This recipe for orange almond salad has been around for years and it’s still a great one. I took it to a party and it was big a hit. The traditional recipe (and this one) has candied almonds, but as with many of the recipes on the site, you are welcome to leave out the sugar (in this case coconut sugar) and sprinkle on the almonds as-is, if you prefer.
The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of olive oil but you could leave this out completely, as well. Just keep in mind that omitting the oil makes the dressing a little more tart.
I added dried (unsweetened) cranberries for color or you could use raisins. Purchase dried cranberries without palm oil and sugar if you can find them. Some health markets sell them sweetened with apple juice. In a pinch you could substitute raisins instead.
Pair this salad with a tasty main dish:
- Moroccan Chickpea Vegetable Tagine
- Cauliflower Pasta Alfredo
- Tempeh Reuben Sandwich
- Sweet Potato Veggie Lasagna
If you’d like to learn about making your own oil-free salad dressings, see my “Salad Dressing Formula” freebie.
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Orange Almond Salad recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Instagram page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!
Orange Almond Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (you can buy these in a package)
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar or date sugar (optional)
- 1 head Romaine lettuce chopped or torn into small pieces
- 1 can mandarin oranges drained
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup parsley roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup green onion diced
Dressing
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (red wine or rice vinegar works, too)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- If you'd like to "candy" the almonds, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F. Add the almonds to a strainer and rinse with water, shaking off the excess water.
- Add the soaked almonds to a bowl along with the coconut sugar and stir to combine. Place the almonds on the lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring at 10 minutes. The almonds will be done when the coconut sugar coating is hardened and starting to turn brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes.
- Put lettuce, oranges, cranberries, almonds, green onions, and parsley into a large salad bowl.
- Whisk dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Toss to coat.
Notes
- Purchase sliced almonds in a package or slice them yourself.
- For an oil-free version, leave out the olive oil in the dressing.
You list the sodium as 937.9mg per serving, that seems extraordinarily high for the ingredients listed. Could you explain?
You are so right. I’ve fixed it now and it’s 18.4 mg per serving.The nutritional label generator I use misinterpreted “salt & pepper.” Thanks for catching that!
Is the dressing the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper mixed or am I missing something for dressing? Recipe seems backwards if this is the case because it says make dressing, pour over and toss, but then says whisk vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
Oops, that recipe needed updating, thanks for bringing it to my attention! I’ve upped the servings to 4, added green onions (which I missed), and fixed the problem you addressed. It should be more clear as to what the dressing ingredients are. Hope you enjoy 🙂