Waldorf Chicken Salad! Filled with celery, apples, grapes, pecans, chicken and more! This salad is crunchy, savory and so delicious! A classic Waldorf salad with added chicken and more flavor!
Friends, you know I love my salads. I eat at least one salad every single day. My favorite protein sources are chicken breast, salmon, turkey, tuna and eggs. It’s funny, I used to hate chicken breast. It was my least favorite thing to make and eat. That’s because I wasn’t cooking it right. I was always overcooking my meat and drying it out. Click here for my favorite chicken marinade recipes.
Now, I love making chicken and making salads like this one!
Waldorf Chicken Salad
I love learning about the origins of food and recipes! The Waldorf salad, originally a simple apple-celery-mayo combo, was introduced on March 14, 1893, at a charity ball honoring St. Mary’s Hospital for Children. Its debut coincided with that of the Waldorf hotel, which opened the previous day. The charity ball was the very first event held at the hotel. Who created it? The salad was part of a menu created by Edouard Beauchamp, the Waldorf’s original executive chef, and Oscar Tschirky, its maitre d’hotel. Tschirky, eventually nicknamed Oscar of the Waldorf, is reputed to have been the salad’s creator. It appeared in a cookbook he published just three years later, The Cook Book, by ‘Oscar’ of the Waldorf.
Now, you see many variations of the classic, original recipe that was first published in 1896 using apples, celery and mayonnaise and adding things like walnuts and grapes to provide additional texture and flavor, and a splash of lemon juice brightens up the creamy dressing. “Feel free to improvise, adding other crunchy ingredients like chopped raw broccoli, sunflower seeds, raisins or sliced pitted dates. This salad can be made a few hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator before serving. Serve as a side salad, or add cooked chicken to the mix for a satisfying lunch.”
Waldorf Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 1 to 2 stalks celery diced
- 1/2 Granny Smith apple* diced
- 1 cup seedless red grapes halved
- 1/4 cup red onions diced
- 1/2 to 1 cup pecans chopped
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise with avocado oil** or any mayo you prefer
- 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard + more if desired
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the chicken:
- Using a pan over high heat, add the avocado oil. After 1 minute, add your chicken breasts and cover the pan with a lid. I let the chicken cook for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Let the chicken cook, flip the chicken, cover with lid and let the chicken cook some more. Your chicken is ready when it registers 165 F with an instant read thermometer in the thickest part of the breast. Remove from heat and let rest and then cube up and set aside.
For the salad:
- Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl from the cooked, slightly cooled chicken breast to the salt and pepper. Toss and mix everything together until everything is nicely coated**. Taste and adjust anything as needed. Serve and enjoy!
- Make ahead (bonus if you like your salad cold): Store, covered in an airtight container with lid, in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
