Sweet Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges and Poppyseed Dressing

A sweet and fresh spinach mandarin orange salad with poppy seed dressing. Easy to make, always a crowd favorite, and perfect for family dinners or holidays. It has craisins or pomegrante seeds, mandarin oranges, red onion, and candied nuts! Perfect for a potluck or side dish.

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I’ve added a new recipe category to my blog for my big family, Sunday night meals! The category will just be “Family“, and you can find it from the top navigation of my site.

Every Sunday night I make dinner for my adult kids, my nieces and nephews, and any other young adult with no where to go for a family meal. We have anywhere from 9-20 people at a dinner. So fun!

It’s my FAVORTE day of the week. I love being in the kitchen all day on Sunday cooking. It’s my favorite past time.

So, I am attempting to compile all the dishes I make regularly and publish them online, since most of them are hand written recipes I’ve been keeping in a binder for 30+ years! I need them accessible to my kids, and to keep track for my future Sunday night dinners. I’ll also keep notes for number of people it will serve as well as the nutrition information!

I can almost remember when I first had a salad similar to this Spinach salad. In my early days of marriage, we had a lot of family potlucks with my husbands family. One of his sisters brought this spinach salad with mandarin oranges, and candied pecans. I honestly think it was the first time I ever had a green salad that was sweet, and I was HOOKED from the jump!

So, after getting the recipe of course, this sweet spinach salad had a regular appearance in our family dinners and whenever I would have to bring a side dish to a church party.

So, this salad was a side dish to a turkey dinner we had last night. (also a classic family favorite is this broccoli salad!)

Why this spinach mandarin orange salad works

There is something about the combination of sweet oranges with crisp spinach and the creamy poppy seed dressing that makes this salad so easy to love. It has a little crunch from the nuts, a little sweetness from the fruit, and that classic poppy seed dressing that ties it all together.

Here is why this salad ends up on repeat in my house:

• It feels light and refreshing
• It is easy to prep ahead
• It works for holidays, potlucks, or any night you want something simple
• It looks pretty on the table
• It tastes sweet without being dessert sweet
• It is a fast way to get in a big serving of veggies

And if you are trying to stay on track with your goals, this is one of those salads that feels satisfying without adding a ton of calories.

Ingredients for spinach mandarin orange salad with poppy seed dressing

• Baby spinach The base of the salad. Spinach keeps the salad soft instead of crunchy and mixes well with the fruit.
• Mandarin oranges The star of the recipe. They add brightness and sweetness. I usually use canned mandarins because they taste great and are always ready to go.
• Sliced almonds or pecans Either works. Almonds give you a light crunch, and pecans add a deeper flavor. Use what you love or what you have in the pantry.
• Red onion Just a small amount brings in that sharp bite that balances the sweet oranges.
• Poppy seed dressing You can use a store bought version or make your own. The creamy sweetness with a little tang is what gives the salad its flavor. It is honestly the whole vibe of this dish.

Scaling this spinach salad recipe for a large group!

We had 12 people attending! For a side salad, I usually plan 1 cup of salad per person. Which is why I have 12 cups of greens in the recipe below! Add 1 cup of greens for each person at your dinner.

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