10-Minute Holiday Salad with Mandarine Orange

Dec 7, 2021 (Last updated Dec 20, 2025) by Hannah Sunderani

Today I’m sharing a very easy holiday salad recipe! This is a festive side salad for you to serve at your holiday gathering. Made with pomegranate, avocado, clementine, toasted almonds, mixed greens, and an orange vinaigrette to drizzle. It’s bright, refreshing and crunchy, served alongside with a sweet citrus vinaigrette.

I love this salad recipe because it’s so easy to make, which is much appreciated when you have a million other dishes to prep for your festivities. I serve this salad in my Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu and it’s been a slam dunk for the past 5+ years! Everyone looks forward to it. What’s really great about this holiday salad is that it’s simple, bright, and refreshing; which nicely offsets those heavier dishes.

So, let me tell you exactly how to make this salad so that you can make it pronto!

Holiday Salad Recipe:

This holiday salad is:

• bright and refreshing
• made with a festive citrus vinaigrette
• tangy, sweet and crunchy
• so easy to make
• perfect starter for your festive gatherings
• crowd pleaser (with vegans and non vegans)

All-in-all, it’s a great way to start your holiday festivities. We always start our Christmas dinner with salad and soup. And this salad is just perfect!

Might I recommend serving this salad as a starter paired with my vegan potato leek soup, or my curried butternut squash and sweet potato soup?

The Ingredients:

• Mixed Greens: The base of this salad is freshly mixed spring greens. I love the variety of the mixed greens – it’s really colourful which adds a nice touch to your Christmas dinner menu when serving. You could use other greens in this recipe! My next favourite would be baby spinach or baby butter lettuce.
• Mandarine: For this recipe I used the canned or tinned mandarine oranges. You can find these with the canned fruits section of your grocery store. You can of course use fresh too! I’ve recipe tested with fresh clementines and it’s delicious. But I love using the canned for this version because they’re extra sweet and delicate, and they look like beautiful little gems! I recommend buying an extra can because sometimes the tinned versions have some broken slices at the bottom of the can. Handle them with care.
• Pomegranate: Fresh pomegranate seeds adds sweetness and crunch to this recipe. It’s also so festive with its vibrant red hue – they look like little festive gems! It’s a must in this recipe in my opinion. But, if you prefer not to use pomegranate (say you’re too busy to peel a pomegranate) you could also use dried cranberries.
• Toasted Slivered Almonds: Slivered almonds add nuttiness and crunch to this salad. We’ll lightly toast them in a skillet to give them deep flavour. I’ve also recipe tested this with toasted walnuts and its delish!
• Orange juice: Used in this recipe for making the citrus vinaigrette. It’s sweet and lightly citrusy and really lets the mandarine orange take centre stage in this salad. I like to juice fresh oranges but you can also use store bought orange juice. I recipe tested with store bought orange juice and it was delicious!
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Amps up the tartness in this vinaigrette, which is great for offsetting the sweet fruits. I’ve also used fresh lemon juice and it works great!

How to make this holiday salad

This holiday salad is so easy to make! It takes minutes. Which is exactly what we want when we have a million and one dishes to prepare for our holiday gathering. (Don’t worry, I got you covered). Here’s how to do it.

Can you prepare this holiday salad in advance?

This salad can be prepared a few hours in advance! However, it’s best to keep the dressing on the side, so that the salad can last longer without wilting. Since the lettuce is tender, it will start to lose its crispness once the tart dressing is added. Drizzle just before serving.

Make this salad with me!

Make this holiday salad with me on my Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu on YouTube.

So there we have it we have it, a delicious and easy holiday salad recipe for you to enjoy at your festive gatherings. It’s the perfect starter served with soup to enjoy with your loved ones.

If you do make this recipe please let me know in the comments below what you think! I truly love hearing from you, and I’m always here to answer any questions you might have. And of course, tag me on Instagram with your pictures using the hashtag #twospoons. Nothing makes me happier than to see your recreations.

Pin it on Pinterest!

Save this recipe for later! Pin it on Pinterest.

See more step-by-step instructions by visiting the recipe story here!

• Holiday
• Winter
• 15 mins or less