Instant Pot Ranch Cucumber Macaroni Salad

I’ve always been a huge fan of traditional sweet macaroni salad, but I wanted something a little fresher and with a twist on the taste…in comes cucumbers and ranch. This is more of a savory macaroni salad but definitely goes well with all kinds of barbecued items.

Ingredients:

• Ranch Dressing Powder: you can use packets but this does definitely up the sodium content
• Cellentani: This type of pasta just holds up so well to cooking in the Instant Pot, and has such a great texture
• Veggies: Cucumber, green onions, and carrots
• Dried Parsley
• Duke’s Mayonnaise
• Buttermilk, to add a little tang!

Instructions:

Cook noodles in the Instant Pot for 4 minutes on high pressure, and quick release. Here, I fully covered the noodles because I’m going to drain them.

Drain the noodles and run under cold water just to stop the cooking. Leaving the noodles slightly warm helps the flavor from the sauce really sink in.

I currently use the Instant Pot Duo with air fryer lid…I absolutely LOVE the flexibility!

Chop your veggies

Return the noodles to the Instant Pot and combine everything (this is just to conserve dishes!!)

Adjust seasoning with salt and chill overnight.

We served these with some delicious ribs and baked beans (also cooked in the Instant Pot!)

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE YOU WILL ALSO LIKE:

• Instant Pot Meatballs With Mushroom Gravy
• Instant Pot Triple Mac and Cheese
• Instant Pot Johnny Marzetti
• Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
• Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
• Instant Pot Chicken Tetrazzini

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Instant Pot Ranch Cucumber Macaroni Salad

A twist on traditional macaroni salad with a very fresh, savory flavor and great veggies!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Resting time8 hours hrs

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot

Servings: 8

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 16 ounces Cellentani pasta
• 1 cup Duke’s Mayonnaise
• 1 English cucumber peeled and diced
• 1 bunch green onions chopped
• 1 large or 2 small carrots shredded
• ¼ cup buttermilk or ¼ cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ cup ranch powder
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• Salt to taste

Instructions

• Cover pasta with water to about 2 inches of water over the top of the pasta. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, and natural release for 2 minutes. Drain pasta and run cool water over it. Drain well. The pasta should still be slightly warm. Combine mayonnaise, ranch powder, and buttermilk and stir. Add sauce to pasta and stir. Add cucumber, green onion, parsley and carrots and stir together. Add salt to taste.