If you spend any amount of time on #FoodTok, there’s a very good chance you know Chef Tini Younger. The professionally trained chef and content creator first started gaining a following with her cooking videos before competing on Season 2 of Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef in 2023. But it was her now-famous mac and cheese that really sent her into another stratosphere. The recipe went massively viral and, today, Tini has built an enormous social media following of home cooks who turn to her for approachable recipes that actually deliver.
And I totally get it. You can follow Tini on TikTok and Instagram, but I particularly love her recipes because she’s not just a great content creator, she’s a really great chef. Her recipes are thoughtful, well-seasoned and, in my experience, consistently hit. I previously tried her buffalo chicken dip for Parade, and it was unbelievably delicious. I love seeing genuinely talented food people find huge success on social media, and Chef Tini is the real deal.
I recently saw a viral macaroni salad recipe of hers all over my feed, so obviously, I needed to try it. Pasta salad is a summer staple at my house, especially when burgers and hot dogs are on the grill—a good creamy macaroni salad is one of those classic sides that works with almost anything. Tini’s version has all of the familiar elements you want, but she adds a few smart and different ingredients that make it much more interesting than your standard deli-counter macaroni salad. Let’s dig in!
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The Secret Sauce: Chef Tini’s Dressing Ingredients
The dressing is where Tini really packs in the flavor. She combines 1 cup mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika.
Then, she seasons the mixture with garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Finely chopped bread-and-butter pickle chips also go right into the dressing, adding little pops of sweetness and acidity throughout the salad.
Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
Tini doesn’t give exact measurements for the garlic powder, Old Bay, salt or pepper, so start small, taste and adjust until it’s seasoned the way you like it.
If you don’t have red wine vinegar, Tini says white vinegar or apple cider vinegar will work too.
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Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
The Crunch Factor: Prepping the Veggies
One thing I immediately liked about this viral macaroni salad is that Tini doesn’t skimp on the vegetables. While the pasta cooks, finely dice one celery stalk, one red bell pepper and one red onion, then add them to a large mixing bowl with 1 cup shredded carrots.
You want everything chopped fairly small so you get a little bit of crunch and flavor in every forkful rather than huge pieces of vegetables competing with the macaroni. Between the celery, pepper, onion, carrots and chopped pickles, there’s plenty of texture to balance out that creamy dressing.
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Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
Ingredients Needed
To make Chef Tini’s macaroni salad recipe, you’ll need 1 pound elbow macaroni, 1 stalk celery, 1 red bell pepper, 1 red onion, 1 cup shredded carrots and 2 tablespoons finely chopped bread-and-butter pickle chips.
For the dressing, you’ll need 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
It’s a pretty straightforward grocery list, I ended up having all of the ingredients to make this between my refrigerator and pantry…we love to save a trip to the store!
Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
How To Make Chef Tini’s Viral Macaroni Salad
Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil and cooking 1 pound of elbow macaroni for about seven minutes, or until tender.
Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
Drain the pasta and allow it to cool slightly. While the macaroni cooks, dice the celery, red bell pepper and red onion and add them to a large bowl with the shredded carrots.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the chopped bread-and-butter pickles, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and smoked paprika, then season with garlic powder, Old Bay, salt and pepper to taste.
Once the dressing is smooth and creamy, add the cooked macaroni to the bowl of vegetables, pour the dressing over everything and gently fold until the pasta and veggies are evenly coated.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate the macaroni salad for at least one hour before serving.
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Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
The Golden Rule: Why You MUST Make It Ahead of Time
Don’t skip the chilling time! Tini recommends refrigerating the macaroni salad for at least an hour before serving, and it really does make a difference. That time in the refrigerator allows the pasta to cool completely and gives all of those flavors, from the Dijon and red wine vinegar to the Old Bay and smoked paprika, a chance to come together.
It’s also what makes this such a great make-ahead BBQ side. You can assemble the whole thing before your guests arrive and pull it out of the refrigerator when you’re ready to eat. In fact, I thought it was even better the next day. Just give it a good stir before serving to redistribute the dressing and make sure everything is creamy and well coated.
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Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma
Recipe Review: My Honest Thoughts
This was a really solid macaroni salad recipe. It had everything I want in a great pasta salad: crisp, well-chopped vegetables, plenty of texture and a creamy dressing with enough flavor to keep things interesting.
I especially loved the red bell pepper. I think red pepper belongs in a good pasta salad and elbows are such a great pasta shape for this style of recipe. They’re classic for a reason and give you the perfect pasta-to-veggie-to-dressing ratio in every bite.
The dressing was probably my favorite part. The Old Bay seasoning is such a unique addition, and I loved that Tini used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika. It gives the whole salad a subtle smoky punch that works especially well when you’re serving it alongside food straight from the grill.
The Dijon mustard is also necessary here; it adds tang and depth and keeps the mayonnaise-based dressing from tasting flat or overly rich. And those little pieces of sweet bread-and-butter pickles add just the right amount of sweetness.
If I were to make it again, I might add another few scoops of mayo (I’m an extra creamy salad kinda gal!) and maybe a few more pickles. They were such a fun addition.
We originally ate this as a side with dinner, but the next day I added a can of tuna to the leftovers for lunch, and it was SO good. It instantly turned the macaroni salad from a summer side dish into a really satisfying main. That’s absolutely how I’ll be eating the leftovers from now on.
Chef Tini does it again! This macaroni salad is creamy, crunchy, packed with flavor and officially earned a spot in my summer side dish rotation. If you’re headed to a barbecue or just need something delicious to serve with dinner, this is one viral recipe that’s absolutely worth trying.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Aug 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Food & Drink section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Dining and Cooking