Park Street Deli Macaroni Salad

When I was a university student, I lived on campus and enjoyed a robust meal plan in the school’s dining hall. School cafeterias can be an easy target for people who want to complain, but my school’s food was pretty good. On any given day, there were several hot entrees to choose from, along with pizza, a full salad bar, a wall full of cereal and bagel options, and more dessert choices than was good for anyone.

On rare days, though — such as during homecoming — the dining hall would close down and meals would be served outdoors under large tents. At these times, the menu was pared down to things like hot dogs, burgers, potato salad, and cookies for dessert.

On these “picnic” days, I could count on one staple item always being in the serving line: macaroni salad. It was a standard pasta salad with elbow noodles, a mayo-based dressing, and some crunchy veggie bits thrown in for texture. I admit it was served so often on picnic days that I got kind of tired of it.

Then, years later when I started shopping for my own groceries at Aldi, I discovered that old standby macaroni salad. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten the macaroni salad my university used to serve, but the Aldi stuff tastes exactly how I remember the university stuff. It’s your standard picnic or restaurant buffet pasta salad, probably mass produced by some place that distributes it widely. I buy it from time to time because it stirs feelings of nostalgia.

Park Street Deli Macaroni Salad cost $3.99 for a 32-ounce (2-lb.) container at the time of publication. The label describes this as “macaroni salad with sweet pickles, celery, onions & red bell peppers in a creamy dressing.”

This is a Seasonal Item, which means Aldi sells it for longer than an Aldi Find, but it’s not stocked year round. Aldi tends to sell this during the spring and summer picnicking months. Aldi does not offer online ordering if this is out of season and not in stock at your local store.

When it’s in stock, you’ll find this in the refrigerated deli aisle at Aldi. Naturally, this needs to be kept refrigerated.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains egg and wheat. This does contain some gums and preservatives, but it isn’t as bad ingredient-wise as some other store-bought pasta salads I’ve seen.

It’s still pasta salad, though, so it has a fair amount of calories, fat, and even sodium. One container has about six 3/4-cup servings. One serving has 300 calories, 21 grams of total fat (27% DV), 3.5 grams of saturated fat (17% DV), 770 mg of sodium (33% DV), 23 grams of total carbohydrates (8% DV), and 5 grams of added sugars (9% DV).

This tastes fine. The elbow noodles have an al dente texture, and the sauce is creamy and tangy. The relish, diced peppers, onion, and celery add some texture and crunch. It tends to be well-liked in my house and goes well with any kind of grilled meal, whether we’re eating hot dogs and burgers or pork steaks.

The Verdict:

Park Street Deli Macaroni Salad tastes like your standard restaurant buffet pasta salad. (Or in my case, it reminds me of what my university dining hall used to serve.) It features al dente elbow macaroni in a mayo-based dressing with small bits of relish and diced peppers, onions, and celery. It’s ideal for a picnic or barbecue, or any time you want an easy — but not healthy — side dish for a meal.