOT more of this than me).
Thanks for the great recipes!
Mamajo3 says
You are so right!!..KFC mac salad was orange and delish so sad they changed it. My sister and mother in-law both worked there and said the same thing ..it’s all in the powdered cheese..Thanks for the recipe. Well done
Lori Griffin says
KFC orange macaroni salad has always been my favourite. You can get it at grocery stores under the Ziggy’s label in the produce or deli section. Your recipe is close, but you are missing a tangy zing to the dressing. I added gherkin juice from the bottle of gherkins. That brought it closer, but it still doesn’t have that zip. I’m trying to figure it out and will let you know if I crack it.
By the way, I would not recommend adding salt. KD cheese powder is salty enough. Otherwise good job. Your recipe is closer to the original than any other I’ve tried in the past couple of decades.
Kay says
Have u tried Kraft Miracle Whip instead of mayo?
Vera says
You are right! It was cheese powder and the best came from Catelli Mac & Cheese and the best part was that it was elbow macaroni. The other surprise is sweet green relish. It’s tangy, it’s sweet and it has the green you were expecting. Also, we used (yes at KFC), whipped dressing rather than mayonnaise. No need to add the heavy cream.
The other surprising thing is that my name is Vera. Could I be the friend referenced in the blog? Enquiring minds and all.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Ha! Thank you, Vera. Maybe it was you; it’ll be our secret. 🙂
Dawn Coupland says
KFC salad was dyed orange.My Dad owned many KFC ,not a cheddar powder was added.They had salads made daily and in supplied over 30 stores.Fresh product, orange was added to make it different than potatoe in the trays.Like there was 4 bean salad and sing river beans.
Michelle keats says
Our KFC in Canada.. macaroni salad was never orange..but our Mary Brown’s chicken restaurant has the cheddar macaroni and cheese salad it’s so good.
sue says
I love the box recipe salad, cook the macaroni and drain, pour only the dry cheese on hot macs and mix mayo, vinegar, celery, and green stuffed olives and green peppers and carrots into the macaroni and chill
Marcus says
Mary browns has the ‘Mac and cheese’ salad.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Yes! I have had some just recently.
Barb says
I’m glad to hear someone else has strawberry jam bread with their Kraft Dinner!!! (I grew up in St. John’s)
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Ha! It’s a classic!
Karen says
Ok finding this recipe is LIFE-CHANGING. Cheesy mac salad has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, I just buy the premade stuff at the grocery store. But last night I thought “how hard could it be to make it myself?” Found your recipe and made it immediately. Dare I say, it’s even BETTER than the store bought stuff?! Thank you for this!
Karen says
I made this salad. Very tasty. I substituted miracle whip in place of the mayonnaise. Gave it the zip someone commented it didn’t have. Tastes even better the next day. Thank you for the recipe