This Mandarin Orange Salad always comes to our family reunions and is so yummy! It comes from my Aunt’s ‘Favorites’ cookbook, and everyone likes it! She also adds green onions, mushrooms, avocados and tomatoes to her original recipe, but my family likes orange salad with only mandarins, cranberries and nuts. This spinach salad with mandarin oranges is so versatile that you can really add to something and it will always be just as delicious! Only make sure you keep the oranges in the mandarin because that’s what makes the entire recipe for the salad! It’s so sweet.


 
 

Ingredients:

1 pkg Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix (use dry) I would use sugar free
1 Large can Crushed Pineapple (undrained)
2 Medium/Large cans Mandarin Oranges (drained)
1 pkg Cool Whip 8 oz ( and you could use fat free)

 

Instructions:

Mix together Cool Whip and Instant vanilla pudding (do NOT make the pudding, just use it dry). Add undrained crushed pineapple and both cans of drained Mandarin Oranges. (Use as many mandarins as you like, more/less) Save a few mandarin oranges to decorate the top of salad. Refrigerate until it thickens again maybe a couple of hours before you need to use it.

Use as a side dish with a meal or serve with ice cream as a dessert!


 
You can make this healthier by choosing low/no sugar instant pudding mix and cool whip, and fresh mandarins. I particularly like the whipped cool whip for my salad as per the original. Try it a few times to see what suits you best.