Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Marshallese Macaroni Salad
A cool, creamy macaroni salad with tinned tuna and crisp vegetables, the potluck staple of the Marshall Islands.
Marshallese · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 10 min
~487 cal · 17g protein · 56g carbs · 22g fat · 3g fiber · 3g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Macaroni salad travelled across the Pacific with the American administration of the mid-twentieth century and settled deep into the everyday food of Micronesia. In the Marshall Islands it long ago stopped being an import and became a fixture of island life.
It is central to the kemem, the great first-birthday feast that gathers whole extended families, and turns up at church functions and on the everyday lunch plate beside rice and grilled fish. Elbow macaroni, mayonnaise, tinned tuna, and whatever crunchy vegetables are around all go in.
Made in a big bowl and served cold, it is the kind of dish everyone's family makes slightly differently, sweeter here, more onion there, and the kind that reliably runs out first at any gathering.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
3 cups elbow macaroni
2 cans (5 oz each) tinned tuna, drained
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 carrot, grated
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 cup sweetcorn
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Boil the macaroni until tender, drain, and rinse under cold water until fully cooled.
✎ Chef’s note
Rinsing the pasta cold is the key step for a salad. It stops the cooking and washes off surface starch so the dressing stays creamy, not gluey.
2
Drain and flake the tuna.
3
Fold the cold pasta together with the tuna, mayonnaise, and all the vegetables.
4
Season well, then chill at least an hour before serving.
✎ Chef’s note
Cold food dulls seasoning, so a macaroni salad always needs more salt than you think. Taste and adjust again after it has chilled.
Marshallese kemem tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Majuro. Majuro is an atoll capital eating reef fish, tuna, and breadfruit that is often fermented and preserved for the lean season. Marshallese cooking centres on coconut, pandanus, and arrowroot, with rice and tinned goods now everyday.
🗺️
Marshall Islands. Marshallese food is Micronesian and reef-based, fish, breadfruit, taro, and coconut, with pandan and banana for sweetness. The atoll and the ocean shape a resourceful island table.
🌍
Oceania. The twentieth century changed the Pacific plate faster than anything before it. White rice, tinned corned beef, mutton flaps, flour and sugar arrived by ship and are now entirely everyday, and the public health consequences are among the most closely studied anywhere. Alongside that, Australian and New Zealand kitchens have taken up Asian technique and Maori and Pasifika cooking in a way they had not before.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Marshall Islands
Bwiro with FishPreserved-breadfruit dumplings in sweet coconut, served with grilled reef fish.
Marshallese Banana PancakesThick, sweet banana pancakes flecked with coconut, griddled golden, a modern Marshall Islands breakfast favorite.
Benben in Mokmok (Arrowroot and Coconut Sap Dumplings)Marshallese arrowroot simmered with sweet coconut sap into a soft jelly, shaped into little balls and rolled in fresh grated coconut.
Browse all Marshall Islands recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best fresh. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; loosen with a splash of water or oil as you reheat so they do not clump.
Make it a Marshall Islands meal
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Benben in Mokmok (Arrowroot and Coconut Sap Dumplings)Dessert
Barramundi in Banana LeafDinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Marshallese Macaroni Salad?
A cool, creamy macaroni salad with tinned tuna and crisp vegetables, the potluck staple of the Marshall Islands.
Where does Marshallese Macaroni Salad come from?
Marshallese Macaroni Salad is a Marshallese dish from Majuro, Marshall Islands.
Can Marshallese Macaroni Salad be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Marshallese Macaroni Salad recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Marshallese Macaroni Salad safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Marshallese Macaroni Salad take to make?
About 30 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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