Ensalada de Coditos (Puerto Rican Macaroni Salad)
This Ensalada de Coditos is not your ordinary mac salad; it’s loaded with ham and fresh veggies for a super colorful Puerto Rican-style Macaroni Salad. Perfect for bringing to the family BBQ and serving alongside meat straight off the grill!

This Puerto Rican-style macaroni salad is loaded with flavor; there’s a much needed sweetness from sweet corn and red bell pepper, plus a subtle bite from red and green onion.
Everything is coated with a classic mayo-mustard-vinegar dressing that gives the right amount of tang, without overpowering the freshness of the veggies. No sugar necessary!
Share at BBQs and potlucks alongside this easy Puerto Rican-style potato salad, Mexican-style chicken salad and grilled pinchos de pollo!
Ingredients
How to Make Ensalada de Coditos, Step by Step
Vegetarian? Feel free to skip the ham and keep this salad meat-free, if desired. We’ve tested this a couple times, and it’s equally delicious either way.
Perfect Pairings
When I think about ensalada de coditos, I think about family BBQs. So naturally, I’m usually serving this cold alongside meat and veggies, straight off the grill.
Here are some of my favorites:
Keep It Chilled
Make sure you’re storing this macaroni salad in an air tight container in the fridge whenever you aren’t serving it.
Please don’t judge me (or do), but I am a bit of a weirdo when it comes to mayonnaise-based salads. I took one math class where we calculated the rate of bacteria growth in a potato salad and was forever ruined.
All that to say, ensalada de coditos is best served cold anyway, so keep it chilled and direct your loved ones to the fridge for seconds.
Buen provecho,
Ensalada de Coditos (Puerto Rican Macaroni Salad)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Entree, Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish, Salad
- Method: Boiled
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Description
This Ensalada de Coditos is not your ordinary mac salad; it’s loaded with ham and fresh veggies for a super colorful Puerto Rican-style macaroni salad. Perfect for bringing to the family BBQ and serving alongside meat straight off the grill!
Ingredients
- 8 cups of water
- 2 cups dried elbow macaroni
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbp mustard
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup ham, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/2 cup green onion, minced
- 1 cup corn (can be canned or thawed from frozen)
Instructions
- Cook the coditos (macaroni noodles). Add the water to a pot over high heat and salt generously. Bring to a boil before adding the noodles and cooking according to package instructions. Strain and set aside to cool.
- Whisk together the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk the mayo, mustard, and vinegar together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Fold in the veggies & ham. Fold the diced ham, bell pepper, onion, green onion, and corn into the dressing.
- Fold in the noodles. Fold in the cooked macaroni noodles and add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve & enjoy!
Thank you for this delicious recipe! All your recipes are amazing! Thank you so much. ❤
Thank You Salima for this amazing recipe! I really liked it and will be making it again! I have my own recipe but enjoyed making a different version. 💜