Waldorf Salad Recipe (2024)

Basil Fawlty could have used this recipe.

It is all a matter of taste, but the Waldorf I grew up with was a wonderful “adult” mix of bitter and sweet, that is, apples and walnuts. Not grapes or pecans, which have none of that familiar edgy balance that was merely heightened by the lemon juice and mayo.

This is exactly my grandmother’s recipe except she used twice as many grapes. In the 70’s, grapes had seeds and it was my job to seed all those grapes. I hated that job but was always proud of my contribution to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

This is ‘the’ recipe. I don’t use honey myself but no quibble some use miniature marshmallows instead. I typically use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice and if I’m being ‘fancy’ add a dollop of creamy peanut butter like Skippy.It’s not a pretty salad really but very tasty and refreshing. Pantry friendly, kids enjoy, not fussy relatively inexpensive what’s not to like? Thank you for publishing this old time recipe.

I have been making Waldorf Salad for many years. No grapes, just apples, toasted walnuts, celery, mayonnaise, salt, and in recent years a few splashes of KAF Boiled Cider.

I like my winter version of the recipe - haven’t bothered with dressing it -Ingredients are:AppleCeleryWalnutsDried tart cherries(Try it you’ll like it!)

My mother and her mother before her always prepared this for Thanksgiving and Christmas, many decades ago. My mother's beautifully handwritten recipe recommends tokay grapes, seeded. Sugar and vinegar provide the sweet and sour elements. Always walnuts, sometimes celery seeds sprinkled in, no parsley. A wonderful dish anytime and a cherished holiday memory.

Try adding 1-2 tablespoons of white vermouth to provide a special flavor to a very pleasant, rewarding salad that goes great with almost any meal.

Just made this for the first time and followed the recipe exactly.Delicious!

This was phenomenal. The one change I made was to double the mayo, honey and lemon, as well as add a bit of heavy cream. That ensured that there was sufficient sauce to thoroughly coat the fruits and nuts. This recipe is a keeper.

Haven't had this since my mom made it in the 1970s - which means it was probably published in Family Circle magazine. I think it was raisins instead of grapes, but that tracks with that era and that magazine. I'll make this version for Easter!

I have used a mix of plain yogurt and sour cream instead of the mayo. Still creamy, with a bit of tang.

Our grandma made hers with Miracle Whip and without grapes, and sometimes folded the completed salad into partially set strawberry Jello, to finish setting in the fridge. We kids loved it!

This salad has been a traditional Thanksgiving side dish in my family for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Wisconsin in the 1960's the dressing was just two ingredients, mayonnaise with a little"Cool Whip", with red delicious apples as they were probably the only sweet red apple available in stores at that time of year. We still make it once a year at Thanksgiving.

We love this salad! Only changes we make is half a cup of walnuts and one apple rather than two.

I like to add cinnamon in mine.

I replace an apple or two with a pear - really a nice addition.

My dad loved Waldorf salad and would bring it or make it every holiday meal. He’s been gone 6 years but we always have a Waldorf salad and a Vodka toast in his honor.

It’s celery, apples, walnuts, grapes…in a mayonnaise sauce. (No Waldorfs).

Grew up with the original 3 ingredient version, and always liked it. Oddly, it now appears on click-bait lists of "foods only boomers like." According to the folks who post these lists, the world (except for boomers) now hates mayonnaise.

I like my winter version of the recipe - haven’t bothered with dressing it -Ingredients are:AppleCeleryWalnutsDried tart cherries(Try it you’ll like it!)

This may be the only example of Miracle Whip being better than mayonnaise. It’s the sweetness that really works.

Love this recipe. Sometimes i add curry powder and chicken....