Last Updated on July 23, 2025 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
A chopped Waldorf salad is full of crunchy fruits and vegetables and makes a great side dish in the summer!
For this recipe you’ll need:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Mayonnaise – I like to purchase this one, or make this homemade recipe
- Buttermilk
- Fresh lemon juice
- Dijon mustard
- Celtic sea salt
- 2 apples
- Seedless grapes
- Blueberries
- Celery
- Almonds
- Chives
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can combine 1/4 cup milk and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it curdles. It’s such an easy substitute!
The Waldorf salad was created in 1893 in New York City, by Oscar Tshirky, the maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf Astoria. The original recipe only had apples, celery and mayonnaise, but others have added to the recipe to make it their own.
I love the addition of the fruit and crunch almonds in this variation!
Here are some more salad recipes that you might enjoy!
Cherry Tomato, Red Pepper and Mozzarella Salad
Watermelon, Arugula, and Feta Salad
Chopped Waldorf Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Side
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (here's a fantastic homemade recipe)
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Celtic sea salt
- 2 apples, diced
- 1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half
- 1 cup blueberries, cut in half
- 3 large ribs celery, diced
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (omit for nut-free)
- 2 tablespoons chives, diced
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Simmer over medium for about 12 minutes until cooked through. Cool. Cut into small pieces.
- Whisk mayo, buttermilk, lemon juice, and Dijon in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt.
- Place apples, grapes, blueberries, celery, almonds, chives and chicken in a salad bowl. Pour dressing over top and toss until all ingredients are coated in the dressing. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 8
Such a great salad ~ love the addition of fresh blueberries and those small chopped bits.
Cute story about you + your dad 🙂
What a cute story of you and your father!
I love waldorf salad, just never found a recipe I liked. Thanks for this one, it looks amazing!
British humor is an acquired taste 😉 But this salad is great anytime! Thanks for reminding me of this terrific flavor combination.
One of the first presents I gave my husband 25 years ago was the complete scripts from all of the Fawlty Towers episodes. The best! I love what you have done with a Waldorf salad–the blueberries are a really nice touch.
What a sweet gift! 🙂
Love Fawlty Towers and especially John Cleese – everyone in the restaurant/hotel business should watch this as a training video – and thanks for the Blueberry Waldorf – looks delicious.
What an interesting way to make Waldorf Salad adding blueberries. I will try it this weekend. Thanks.
Good choice on the blueberries!
Do you know of any dairy free buttermilk sub? We can’t do dairy or nuts among other food allergies. I’m thinking I could sub either sunflower or pepitas for the almond slivers. Looks fantastic and would love to be able to tweak it to try if you have any suggestions! Beautiful presentation as usual!!
Coconut cream would probably taste nice in place of the buttermilk.
Your salad looks delicious, thank you! And Netflix has all three discs of Fawlty Towers.
Thanks for letting me know!
You’re most welcome!
This looks beautiful, and boy could I use some salad after the vacation I have had!
This looks like a perfect summer salad! Thanks for sharing. xoxo
I’m absolutely OBSESSED with Fawlty Towers and all things John Cleese, omg. This salad is soooo FT! Now I’m starving for it. Looks so good!
Fawlty Towers was streaming on Netflix a while back. Probably still is!
I had no idea. Thanks!!
Thanks I will try the coconut cream!
Ah, one of those salads that probably everyone has heard of but few can describe in detail. Thanks for the recipe!
This is my favorite salad to order in a restaurant but I’ve never made it–so nice of you to share this recipe with us.
Thanks for including the homemade mayonnaise recipe! This looks great!
Carrie, I’m making this salad for my nieces baby shower this weekend. What kind of apples did you use? do you really slice the blueberries? what brand of mayo do you use when you aren’t making your own? I’m making this for about 50 people. :o) Any helpful tips would be appreciated. I found a recipe converter to change the recipe for more servings, I’m hoping it’s accurate. Thanks!
I really like Pink Lady apples (nice and sweet!). I cut the blueberries in half, but if you’re making it for a large crowd you could probably skip that step (or just cut 1/2 of them). I prefer homemade mayo (Molly’s recipe over at http://www.OrganicSpark.com is my favorite) or De Louis Fil Mayo – it’s in the refrigerated section at specialty stores. I hope that helps!
This looks so good! I love salads and this one has great ingredients. Thanks for sharing!