Mandarin Orange Salad made with lettuce, sugared almonds, mandarin oranges and a simple, sweet homemade salad dressing. Easy to make and pretty enough to take to a dinner party!
We like butter and we like desserts, but we have been known to eat and enjoy a salad every once in a while too! And yes, many of our “salads” are made with Jello and fruit, but every once in a while we find a salad with lettuce that we absolutely love. This is one of my favorite green salads – it’s sweet, simple and everyone loves it!
Mandarin Orange Salad
Mandarin Orange salad is made with a mix of iceberg and Romaine lettuce mixed with chopped celery and green onions. The sugared almonds and mandarin oranges really make the salad absolutely perfect. The salad is tossed with a simple and sweet dressing made with vegetable oil, sugar, apple cider vinegar and a little bit of Tabasco sauce to add a little bit of extra flavor.
Ingredients in Mandarin Orange Salad
Almonds – You will need 1/2 cup of sliced almonds. You can definitely add more if you’d like, but make sure to increase the sugar used to roast them as well!
Sugar – Just a few tablespoons of sugar is used to toast the almonds. You can add the almonds to the salad without sugaring and toasting them, but don’t. I promise this simple step makes the almonds so much better!
Iceberg & Romaine lettuce – You will need about 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce and 1/2 head of Romaine lettuce. Make sure to wash the lettuce well and cut or tear into bite-sized pieces. I really love the mix of the two types of lettuce, but you can use all Romaine or all Iceberg or you could even make the salad with baby spinach. Just use your favorite lettuce or whatever kind you happen to have on hand!
Celery – You will need 1 cup of chopped celery. This is about the amount that you will get from 2 stalks. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t like celery, so I often leave it out!
Green onions – Just 2 green onions add the perfect flavor and a little bit of crunch to the salad.
Mandarin oranges – You will need an 11 ounce can of mandarin oranges for the salad. Drain them well and then cut them in half before adding to the salad.
DRESSING
Salt – A half teaspoon of salt adds flavor and also helps all of the other flavors to pop.
Oil – Vegetable or canola oil are the most common options, but you can definitely use a different type of oil if you prefer.
Parsley – A tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley adds some nice color and flavor to the dressing.
Sugar – Just a couple tablespoons of sugar add the right amount of sweetness!
Apple cider vinegar – 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar are needed in the dressing. Make sure to use apple cider vinegar instead of a different variety of vinegar for the right flavor.
Tabasco sauce – Just 2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce add a lot of flavor and a little bit of a kick to the salad. I promise that this tiny amount won’t make the dressing too hot at all. Unless you get really carried away with your dashes!
How to make Mandarin Orange Salad
In a small pan over medium heat, cook almonds and sugar, stirring constantly until almonds are coated and sugar is dissolved. (Watch carefully so they don’t burn!) Store almonds in an airtight container.
Mix all dressing ingredients and chill.
Mix lettuce, celery and onion.
Just before serving, add almonds and oranges. Toss with chilled dressing.
Mandarin Orange Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 3 T sugar
- ½ head iceberg lettuce
- ½ head Romaine lettuce
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 2 whole green onions chopped
- 11 oz can mandarin oranges drain and half slices
Dressing:
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 dashes Tabasco sauce
Instructions
- In a small pan over medium heat, cook almonds and sugar, stirring constantly until almonds are coated and sugar is dissolved. (Watch carefully so they don’t burn!) Store almonds in an airtight container.
- Mix all dressing ingredients and chill.
- Mix lettuce, celery and onion.
- Just before serving, add almonds and oranges. Toss with chilled dressing.
Nutrition
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How to sugar sliced almonds
One of the star ingredients in this salad recipe is the candied almonds. It is very simple to candy almonds, but you do have to be careful not to burn them. This can happen very quickly and can ruin them completely.
For this recipe, you will need 1/2 cup sliced almonds and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Mix the almonds and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly! As soon as the sugar is dissolved, the almonds are done. Once the sugar is dissolved, you need to remove from heat or the almonds will start to brown and burn extremely quickly.
Adding protein to salad
I love having salad as a meal, but when I do that, I feel like it needs some protein. This salad is absolutely delicious with chicken. I usually throw in a handful of rotisserie chicken to a single serving of the salad and it’s perfect. Grilled chicken works great too. You can just season the chicken with a little bit of salt before grilling or you can try our simple Grilled Teriyaki Chicken – it goes really well with this salad.
OTHER SALAD RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY:
- How to make Chicken Salad
- Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad
- Fancy Fruit Salad
- Orange Cream Fruit Salad
- Chicken Pasta Salad
- Cranberry Jello Salad
- Tropical Jello Pretzel Salad
- Creamy Orange Fruit Salad
- Berries and Cream Salad
- Cream Cheese Grape Salad
- Berry Spinach Salad
- Copycat KFC Coleslaw recipe
- Garden Vegetable Caprese Salad
- Spinach Chicken Pasta Salad
- Lemon Caesar Salad
Mandarin Orange Salad made with lettuce, almonds, mandarin oranges and a simple, sweet homemade salad dressing. Easy to make and pretty enough to take to a dinner party!
Laura says
I have made this recipe for years! So good. Got it out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook from 1990
Jessica says
Gotta love those classic recipes!