What do you do when you either have a partial bag of fine-shred coleslaw mix, or a wedge of cabbage, company’s coming, and the leftover cole slaw that you made yesterday that’s half gone isn’t EVEN going to be enough? Well, yea, obviously this. A VERY tasty way to stretch things out and get use of dabs and bits before they go bad, this “Mustard Ranch Ham & Swiss Macaroni Slaw” salad is a total crowd pleaser and whips up quickly and easily!!

You can make the whole thing fresh, or use some of what you already have going. Either way, no one will be the wiser, and you end up with quite a fun salad!

It’s slightly sweet, slightly Ranch, with just a hint of mustard, and makes for a super creamy side dish that young and old both will enjoy!

Since my hubby wasn’t too keen on what plans I had to use up the last of some pre-shredded cabbage, I decided to introduce him slowly, not go overboard on ingredients, and kept it nice and simple.

Keeping the add-ins to just basically ham, swiss cheese and red onion, worked like a charm! 😉 I was thrilled that he warmed right up to it as soon as he tried his first bite!

I kept it light on the Ranch and mustard, too, as those flavors aren’t two of his personal favorites. I probably would’ve liked a little more mustard, but as you can see, this is a salad that you can really play with and have fun making your own, to what you and your family prefer.

The possibilities are truly endless, as I have listed in the notes of my recipe! So take a peek, and just enjoy! It’s cool, creamy and DELICIOUS just the way that we had it, but with lots of room to create!

Nothing goes down better than a chilled salad on a hot, summer’s day!
And this unique combo of slaw and pasta is sure to be a winner at your house, too!
I hope that you enjoy as much as we did!

Yield: about 8

Ham & Swiss Macaroni Slaw

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Ingredients

• 1 cup good (uncooked) macaroni noodles such as Barilla (plus 1 tsp. salt for cooking water)
• 4 cups (packed) fine shred coleslaw mix (also called "angel shred"), or shred your own
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery rib, finely sliced or chopped
• 1 (8 oz.) boneless fully cooked ham steak, 1/2" dice
• 4 oz. swiss cheese, cubed 1/2" x 1/4"

Dressing:

• 1 cup heavy mayo such as Hellmann's or Duke's
• ½ cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
• 2 Tbl. sugar
• 2 Tbl. sweet pickle juice, preferably my homemade but from a purchased jar ok
• 1 Tbl. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbl. dry Ranch salad dressing mix
• 1 1/2 tsp. good spicy brown mustard such as Gulden's
• 1 tsp. poppy seeds
• ½ tsp. celery seeds
• 1/16 tsp. celery salt
• 1/16 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

Instructions

In large mixing bowl, stir together well the Dressing ingredients.

Stir in rest of ingredients except macaroni noodles. Cover and chill.

In medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add a tsp. salt and the macaroni, and cook according to package directions.

When done and tender, drain in colander, and run under cold water to chill and stop the cooking process. Drain well, tossing and shaking.

Fold into slaw mixture. Chill one hour.

Fold to remix, and dump into pretty serving bowl. Serve chilled.

Notes

*Other Fun Additions!
Chopped hard-boiled egg, pimiento peppers or chopped red bell or jalapeño peppers, (REAL) bacon bits, cheddar or pepper-jack or co-jack cheese, ripe or pimiento-stuffed green olives, sweet baby peas, or small diced cucumber!