Looking for a way to use up leftover turkey or chicken? You need to try our Waldorf salad recipe. You'll love the sweetness from the grapes, nuttiness from the walnuts and crunch from the tart apples.
If you love recipes that use up leftover turkey, check out our recipe for turkey stroganoff and turkey a la king.
About
The original recipe for Waldorf salad had only three ingredients: apples, celery, and mayo. Over time, walnuts became standard, and now dried fruit like raisins, chopped dates, or dried cranberries are popular additions.
Adding meat, such as chicken or turkey, is a modern variation. This is served chilled and is usually presented on a bed of fresh lettuce.
Ingredients
The ingredients for our Waldorf salad are easy to find at your local grocery store. Let's talk about some of the key ingredients.
- Fresh Fruit: We used crisp, tart apples like a Granny Smith and red grapes.
- Dried Fruit: We used dried cranberries, but you can substitute with raisins or chopped dates.
- Dressing: We used mayo, but you can substitute with sour cream, or Greek yogurt.
- Nuts: We used chopped walnuts which are traditional, but you can substitute with pecans.
- Poultry: We used leftover turkey, but chicken is more common; however, the original recipe didn't include meat.
How to Make
Gather the ingredients for our Waldorf salad recipe. Chop up the leftover turkey (or chicken), slice the grapes in half, and measure out the ingredients for the dressing.
- Add the sliced grapes and dried cranberries to the bowl of diced apples. Keep some cranberries to use as garnish.
- Whisk 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into the mayo. Add the seasonings, Dijon mustard, and some salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in the spices and Dijon so the dressing is smooth and uniform in color.
3. Add the chopped turkey or chicken to the bowl of apples, grapes, and dried cranberries.
4. Pour as much dressing as you would like. Toss to combine. Cover and chill for a minimum of one hour.
5. When ready to serve, add the toasted walnuts, keeping a few for garnish.
6. When ready to serve, line a plate with 7 fresh butter leaves. If you are making this on individual plates, you can tear up the butter leaves so it is easier to eat.
7. Carefully place the ingredients on top. Garnish with the remaining walnuts and some extra dried cranberries.
8. Serve our Waldorf salad recipe right away and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
The classic dressing is plain mayonnaise, but over time it's become standard to add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Of course you can add other spices and ingredients like Dijon mustard and sugar.
If you want to stay away from mayonnaise, use half sour cream and half Greek yogurt for the base of the dressing, just add some honey to cut the tartness of the yogurt.
In 1893, Oscar Tschirky, the maître d' at New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, invented a very simple recipe for an important fundraising event being held at the hotel.
Yes, traditionally Waldorf salad contains celery, but we decided not to include it in our version. If you want this to be more like a classic Waldorf salad, feel free to add 1 cup of thinly sliced celery.
Although the original recipe is popular in many countries like Great Britain, it originated in the United States in the state of New York.
Store
- Make Ahead: Yes, our recipe tastes better if it has at least one hour of chilling time. If you need to make this the night before an event, add the grapes closer to serving time, as they can lose their crispness. The walnuts are best if added just before serving.
- Leftovers: Keep any remaining leftovers tightly covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Frozen: It depends. You can't freeze the grapes, the dressing or the lettuce, but all the other ingredients can be frozen.
Serve
What can you serve with this recipe?
- Appetizer: serve on a bed of lettuce or in choux pastry
- Sandwich: serve on a croissant or stuffed inside a pita
- Wrap: serve rolled up on butter lettuce or a tortilla
- Main Course: serve with torn butter lettuce with chopped turkey or chicken
How can I change the presentation?
- Composed: artfully arrange the separated ingredients on a large platter with dressing on the side.
- Layered: use a glass trifle bowl to layer lettuce, chopped turkey or chicken, diced apples, and dried cranberries, etc. Serve dressing on the side.
- Lunch Prep: layer the ingredients in four large mason jars. Serve the dressing on the side.
Variations
- Don't have leftover turkey? Use poached chicken or rotisserie chicken.
- Need a veggie? Try thinly sliced celery; it's in the original Waldorf salad recipe.
- Need this vegetarian? Leave out the turkey or chicken. It won't be as filling, but still very tasty and it was originally served this way.
Expert Tips
- Toast the walnuts for more flavor, but add them in just before serving.
- Toss the chopped apples with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Chill for a minimum of one hour.
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Recipe
Waldorf Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 1 cup Duke's mayo
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- sprinkle of salt and black pepper
For the Salad
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 ⅔ cups turkey, chopped
- 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
- 1 Granny Smith apple, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 head butter lettuce
Equipment
Instructions
Making the Dressing
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.
Making the Salad
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Toast the walnuts by spreading them on a small baking tray and baking them for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven, shake the pan to redistribute the nuts, and bake for another 6 minutes. Test to see if they are done by tasting one walnut piece. The walnuts should look browned and taste toasted.
- Toss the chopped apples with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Gently toss together the turkey, grapes, apples, and dried cranberries in a large bowl.
- Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat each piece. Cover and chill for a minimum of 1 hour.
- When ready to serve, stir the toasted walnuts into the salad. Line each dinner plate or a serving platter with butter lettuce leaves and place the Waldorf salad on top of the lettuce. Serve cold.
Notes
- Toast the walnuts for more flavor, but add them in just before serving.
- Toss the chopped apples with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Chill for a minimum of one hour.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Our Waldorf salad recipe was originally posted on January 17, 2020 and was updated with new content and resized photos on July 7, 2022.
Beth
The soft turkey, sour cranberries, and crunchy apples taste very nice together. It is a creamy combination of dressing and juicy fruit.
Emma
The dressing and salad ingredients really combine together nicely.
Alex
The walnuts are crunchy, and the cranberries are chewy. The butter lettuce adds more crunch.
Emma
The contrasting textures of this salad are wonderful!