BBQ Macaroni Salad

Most recipes for barbecue-flavored macaroni salad drown the pasta in ketchupy barbecue sauce, creating a salad that is much too sweet and sticky. Here's what we discovered about how to produce a well-balanced smoky and spicy side dish.

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• A combination of mayonnaise and barbecue sauce is more effective than barbecue sauce alone, as the tang of the barbecue sauce is balanced by the neutral creaminess of the mayonnaise.
• This salad works best with a sweet, smoky-flavored barbecue sauce.
• If the salad sits and becomes dry, adding a little warm water will make it creamy again.