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Side · Lunch

The Original Waldorf Salad (1896)

The Waldorf’s first version: just apples and celery in mayonnaise. Walnuts and grapes came later.

⏱ 15 min (15 min prep) 🍽 Serves 4 · about ¾ cup quickbudgetkid friendly vegetariangluten freedairy free
📅 Add to my plan

ContainsEggs. Check the labels on what you buy; brands differ.

Ingredients

Make 4 servings
  • 2 Apples, crisp and tart-sweet, peeled and cored
  • 3 stalk Celery, from the pale inner stalks
  • ½ cup Mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought
  • 1 tsp Lemon juice (bottled)
  • 1 pinch Table salt
  • 4 leaf Green leaf lettuce, to serve (optional)

Make it yourself

Make the mayonnaise yourself →

In the planner, Make it on the shopping list swaps the store item for these ingredients and puts the work on your prep day.

Nutrition

Nutrition coming: the USDA numbers for these ingredients are being added.

📜 Where it comes from

Oscar Tschirky (1866–1950), maître d’hôtel, the Waldorf Hotel, New York.

The Cook Book by “Oscar” of the Waldorf (Chicago and New York: The Werner Company, 1896), Salads chapter: “Waldorf Salad”.

“Peel two raw apples and cut them into small pieces, say about half an inch square, also cut some celery the same way, and mix it with the apple. Be very careful not to let any seeds of the apples be mixed with it. The salad must be dressed with a good mayonnaise.”

The original text, quoted as printed; it is in the public domain.

Tschirky, the Waldorf’s famous maître d’hôtel, published this recipe in 1896, a few years after the hotel opened in 1893. Walnuts were added by the 1920s.

What we changed: The lemon juice is ours, to keep the apples white.

This is a 19th-century hotel dining room, decades before Michelin stars existed.

Internet Archive scanOscar TschirkyWaldorf saladMore from the great kitchens →

Steps

You’ll need: cutting board and knife, bowl.

  1. Cut the apples into ½-inch cubes and toss them with the lemon juice so they don’t brown. Check that no seeds or core are left.
  2. Cut the celery into pieces about the same size.
  3. Fold the apples, celery and salt into the mayonnaise. Serve right away on lettuce leaves, or chill up to 2 hours.
Make aheadCut the celery a day ahead; cut the apples and dress the salad within 2 hours of serving.
↺ LeftoversRefrigerate and eat within 1 day; the apples soften.
🧒 With kidsKids can cube the apples with a kid-safe knife and stir it all together.
Walnuts and grapes swapAdd ½ cup toasted walnuts and a handful of halved grapes for the salad most people know today.

Good to know

Table salt vs. kosher salt vs. sea salt

Our own adaptation of a public-domain recipe, in our own words. Nutrition is estimated from USDA FoodData Central and changes with brands and portions.