Cindi's Chicken Macaroni Salad

Domestic Goddess's Note:

A really good macaroni salad made with either cooked chicken, turkey, (or) smoked turkey, red bell peppers, celery, onions, peas, colby cheese, salad dressing, and Kraft's Creamy Cucumber Ranch Salad Dressing. Note: DO NOT SUBSTITUTE mayonnaise for the salad dressing in this recipe. The salad dressing gives this salad a bit of a kick, as my daughter would say. This salad is a favorite of my mother-in-law's, and I consider that to be a compliment!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 10-12

Yield: 4.0 1/2 lbs.

• 2 -3 cups cut-up cooked chicken or 2 -3 cups cooked turkey or 2 -3 cups smoked turkey
• 2 cups macaroni, cooked
• 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 2/3 cup thinly sliced celery
• 2 -3 tablespoons finely chopped onions
• 8 ounces frozen peas, thawed
• 8 ounces colby cheese, cubed
• 1 cup salad dressing
• 1 1/2 cups Kraft creamy cucumber ranch salad dressing
• season with salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. In a very large bowl, add all the ingredients.
2. Chill several hours before serving.
3. Note: When preparing this salad, I added 3 cups of chicken or turkey, since I like more meat in mine. You can also substitute a mild cheddar cheese for the colby. I think Kraft's Creamy Cucumber Salad Dressing, makes this macaroni salad taste best, but you can use a regular ranch salad dressing.

Reviews

[Chef #1161395]

Domestic Goddess, recently I made your macaroni salad to bring to a Sunday church social. Guess what DG, your macaroni salad was a 'hit'. Not only did I get quite a few compliments, but some of the ladies even asked me for the recipe. One thing I do agree with you when making this salad...be sure to use salad dressing as requested. I love the zip that Miracle Whip gives to macaroni/pasta salads...also, that's what my family pretty much uses in many of there macaroni salads, including the peas and cheese. I never thought of using a ranch dressing in this type of salad, but I have to say we all enjoyed it. DG, I plan on making this salad to bring to our family's Summer reunion. I also plan on printing off copies of the recipe to share with others. Thank you Domestic Goddess for posting this recipe. It was enjoyed by all who ate it!

[Cookin'withGas]

We'd had this saved in our Main Cookbook for sometime, but finally got around to trying it for a light lunch today...Sorry to say the BF didn't like it much...We don't use salad dressing (i.e. Miracle Whip) so we used light mayonnaise, which was fine...Our supermarket doesn't carry the Cucumber Ranch dressing, so we used standard Ranch dressing which was OK, too...He didn't like the peas or the cheese in the salad...He said he never heard of such a thing, putting peas and cheese in a mayonnaise based salad...In the end he said if he had his 'druthers' he'd rather make a pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing and toss in some chopped chicken...His rating for this recipe is a 2 which is generally reserved for recipes only his grandmother would like.