Green Apple Salad

Green Apple Salad that’s perfect for fall also has celery, walnuts, and lemony dressing, and it’s an apple salad recipe that’s not too sweet! The celery and walnuts make this apple salad not a huge splurge on carbs, but use even more celery if you prefer.

PIN the Apple Salad recipe to try it later!

This tasty Green Apple Salad is a kicked-up version of traditional Waldorf Salad that’s been popular for years. But this salad has a generous amount of healthy celery and celery leaves plus walnuts, and a tasty lemon-mustard dressing. This is a perfect salad when you want a fruit salad that’s not too sweet!

And the green apple salad recipe is something I could imagine serving for a special dinner! After I was through making the salad, taking photos, and eating a bowl of it for lunch, I had the idea of tossing in a few Reduced Sugar Dried Cranberries (affiliate link).

Adding cranberries could even make this a salad to serve during the holidays! I didn’t have dried cranberries that day to take a photo of the salad with them added. But I do recommend that variation if you’re making this for a special occasion. And I hope you try this salad right now while apples are in season!

What ingredients do you need for this salad?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
• Dijon mustard (affiliate link)
• Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), or sweetener of your choice
• extra-virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• celery with leaves
• Granny Smith apples
• salt to taste
• walnuts
• Reduced Sugar Dried Cranberries, completely optional but fun (affiliate link)

Make this green apple celery salad more like traditional Waldorf Salad:

Waldorf Salad is a classic salad recipe made from apples, celery, and walnuts but it usually has a mayonnaise dressing. If you’re a mayo fan or want to make this more like a traditional Waldorf Salad, use 2 T olive oil and 4 T mayo in the dressing.

What other nuts can you use for the apple salad recipe?

If you’re not a fan of walnuts I think this salad would also be great with pecans or slivered almonds.

Can you make the green apple salad with red apples?

Of course you can make this salad with red apples if that’s what you prefer or have on hand.

How many carbs are in Green Apple Salad?

When this salad is made with the Monkfruit Sweetener I recommend, it has only 10.2 net carbs per serving with 2 grams of protein. To make a version that’s lower in carbs, use more celery and fewer apples.

How to Make Green Apple Salad:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Whisk together fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Golden Monkfruit Sweetener or sweetener of your choice, and olive oil to make the dressing.
2. Working with one apple at a time, cut apple into fourths, peel and cut away seeds, cut the fourths in half crosswise and slice into thin wedges.
3. Toss cut apples with a few tablespoons of the dressing mixture so they won’t turn brown.
4. Trim celery leaves from stalks and chop. Slice celery stalks into slices.
5. Toast walnuts in a dry pan over high heat for about 2 minutes, or until you smell a toasty smell (it will smell a little like popcorn.)
6. Coarsely chop the toasted walnuts.
7. Combine sliced celery, chopped celery leaves, and apple/dressing mixture and stir to mix. Add enough more dressing so salad is well moistened, but not overly wet. (You may not need all the dressing.) Season salad with salt to taste.
8. Stir walnuts into salad and serve. 
9. The green apple celery salad isn’t bad when it’s been in the fridge for one night. But I don’t think it will keep longer than that and the salad is best freshly made.

Make it for a Carb-Conscious Meal:

If you want to make this salad as part of a meal that doesn’t have a lot of carbs, serve with an extra low-carb main dish like one of these:

• Air Fryer Salmon with Mustard-Herb Sauce
• Instant Pot Balsamic Pork Roast
• Air Fryer Pork Chops
• Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
• Air Fryer Marinated Chicken Breasts

More Salads with Fruit:

• Power Greens Salad with Blueberries
• Laurel’s Jicama Salad
• Fruit Salad with Melon, Pineapple and Dill

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4.5 Stars (11 Reviews)

Yield: 6 servings

Green Apple Salad Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

This Green Apple Salad has celery and walnuts and a mustardy lemon dressing. The green apple salad recipe is perfect for fall, but it will be tasty any time of year!

Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 2 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener or sweetener of your choice (see notes)
• 6 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 large stalks celery with leaves
• 2 large Granny Smith apples
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted then chopped
• reduced sugar dried cranberries (optional) 

Instructions

1. Whisk together the fresh lemon juice, Dijon Mustard, Monkfruit Sweetener, and olive oil and set dressing aside.
2. Working with one apple at a time, cut apple into fourths, peel and cut away seeds, cut each fourth into half crosswise, then cut each piece into thin wedges.
3. Toss apples with a small amount of dressing as soon as they are cut so apples won’t turn brown.
4. Toast walnuts in a dry pan over high heat for about 2 minutes, or until they start to smell toasty. (The toasted walnuts will smell a bit like popcorn.)
5. Wash celery stalks and dry with paper towels, making sure both stalks and leaves are very dry.
6. Cut leaves away from stalks and chop to make 1/2 cup chopped celery leaves.
7. Slice stalks into thin slices, enough to make 2-3 cups sliced celery.
8. Combine sliced celery, chopped celery leaves, and apple/dressing mixture and stir to combine.
9. Add enough additional dressing so celery and apples are well moistened, but not overly wet. (You may not need all the dressing.)
10. Season the Green Apple Salad with salt to taste.
11. Coarsely chop walnuts, then mix walnuts and dried cranberries (if using) into salad and serve.

Notes

I'd use Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this salad. Taste the dressing after you mix it and see if you want a bit more sweetener.

Reduced Sugar Dried Cranberries (affiliate link) are not included in nutritional information. They're completely optional but fun if you want to make this for a holiday salad.

Recipe adapted slightly from green apple salad found in Bon Appetit; the recipe is no longer online.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 228Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 0mgSodium 267mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 3.8gSugar 8gProtein 2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Using Golden Monkfruit Sweetener or an approved sweetener would make this apple salad recipe suitable for phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. You could use more celery and fewer apples for a salad that’s even lower in carbs. But if you check the net carbs, you might decide you could eat this occasionally for a low-carb diet. 

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes for more salads like this one. Use the Diet Type Index photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The recipe for Green Apple Salad was posted in 2010 and I’ve made it many times since then. It was updated with new photos in 2024, and last updated with more information in 2026.