Mandarin Chicken Salad

Submitted by Roxygirl in Colorado

"From Southern Living Cookbook 1987 The caption beside the photo says: "Mandarin Chicken Salad is a blend of the traditional chicken salad ingredients with fruits and nuts. It's fancy enough for company.""

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 3 cups diced cooked chicken (see directions)
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup green seedless grape
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 (2 ounce) package slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 leaf lettuce
• additional mandarin orange section (optional)
• clusters green grape (optional)

directions

1. I recommend baked chicken for the salad. Heat oven to 350 degrees - sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, then after it's cooled a bit, chop chicken and sprinkle with olive oil (if I have chicken with skin, I skip the oil). Bake until done then after it's cooled a bit, chop chicken.
2. After you have cooked the chicken, combine the first 5 ingredients; stir well. Cover and chill.
3. Add mayonnaise, grapes, oranges, and almonds to chicken mixture; toss well. Serve on lettuce. Garnish with additional orange slices and grape clusters, if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Reviews

[ACMonty]

This recipe is worth all 5 stars! I have been trying to eat healthier. I took this recipe, used light mayo, grilled the chicken with a very little amount of EVOO (quicker than baking), and added half the serving size on top of a romaine salad with chopped celery already in the salad. Tomorrow for lunch, I plan to have the same, but add extra grapes and mandarin on the side. I rarely like a salad that doesn't have cheese, but this has lots of flavor!!

 

[AZPARZYCH]

This is a really good chicken salad recipe that is not overloaded with fruit. I love the combination of the grapes and oranges. I reduced to a serving for 2; cut the grapes in quarters and the oranges in half so I would not get a big bite of just fruit. Very good wrapped in lettuce leaves to cut carbs but would also be really good on fresh whole grain bread. Made for New Kids on the Block Tag February 2010.

 

[Dreamgoddess]

Thank you for posting this recipe! It was served at a baby shower a couple of weeks ago and I just had to find the recipe. It was absolutely delicious, one of the best chicken salads I've ever tried. According to the lady that made the salad for the shower, she salted and peppered her chicken and then roasted it for about an hour. According to her, roasting gives the finished salad a much better flavor than baking or boiling the chicken. She didn't sprinkle olive oil on it or toast the almond slivers. In making the actual salad, she also added in some salad pickles which aren't listed in the ingredients. This one is going in my permanent recipe file. Thanks again Roxygirl!