Traditional Waldorf Salad is full of fresh apples, celery, grapes and walnuts in a mayonnaise dressing. Serve it as a side dish or appetizer. You can easily add chicken or turkey to make it a complete meal! #CAwalnuts #salad #fruit
Waldorf Salad with California Walnuts!
I received free product from California Walnuts, in hopes that I may be inspired to share a recipe. Any and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.
Do you have a dish that always makes an appearance during the holidays? When I was growing up, it was Waldorf Salad. My gramma always made sure Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner to the nines. There was always enough food to feed a small army – and that isn’t even an exaggeration! Coming from a large family and having a large family of her own, I’m sure large meals came naturally for her. She always seemed to pull it off so effortlessly. She did most of the meal herself, with my aunts helping filling in with some of the side dishes.
I went from watching my gramma and getting chased out of the kitchen to wanting to be a helper. As I got older, I would pester her to let me help in the kitchen …. she was one who didn’t like having people in her kitchen. Every holiday, one of the things “she let me do” was cut up all of the stuff for her Waldorf Salad. Maybe because I couldn’t really mess it up?! Or maybe it was so I would be out of her way! 🙂 Either way, I loved helping her and I am so thankful for the memories and bits of kitchen knowledge I learned from her!
The history of the Waldorf Salad
From my understanding, the Waldorf Salad was created at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City sometime during the late 1890’s …… and has remained a widely popular and iconic salad since! There are tons of variations. If you prefer a healthier salad, you could easily substitute yogurt for the mayonnaise. For a complete meal option, add leftover chicken or turkey (perfect after the holidays!). If you prefer, you can substitute raisins for grapes. Some people chop up the lettuce and add it to the salad – others serve it over the top of lettuce – and some people don’t use lettuce at all! This version is how may gramma made it – and I have loved it since my childhood.
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Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 apples cored and chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 stalk celery diced
- ½ cup California walnuts chopped
- ½ cup grapes cut in half or quarters
- lettuce leaves optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and sugar. Set aside.
- In a zip-top bag, add the apples and lemon juice. Seal the bag and shake to coat. (This prevents the apples from browning.)
- Add the apples, celery, walnuts and grapes to the mayonnaise mixture and stir to combine. Chill until ready to serve.
- Serve atop lettuce leaves if desired.
Notes
- Make it fancy – serve it up on lettuce leaves or in lettuce cups like a restaurant.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
Hi Jamie, My grandma used to make the best Waldorf salad. I could never find a recipe to match hers. I bet yours is close or it. lol Pinned. I love CA walnuts. I used to live on a ranch where we had them. Now, I just have to buy them. lol Happy making and baking. Theresa @DearCreatives
This looks wonderful Jamie and fond memories I'm sure too!!
My kids would love the job of cutting ingredients for this salad! (They're always asking what they can cut!) This looks amazing, Jamie…..I think I'll be making my kids very happy soon!
Jamie, I love Waldorf salad but I haven't had it in a very long time. Yours looks so great and reminds me that I have to have one soon! 🙂
Waldorf Salad, one of my Fav's, always takes me home! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
I make this every Xmas. My brother loves raisons added also. Use different colored apples just to make it pretty and festive!
In the picture it looks like you are using either an olive or a raisin because there is something dark. Is it something I’m missing? Also what type of yogurt would you recommend? I have family who doesn’t like mayo.. I can’t wait to try this I just wanna get it right!
Thanks for the question, Darla! They are black grapes! 🙂 I wrote this at a separate time from doing the video and I couldn’t find black grapes for the video. Feel free to use any combination that works for you – green, red, or black grapes! As far as yogurt, I think a vanilla or plain flavor would work best. I hope that helps!
Plain yogurt with honey mixed in to sweeten it, before adding the fruit and nuts- it’s excellent, I make it often!
Hi Jamie I make this all the time but I also add heavy whipping cream with the Mayonaise sugar and lemon juice
I used to make this all the time and loved it! I add a few marichino cherries.,adds more color and sweetness.
Can you use dried cranberries instead of grapes
Sure!
Will be making this Waldorf salad soon. So good with apples. Used to have our own apple tree and made it often. Thanks for sharing.