#FilipinoFoodSessions - Macaroni Salad

Today’s #FilipinoFoodSessions features my Mom’s macaroni salad! My mom is probably the best cook I know, especially when it comes to Filipino food. She always cooks up a storm for every single birthday party, family party, picnic, you name it! And there is often ‘too much’ food when we have a gathering at our house & it’s usually all hand made by her! So I’m slowly trying to learn her magical ways in the kitchen and this is one of her recipes I tackled first! Here’s a picture of my beautiful Mom, my sister and I :)

Now back to the mac! This macaroni salad is a Filipino party/picnic staple! The ingredients are quite unique compared to other types of pasta salads you might have tried. The Filipino style includes macaroni pasta mixed with relish, raisins, pineapple, chicken, carrots and a LOT of mayo and some condensed milk to bind it all together! Like I said, the ingredients are pretty different but when they all come together it makes a bombbbb macaroni salad. Filipinos LOVE this stuff lol The raisins and pineapple might sound a little weird but that’s what makes it so tasty and so Filipino ;) You must try this if you haven’t already

And what's nice is that it's pretty simple to make and is a definite crowd pleaser :) The prep doesn’t take that long and you can adjust the recipe to make as much or as little as you want.

Check out the pictures and my Mom's recipe for the Filipino macaroni salad below!

Filipino Macaroni Salad

Serves 8

1 chicken breast

2 medium sized carrots, chopped into small chunks

227 g of macaroni pasta (about half of a large package of macaroni pasta)

1 cup raisins

1 can of pineapple tid bits

1.5 cups of relish

2 cups of mayo (another 1-2 cups before serving! The pasta soaks up the mayo)

¼ cup of condensed milk (optional)

Note: You can increase or decrease the amount of "toppings" (e.g. raisins, pineapple, relish, condensed milk) depending on your preference. You can fully omit the condensed milk if you don't like the sweeter taste.

1. Boil the chicken breast and the carrots until cooked, about 15 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked, shred the chicken into small pieces using 2 forks or your hands. Chop the carrots into small chunks.

2. Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packaging, I like to make mine a little bit al dente so I cook it for 1 minute less. Drain the pasta and lightly rinse under cold water.

3. Combine everything! In a large bowl add the pasta, shredded chicken, chopped carrots, raisins, pineapple, condensed milk, mayo and some salt. Mix until it’s all combined. If the pasta still looks dry, add more mayo! And that’s it - it's ready to serve, devour & enjoy!! :) Note: If you aren’t serving right away, you will probably need to add more mayo right before serving since the pasta absorbs a lot of it.