Waldorf Salad made easy with complete, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions and a printable recipe.
Easy Waldorf Salad Recipe
This may not be considered a Southern dish, what with it originating up in New York and all, but I know a whole lot of Southerners that really like it. Smile.
I was married by the first time I ever tasted a Waldorf Salad.
My wife and I were at a Sonny’s BBQ place that had a salad bar with Waldorf Salad, and it just looked too good not to try. I guess I’ve been hooked on it ever since.
It’s a very “refreshing” salad with the apples and the celery, but it has a bit of crunch from the walnuts, and the dressing just sets it apart from anything else you might consider a salad.
You’ll find lots of variations for making it if you look for them, but I like the basic version I’ve included here. Well, almost the basic. I think the original only had apples, celery, and mayonnaise.
It goes together quickly, and can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you’re ready for it. I do caution you though, that if you don’t intend to serve it right away, hold off on adding the walnuts until just before you get ready to serve it. That will keep them crunchy. Otherwise, they get a bit soggy from the dressing.
You’ll also want a good sweet apple if you’re like me. Red Delicious would be my variety of choice if you can find them.
So, if you’re ready to whip up a quick and easy salad for supper, or any old time, then let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!
Waldorf Salad Recipe: You’ll need these ingredients.
Wash the apples and celery first. Scrub them good to remove any dirt.
Chop the celery into very small pieces. Set it aside for now.
We’ll do the apples a little later on so they don’t turn brown while we’re working on the rest of the recipe.
Grab a mixing bowl and add the mayonnaise.
Add the lemon juice.
Add the honey.
If you prefer, you could add a teaspoon or so of sugar instead of using honey.
Add the salt. I used just under a level measuring spoon of salt. You can add more later if you think you need it but go easy at first.
Add in the black pepper.
Stir the ingredients together until fully combined.
Taste this mixture to see if you need to add anything else. I like it just a tad bit sweet, so I did add just a bit of sugar to the dressing. I might have a sweet tooth though. Smile.
Remove the core from the apples, then cut them into small pieces. I leave the peeling on the apple to add some color to the dish.
Place the apples in the bowl with the dressing and toss the pieces well to fully coat them.
The lemon in the dressing should keep the apples from turning brown.
Now, add the celery.
Add the raisins.
Many recipes use red grapes instead of raisins. I like those too, but I had the raisins on hand so that’s what I used. Besides, red grapes are kind of expensive around my part of the world.
Add the chopped walnuts.
Please Note: You can add the walnuts at this point if you plan on serving the salad right away, If you don’t intend to serve it soon, wait and add the walnuts right before serving so they will stay crunchy and not get soggy.
Grab a big spoon, and scooping from the bottom of the bowl, fold all the ingredients together until the pieces are fully coated with the dressing.
Enjoy!
Serve the salad on some lettuce leaves for a little extra splash of color.
