Winter waldorf salad

Waldorf salad recipe

Waldorf salad hails from the New York hotel of the same name, its creation widely attributed to its Swiss-born maitre d’hotel Oscar Tschirky, made for a charity ball at The Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue in 1893.

The original Waldorf salad recipe is said to have featured only three ingredients: sliced apple, chopped celery and mayonnaise. From here, it has become inspiration for an endless number of variations, from the addition of salad greens, walnuts, grapes or blue cheese, to the use of crème fraiche, sour cream or yoghurt in the dressing.

This version is heartier, making it suitable to serve as a light lunch with friends, or as an entree when hosting a winter dinner party.

In this recipe, chicken tenderloins are coated in a spice blend and pan-fried. These are then placed on a bed of celery and its leaves, apple and green beans, with blue cheese and walnuts sprinkled on top. The dressing swaps mayonnaise for an emulsion of mustard, olive oil and white wine vinegar. It is flavour-packed and really delicious!

Chicken waldorf salad

This recipe for waldorf salad requires a little bit of preparation, but won’t have you spending hours in the kitchen. Some things can be done ahead of time, such as picking and washing the celery leaves, dicing the celery stalks, trimming the beans, roasting and chopping the walnuts, preparing the spice blend and making the dressing.

The apples can also be sliced ahead of time and, to prevent browning, either kept in acidulated water (basically water with lemon juice) or placed in a sealed zip lock bag with the air squeezed out. But these methods aren’t foolproof and some browning may occur. If possible, slice these as close to serving as possible so they retain their colour and that satisfying crunch.

For an alternative to the spiced chicken tenderloins, this salad would be a beautiful accompaniment to a piece of grilled salmon or roast chicken.

Waldorf salad recipes

Love Waldorf salad but don’t like blue cheese? Try substituting goat’s cheese, feta or even a nice vintage cheddar.

Like celery but don’t love the flavour of the leaves? Try using only the inner yellow leaves of the celery as they have a mild flavour (the dark green are coarser in texture and more bitter). Or, keep the diced stalks but swap out the leaves for witlof or radicchio. Or for a milder flavour, try cos lettuce. This is a versatile recipe that can be tweaked to taste or to accommodate different seasons.

For a summer waldorf salad, when apples are not at their crunchy best, try one of the sweeter cherry tomato varieties as an alternative. Check out this guide to know which one to choose. A few slices of peach could also be added to the mix for an extra burst of sweetness.

In a Waldorf salad, nuts are often incorporated. If there’s a walnut allergy, or you’re just not a fan, pecans are a good substitute. In this recipe, toasted pine nuts would work well too.

And for an alternate dressing for a Waldorf salad, try swapping the white wine vinegar for lemon. Or change it completely and use a blend of mayonnaise and either Greek yoghurt or crème fraiche. A homemade mayonnaise would hit the spot too.

Now get cooking

There is something deeply satisfying about mastering a classic recipe and then making it your own. Keep the basic ingredients of the original Waldorf salad recipe in mind and use this winter Waldorf salad as inspiration. For ideas on different flavour combinations which work well in salad, check out this collection of 12 of our best salad recipes. Or check out this salad of pearl couscous, chickpeas and chicken. It’s bright, colourful and very filling. Or this mango and prawn salad with miso dressing. It’s one for the summer al fresco entertaining list. For ideas on winter cooking, as well as in-season ingredients, read our cold weather culinary survival guide. And for speedy winter dinner suggestions, there’s a lot to choose from in this collection, from a beef korma pie to a lamb and apricot tagine.