If you’ve never heard of a Waldorf Salad, you don’t know what you’re missing! This classic salad is bright, refreshing, full of flavor, and easy to make.
Made with tart, crisp apples, sweet, juicy grapes, crunchy celery, rich, earthy walnuts, and a light, refreshing salad dressing, our Classic Waldorf Salad Recipe could easily become your new favorite salad and side dish.
Our Waldorf salad delivers big flavor and never disappoints, whether you’re serving it for brunch, potlucks, a light lunch, or special occasions.
If you love easy-to-make, delicious salads, make sure to try our Classic Wedge Salad and 7-Layer Salad recipes.
You can serve this flavorful salad tossed as a side salad or wrapped in bibb lettuce leaves. Either way, your guests are going to love it!
The original recipe for Waldorf Salad was created in 1893 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City by its maitre d’hotel, Oscar Tschirky.
The Waldorf Hotel served the original Waldorf Salad to 1,500 guests at its grand opening in New York City in 1893. The first version included diced red-skinned apples, celery, and mayonnaise. Chopped walnuts, grapes, and a new dressing were later added to complement the flavors of this American Classic.
Ingredients for Waldorf Salad
Let’s start by gathering the necessary ingredients to prepare our Waldorf Salad recipe. Culinary professionals refer to this as mise en Place, which means “everything in its Place.”
Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also ensures you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make the recipe.
Can I Change Up the Recipe?
Absolutely. The original recipe called for walnuts, but pecans are a good substitute. Toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds would make interesting additions.
Grapes are traditionally used, but other fruits, such as pears, blueberries, strawberries, or pineapple, can also be used as substitutes. Just stay away from fruit that will get soft and weepy. You can also add dried cranberries or dried blueberries.
If you’re not a fan of mayonnaise, you can use sour cream, or simply use all Greek yogurt to make the dressing.
If you’re a cheese lover, try adding blue cheese or gorgonzola to the salad. It adds a deliciously bold flavor.
To make this salad a complete meal, consider adding grilled, roasted, or blackened chicken or turkey.
How to Make a Waldorf Salad
Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make our Waldorf Salad in your home kitchen.
- Add the plain whole milk, plain Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice, honey, salt, and black pepper to a medium bowl.
- Whisk to combine the dressing.
- Add the chopped apples, crisp celery, red grapes, crunchy walnuts, and chopped Italian parsley to a large bowl.
- Mix the apple mixture to combine.
- Add the creamy dressing to the salad ingredients,
- Gently toss to combine.
Chill the Waldorf Salad for 1-2 hours before serving, allowing the flavors to blend and develop.
Made with simple, fresh ingredients, our Waldorf Salad is sure to become a family favorite and your go-to salad when entertaining.
Store any leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container or well-covered with plastic wrap for 1-2 days. I would not suggest freezing the salad.
Recipe FAQs
A classic Waldorf Salad is made with crisp, tart apples, celery, grapes, and walnuts, that’s tossed in a creamy mayonnaise-based dressing.
Crisp, sweet-tart apples like Honeycrisp, Cosmic Crisp, Fuji, or Gala are great choices. If you prefer a slightly tart flavor, use Granny Smith apples. Avoid using softer apples, as they can detract from the salad’s visual appeal and make it tasteless and mushy.
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Classic Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ cup whole milk plain Greek yogurt (4 tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon honey
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large tart apples – chopped (Honey crisp, Cosmic crips, or Granny Smith)
- 1½ cups celery -thinly sliced
- 1 cup grapes -halved (If you use a red-skinned apple, use green grapes; if you use Granny Smith, use red grapes for contrasting color)
- 1 cup walnuts – toasted and chopped (or pecans)
- ½ cup fresh Italian parsley – chopped plus more for garnish
- Boston lettuce leaves for serving – optional (butter or bibb)
Instructions
- Add the plain whole milk Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, salt, and black pepper to a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the apples, celery, grapes, walnuts, and parsley to a large bowl. Mix to combine.
- Add the dressing and gently toss to combine.
- Garnish with chopped parsely.
- Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.
- Serve in individual dishes or on Boston (butter or bibb) lettuce leaves.
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