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Mandarin Orange Salad is perfect as a side, lunch, dinner, or for a potluck. You’ll love the combination of mildly sweet homemade poppy seed dressing, cool and juicy mandarin oranges, crunchy fresh lettuce, and more! This salad has all the flavor and is just a breeze to toss together.
Kid (and mom) Friendly Salad
I’m not the biggest salad lover ever. There, I said it. I’m a grown adult woman, and I don’t love salads.
However, I love the nutrient-rich foods that salads usually contain. Dark leafy greens especially are so good for our bodies! Learning to love fresh salads is important to me.
As I find salad recipes that I’ll eat without grimacing, I also want to include my kindergarten age daughter in the preparation of these meals filled with raw, fresh ingredients. For my picky eating child, being given opportunities to be hands on in the prep of a meal is key to her actually trying any of it.
This Mandarin Orange Salad is a kid-friendly winner. My picky girl had a great time tearing up lettuce leaves, measuring ingredients, shaking the homemade salad dressing, and tossing the salad. I pretended to not be outright shocked when she gobbled a whole big bowl… lettuce and all!
Let Us Talk About Lettuce
I know some people like the almost white parts of a head of iceberg lettuce, but get to know some dark greens too! Iceberg is good for you, but not nearly as good for you as other greens. In this Mandarin Orange Salad, I combine chopped iceberg and my favorite red leaf lettuce. You can use any two lettuces that you prefer. Romaine is a delicious and healthy choice.
When doing food prep with my little girl, I handle the chopping and anything involving heat. She’s in charge of tearing lettuce and mixing things together.
Okay, I know, I know… the crunchy chow mein noodles wouldn’t be classified as “healthy.” But for me, as a non-salad lover, they play an important role in my overall enjoyment of the salad.
Simple Dressing
This Mandarin Orange Salad is tossed with a simple homemade vinaigrette. It’s light and tangy and just a little sweet. Shaking the dressing in a jar is a fun part for kiddos to play in the meal prep! Just be sure the lid is well secured. 🙂
So pretty!
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You can prep the individual ingredients and the dressing in advance, but you’ll want to put it all together and toss it right before serving. This salad doesn’t keep and should be eaten right away.
For a super quick weeknight meal, prepare the lettuces and mix up the dressing the night before.This way you can dump everything into a big bowl, toss the salad, and serve it for dinner within just a couple of minutes.
Mandarin Orange Salad Recipe
I have to tell you, this recipe isn’t something I dreamed up myself. A former coworker was kind enough to give me the list of ingredients after the brought this delicious salad to a work lunch. I begged for the recipe because it’s so good! I made a few little tweaks and adjustments, and now you can enjoy this yummy salad in your own home.
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★★★★★5 from 2 reviews
- Author: Carissa Shaw for Mom Needs Chocolate
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Description
Mandarin Orange Salad is perfect as a side, lunch, dinner, or for a potluck. You’ll love the combination of mildly sweet homemade poppy seed dressing, cool and juicy mandarin oranges, crunchy fresh lettuce, and more! This salad has all the flavor and is just a breeze to toss together.
Salad:
1 bunch romaine or red leaf lettuce
1 head ice berg lettuce
4 green onions, chopped
½ cup slivered almonds
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup chow mein noodles
½ teaspoon poppy seeds
1–2 cups chopped grilled or rotisserie chicken (optional)
Dressing:
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup white vinegar
½ cup canola oil
Instructions
- Chop or tear the lettuces into bite size pieces. Wash and dry well.
- Pour the lettuces into a large bowl and toss. Top the salad with the chopped green onions, slivered almonds, mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles, poppy seeds, and chicken (optional).
- Add the dressing ingredients to a medium jar. Cover tightly with a lid and then shake well.
- Pour the dressing over the salad then toss to combine all ingredients.
Serve immediately.
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FAQs
It is this same spicy, vanilla note that also allows them to pair well with coffee, chocolate, red beets, bread, huacatay, gooseberries and black garlic. To a lesser degree, mandarin oranges also contain a spicy, herbal element, enabling them to pair well with basil, cinnamon, gamba, cognac and ginger.
What is healthier orange or mandarin? ›
Like other oranges, mandarin oranges are excellent sources of vitamin C, although not as high in this valuable nutrient as navel oranges, even comparing equal portions. However, mandarins provide greater amounts of two antioxidant phytochemicals: beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin.
Are canned mandarin oranges healthy? ›
-Mandarin oranges: A half cup of canned mandarin oranges provides you with more vitamin C (57 percent of the RDA) than its freshly peeled counterpart. (Choose canned fruits with the lowest sugar content.)
What to do with extra mandarin oranges? ›
Here's how you can put your leftover mandarin oranges to good use in the week after Chinese New Year:
- Mandarin Orange Green Tea. Add a zesty spin to your usual cup of green tea! ...
- Mandarin Orange Potpourri. ...
- Mandarin Orange Jam. ...
- Mandarin Orange Salad Dressing. ...
- Orange-scented Vinegar Cleaning Solution.
Mandarin oranges have even more beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin than common oranges, making them excellent additions to your diet. The body turns beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin into vitamin A, which is essential for a healthy immune system, good vision, and normal growth and development.
How many mandarin oranges can I eat a day? ›
In short, although mandarin oranges are highly nutritional and satisfies our cravings at the same time, it should not be consumed excessively, especially by certain people. Overall, I would personally recommend consuming a maximum of four mandarin oranges a day.
Do mandarin oranges burn belly fat? ›
The study found the molecule found in sweet oranges and tangerines reversed existing obesity and the size of fat cells in mice, and increased the energy they expended. It's thought this could work just as well in humans, shrinking the size of fat cells.
Is it OK to eat mandarin everyday? ›
Like most citrus fruits, mandarins are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and beneficial plant compounds. Consuming them regularly may provide many health benefits. What's more, they're easy to pack as a snack, toss into smoothies, or peel into salads or gelatin desserts.
Are mandarin oranges anti-inflammatory? ›
Mandarins are a good source of vitamin C and phytonutrients and have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. In addition, some research suggests citrus fruits may help to prevent some cancers and other chronic diseases.
Can you eat too many mandarins in a day? ›
You would get some roughage and Vitamin C from eating mandarins, but seeing as it's an acidic food, you could develop mouth ulcers from that many mandarins daily, or it could upset your stomach. Also by eating that many fruit, you might not be eating enough other foods that one needs for best health.
But don't forget about canned peaches, pears, pineapples and more! You may not know that many canned fruits like peaches are picked at peak ripeness and go from field to can in a matter of hours. This means they ripen to their full nutrition and flavor on the plant before making it to your grocery store.
Can diabetics eat mandarin oranges? ›
In general, oranges are a safe fruit choice for people living with diabetes. They have a low to moderate glycemic index (GI) of around 43. GI refers to the speed at which food raises blood sugar levels. That said, it is important to consider both portion sizes and individual factors into account.
How to eat canned mandarin oranges? ›
Just peel the lid and eat.
Why do Chinese eat oranges after meals? ›
A typical Chinese “dessert” consists of simple orange slices. Oranges are considered to bring good fortune. This is a much different tradition than the custom of the “fortune cookie” after a meal, which is in fact a purely Western invention and is not practiced at all in China.
Can I freeze mandarin oranges? ›
Freezing Mandarins
If you are going to freeze your mandarin oranges for smoothies or to use out of season: Peel the fruit and remove all of the white membranes (or as much as you can), as the membranes can turn bitter over time. Separate the mandarins into smaller pieces (easier to pop in the blender).
What do you eat with mandarin? ›
Mandarin recipes
- Carrot, chicory & mandarin salad with burrata & walnuts. ...
- Crispy salmon with turnip, mandarin & noodle salad. ...
- Mandarin-in-the-middle Christmas pud. ...
- Pistachio meringues with mango & mandarin ice cream. ...
- Mulled red cabbage with clementines. ...
- Sticky clementine cake with cheesecake cream. ...
- Fruity sponge cake.
Green Mandarin has a gentle aroma that blends well with Basil, Sandalwood, Lavender, Spearmint, and other citrus oils (Grapefruit, Wild Orange, Tangerine, Lemon, Lime, and Bergamot).
What fruit goes well with mandarin? ›
Mandarin oranges pair wonderfully with flavors such as chocolate, cherry, cardamom, coffee, ginger, fig, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, star anise, and other tropical fruits. Curious about the options for a drink pairing with mandarin oranges?
What cheese goes well with mandarin oranges? ›
Go for Goats and Alpines.
The soft goats are easy: plain Chèvre + sweet slice of citrus fruit (tangerine, mandarin, navel orange, etc.) = done. The relatively mild, but tart flavor of the cheese allows the fruit's natural sweetness to play out in exciting ways.
