This pasta salad recipe uses ranch salad dressing mix to give it a little extra kick. You can also use tinned chicken.
I used whole wheat elbow macaroni, threw in a half cup or so of halved cherry tomatoes, used leftover "mexican" shredded chicken instead of canned and homemade dry ranch dressing mix. Between the three of us (my two boys and I), we made quick work of this macaroni salad. NO leftovers. - 08 Jun 2012 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
I can not get enough of this salad!! I did make a few changes...I omitted the chicken since I was preparing this to accompany cheeseburgers and hot dogs. I made the directions to serve 16 so the recipe asked for 4 packages of ranch mix. This made me a little nervous so I added only two at first. I changed the green olives to sliced black olives and added sliced carrots. I made the salad the night before and when I checked it in the morning the dressing was slightly thick and I thought it could handle one more package of ranch. I whisked the ranch into 1/2 of milk and this did the trick. Everyone at the BBQ loved it and there was enough for leftovers which made me happy!! I will make this again with my changes as well as main dish and add the chicken (not canned though) to see how it is that way. Thank you for the great recipe!!! - 11 Mar 2008 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
UUUMMMM!!! That was probably the best variation of macaroni salad I have tried. I excluded the chicken because I was serving it with a meal and didn't think I needed it but it would be a great meal on its own with the chicken. Definitely heed the advice about letting it sit overnight though. I had to test when it was first made and have to say I was not impressed, but once it sat, yummy! - 20 Mar 2008 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)