Soy Free Spinach Mandarin Almond Salad
This vibrant salad is a beautiful collision of sweet, savory, and bright — tender baby spinach piled with juicy mandarin oranges, crunchy dry-roasted almonds, and paper-thin slices of red onion. The homemade dressing is where things really shine: a quick whisk of olive oil, fresh orange juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, grated ginger, and a touch of turmeric creates something citrusy, warm, and just a little unexpected. Every single ingredient here is naturally free of soy, so there's no label-scanning or ingredient substitution required — just straightforward, wholesome produce and pantry staples. That's a bigger deal than it sounds, since bottled dressings are one of the sneakiest places soy hides, often tucked in as soybean oil or lecithin. Making the dressing yourself takes about two minutes and tastes infinitely better anyway. A handful of torn fresh mint scattered over the top at the end adds a cool, herby lift that takes the whole bowl from simple to genuinely impressive. Toss it together right before serving and it's the kind of salad people actually go back for seconds of.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the salad
- 5 oz baby spinach
- 2 cans (11 oz each) mandarin oranges, drained
- ½ cup dry-roasted almonds, roughly chopped
- ¼ red onion, very thinly sliced
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- ½ tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
For serving
- 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, torn (optional)
Instructions
- 1
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, grated ginger, turmeric, salt, and black pepper until the dressing is smooth and emulsified.
- 2
Add the baby spinach, drained mandarin oranges, chopped almonds, and sliced red onion to a large salad bowl.
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