Waldorf Chicken Salad

Inspired by Waldorf salad. Just add chicken.

This is possibly the best chicken salad recipe ever: a Waldorf chicken salad recipe, styled with chunky apples, walnuts, and plenty of fresh herbs, all folded with just the right touch of mayo. Get the recipe for this essential lunchtime and summer picnic classic. 

All About the Best Waldorf Chicken Salad Recipe

I have a soft spot for classic, even retro, food like egg salad and deviled eggs. Also, chicken salad. (I have not, however, gone so far as to crave a Jell-o mold.)

Chicken salad makes a perfect lunch or summer dinner — or really, a great anytime food to just have in the fridge. The best chicken salad recipe is more than a bad mashup of chicken and mayo. Great chicken salad, like this, comes filled with texture and flavor, with just enough mayo to hold it all together and add a little light richness.

Food History: Waldorf Salad

This chicken salad is made in the style of the classic Waldorf salad. Maître d’hôtel Oscar Tschirky created Waldorf salad at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City in 1893. Waldorf salad has gone through many iterations since then. But the general idea is a salad of chopped apples, celery, and walnuts, bound with mayonnaise and served with crisp lettuce.

How to Make This Waldorf Chicken Salad Recipe

Using a classic Waldorf salad as inspiration, this chicken salad recipe combines apples, celery, mayo, and walnuts, plus other ingredients like fresh scallion and tarragon, for something truly special and flavorful, balanced and crisp.

Chicken cooking and cooling time aside, chicken salad takes minutes to make and will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Serve atop toast or crisp salad greens, or enjoy straight from the bowl. Here are the main steps:

1. Poach your chicken and let it cool. Then, cut it into chunks.
2. Combine the chicken with chopped crisp apples, walnut pieces, seasoning, herbs, and fresh mayo.
3. Serve on its own, or with salad or toast.

You’ll also like: Classic Deviled Eggs and Egg Salad With Fresh Herbs

Print Recipe

Waldorf Chicken Salad

The best chicken salad recipe ever, full of texture and flavor from apples, celery, fresh herbs, and more. Easy to make and perfect for summer lunch or a picnic.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time0 mins

Poached Chicken Breasts (cooking and cooling time)45 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: lunch, Salad

Cuisine: American

Keywords:: chicken, chicken salad, egg salad, lunch, mayo, waldorf salad

Servings: 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cooled
• 1 stalk fresh celery, sliced thin
• 1 medium-sized crisp apple, such as Pink Lady or Honeycrisp, diced
• 2 scallions, green and light green parts only, sliced thin
• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, minced
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced
• ¼ to 1/3 cup good mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's or Best, depending on your taste
• 1 lemon, juiced
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 15 turns or so freshly-cracked black pepper

Instructions

• To cook the chicken: Bring a medium-sized pot to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Poach the chicken breasts for 20 to 25 minutes in simmering water, until fully cooked and not pink in the center. Let cool fully, covered, in the fridge for about 30 minutes before proceeding. Can be made up to two days in advance.

  PRO TIP: Make sure the water does not boil when poaching chicken. This will toughen the meat. Also, this is a good time to prep your other ingredients.
• Dice the cooled chicken into 1/2" to 1" chunks.
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients: the chicken, celery, scallions, herbs, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, apple, walnuts, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and see if you'd like to add a tablespoon or two more mayonnaise.
• Serve on its own, or as a sandwich or on top of crisp salad greens.