Jalapeno Popper Macaroni Salad (2025)

Perfect for any gathering, this macaroni salad has all the great flavor of a jalapeño popper… jalapeños, cheddar cheese, bacon, and creamy dressing!

This is one macaroni salad that is FAR from boring… creamy and slightly spicy, like your favorite jalapeño popper appetizer! Bring this to your next barbecue, and prepare to have everyone asking for the recipe!

You guys. I apologize for posting TWO cookout side dishes this week… usually I try to plan things out in my calendar to not do an entire week of very similar recipes… but this time, yep, it just didn’t happen. At least if the weather warms up soon (here’s hoping!), you’ll be ready for the upcoming barbecues and get togethers!

One of my favorite things to have at a cookout… okay sidebar here. What do you call them? Cookout? Barbecue? Get together? Backyard party? I never know what to call them here in posts! Around here, at least in my family, we call them cookouts, but I hate to always call them that and have someone be like “what is that?!“. Oh well, I’ll call them cookouts and you’ll just play along, okay? Alright… so, my favorite thing to have at a cookout is the macaroni salad. It’s base is pasta, like it’s cousin, the pasta salad (pssst, check out this Mediterranean version!), but instead of an oil based dressing, it’s coated in a smooth, silky, creamy dressing.

Usually that creamy dressing is on the sweet side (which I LOVE), but for this recipe, I wanted to veer away from the sweets, and head over into the spicy territory. Inspiration for this creation came when I was scrolling through my local grocery store’s website, looking at the deli options, and wishing they had more options for macaroni salad flavors. All of a sudden, I had a lightbulb moment and immediately jotted down this idea for a jalapeño popper version!!

After some tweaking, I think this recipe is pretty great! It does have some heat, so if you hate spicy things, then unfortunately, this isn’t the macaroni salad for you. You can adjust the heat level by using jarred mild jalapeños (or even green chiles – I won’t tell!), or go bold and use fresh jalapeños…. totally up to you!

The dressing is cool and creamy, with no sweetness, just a little kick of garlic powder and some salt and pepper. It’s a three part dressing with mayo, sour cream, and a bit of cream cheese (for that classic jalapeño popper flavor). Like most cold salads, the longer it sits, the better it gets, so feel free to make this up a day ahead of time. Just save a bit of the dressing and toss it together before serving to freshen it up a bit.

The next time you’re planning a cookout, don’t forget to add this unique Jalapeño Popper Macaroni Salad to your menu… you won’t be sorry!

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