Picnic Perfect Macaroni Salad

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, which means… Picnics, cook outs, camping, and pretty everything else that can bring family and friends together to a lot of food. So today, I’m sharing my macaroni salad recipe for you to add to your arsenal of yummy picnic/potluck food to bring
16 oz cream cheese
16 oz elbow macaroni
1/2 bag frozen pens(8oz)?
8oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 bag diced ham (8 oz) ?
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T seasoning salt
1 T black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1) boil pasta to, al dente, according to the package. Drain and immediately add back to pot
2) add frozen peas to hot pasta. And toss around. It will defrost the peas with making them mushy, and cool the pasta.
3) in a separate bowl mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk, seasoning salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder all together into a sauce/dressing. Taste at this point and decide you need to add anything to it.
4) add the pasta-peas mixture to the sauce and the diced ham. Gently toss.
5) add the shredded cheese, gently mix and add more seasonings if needed.
6) let chill for at least one hour and serve.

Picnic Perfect Macaroni Salad
My easy make ahead macaroni salad recipe for you to add to your arsenal of yummy picnic/potluck food to bring
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, picnic
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Resting/marinating Time 12 hours
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 30 people
Author Smith Country (thesmithcountry.com)
Ingredients
16 oz cream cheese
16 oz elbow macaroni
1/2 bag frozen pens about 8oz
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 bag diced ham about 8 oz
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T seasoning salt
1 T black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
boil pasta to, al dente, according to the package. Drain and immediately add back to pot
add frozen peas to hot pasta. And toss around. It will defrost the peas with making them mushy, and cool the pasta.
in a separate bowl mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk, seasoning salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder all together into a sauce/dressing. Taste at this point and decide you need to add anything to it.
add the pasta-peas mixture to the sauce and the diced ham. Gently toss.
add the shredded cheese, gently mix and add more seasonings if needed.
let chill for at least one hour and serve.
Recipe Notes
Make sure let this chill, the longer the better. I recommend 12-24 hrs, but for sure for an hour. Also, double check after it's sits to see if you want more salt or pepper. sometimes after it cools, you find you need to add more.