Waldorf Salad
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This Waldorf Salad is a classic American salad that is packed with chicken, apples, pears, grapes and topped with a creamy and delicious dressing. It’s crunchy, creamy and fresh, ready in just 15 minutes, making it perfect for lunch!
Waldorf Salad
I had my first Waldorf salad over 20 years ago at a restaurant. I absolutely loved the crunchiness of the apples and all the yummy creaminess. The fact that this salad has fruits and chicken all mixed together is a winner in my book.
Made with with crisp apples, pears, grapes, celery, raisins, and walnuts and an incredibly easy creamy dressing, this salad is perfect for either lunch or dinner. To make this salad stand out, serve it over a fresh bed of lettuce.
Waldorf Salad Highlights
- Versatile. This is a very versatile salad. It can be eaten for lunch or dinner, either by itself or as a side dish. If you have any leftovers, it can also be used make sandwiches or wraps!
- Ready In 15 Minutes. Yep, all you need is 15 minutes to whip everything together.
- Loaded with Goood-For-You Ingredients. I consider this salad a healthy salad since it’s loaded with fruits, walnuts and chicken!
- Chicken – You’ll need some cooked chicken, either cook a chicken breast or use the breast meat from a ready cooked chicken. For some easy ways to cook chicken, try my Instant Pot Chicken Breast or Oven Baked Chicken Breast.
- Fruit– I used fresh fruit including a chopped apple, a peeled chopped pear, such as a Bosc pear, and some halved grapes, either red or green.
- Celery – I used fresh chopped celery sticks.
- Raisins – I used golden raisins but regular raisins work as well.
- Walnuts – I usually make this with walnuts but feel free to use other nuts such as pecans or sunflower seeds.
- Lemon juice – Freshly squeezed lemon juice is the best.
- Yogurt – You’ll need some plain Greek yogurt. Feel free to use full fat or less based on your preference.
- Mayonnaise – You can use either store bought mayo, or make your own using my recipe.
- Lettuce – The lettuce is optional, but I love to serve this salad over romaine lettuce.
- Make the yogurt dressing. Combine the lemon juice, Greek yogurt, and mayonnaise in a small bowl and whisk well.
- Combine salad ingredients. Add the chopped apple, pear, grapes, celery, chicken, raisins and walnuts to a large bowl and toss. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Pour dressing over salad. Pour the yogurt dressing over the salad and toss well. Adjust seasonings as needed.
- Finish and serve. Serve by itself or over romaine lettuce.
What Is Waldorf Salad?
According to google, the first Waldorf salad was created by a maître d’hôtel, Oscar Tschirky in 1896 and it only contained apples, celery and mayonnaise. Basically, a Waldorf salad is a salad made with fruits such as fresh apples, celery, grapes and walnuts. It was brilliant. Since then, there have been many variations of this popular salad and this is my favorite way to have it.
Serve This Salad With
Homemade Croissants
Air Fryer Chicken Breast
Air Fryer Whole Chicken
Grilled Tomahawk Pork Chops
What Other Ingredients Can I Add To Waldorf Salad?
That’s one of the great things about this salad, its versatility. Here are some recommendations:
- Other dried fruits such as dried cranberries, dried cherries or dried currants
- Broccoli or cauliflower florets
- Other nuts such as pecans, pepitas, sunflower seeds, almonds or cashews
- Diced turkey breast
- Other veggies such as red onion, bell peppers or cucumbers
Different Ways To Serve Waldorf Salad
Going back to this salad’s versatility, you can serve this many ways. Besides on a bed of lettuce as I have served it, here are some other suggestions:
- In a wrap, sandwich or on a croissant. If I have leftovers, I love making a wrap because it makes for such an easy and quick lunch.
- You can serve it in little bowls or coupe glasses, if you’re going fancy.
- Use romaine lettuce to serve it in lettuce cups/wraps, rather than on a bed of lettuce. This way you can easily pick a lettuce leaf up, wrap it up and enjoy.
Expert Tips
- For a healthier dressing, you can skip the mayonnaise and just use Greek Yogurt.
- My favorite thing about this salad is that you can also make a sandwich or a wrap with it, or just add some to a freshly baked croissant or your favorite bread.
- To prevent apples and pears from oxidizing, sprinkle them with a bit of lemon juice.
- For a deeper flavor, toast the walnuts before adding them to the salad.
Leftovers
If you have any leftover salad, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 to 2 days. It is best to store the lettuce separate from the salad so the leaves do not get soggy.
More Delicious Recipes To Try
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Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (low-fat)
- 1 large apple (chopped (like Granny Smith))
- 1 Bosc pear (peeled, cored and diced)
- 1 cup grapes (seedless, halved)
- 2 stalks celery (chopped)
- 1 cup chicken breast (chopped)
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup walnuts (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 1 Romaine lettuce (washed, dried and chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Make yogurt dressing: Combine lemon juice, Greek yogurt, mayonnaise in a small bowl and whisk well.
- Combine salad ingredients: Add the chopped apple, pear, grapes, celery, chicken, raisins and walnuts to a large bowl and toss. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Pour dressing over salad: Pour the yogurt dressing over the salad and toss well. Adjust seasonings as needed.
- Finish and serve: Serve over the Romaine lettuce.
Video
Notes
- For a healthier dressing, you can skip the mayonnaise and just use Greek Yogurt.
- My favorite thing about this salad is that you can also make a sandwich or a wrap with it, or just add some to a freshly baked croissant or your favorite bread.
- To prevent apples and pears from oxidizing, sprinkle them with a bit of lemon juice.
- For a deeper flavor, toast the walnuts before adding them to the salad.
- I used Granny Smith apples for this recipe, but you can use whichever type you like.
- Bosc pears can be found at most grocery stores. They are more brown in colour that a regular green pear. You can use whichever type you prefer.
- If you have any leftover salad, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 to 2 days. It is best to store the lettuce separate from the salad so the leaves do not get soggy.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Very flexible recipe, great and easy dressing. We’ll get 6 servings from just the fruit portion, at least 8 servings if over lettuce. I omitted the chicken tonight since I made it as a fruit side-salad for meat & potatoes meal. It was a light, refreshing contrast for the heavier main. I’ll add chicken to the leftover for lunches. The raisins add a nice slightly chewy texture and another layer of flavor. I used Honeycrisp apple, Bartlett pear, and red (not green) grapes.
A great salad recipe just in time for Spring! Thanks, Jo!
Absolutely!
So easy and 😋.
This looks delicious. I used to love the Waldorf Salad at the Town & Country buffet in Toronto. I’ll be sure to make your recipe, and thanks for sharing it.
Good salad! I added some fresh basil, and replaced the pear with another apple. Could’ve used a bit more walnuts for extra crunch. I also prefer my chicken shredded, not cubed, and I used craisins instead of raisins. Thanks!
Thanks needed recipe for Waldorf salad looking forward to making it.
Glad you found it!
I don’t like pecan pie and I hate cheesecake but I made your dessert from last week yesterday. OH MY YUM!!! So incredibly delicious I wanted to take some to every person I ever met.