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My Orange Chicken Salad is a healthier way to enjoy frozen orange chicken. This spin on Chinese chicken salad is made with breaded chicken, crisp cabbage, juicy mandarin oranges, and fresh scallions. Instead of mayo, it’s finished with a drizzle of sweet and tangy orange sauce for a bright citrus flavor. This family-friendly salad is a lighter twist on your favorite takeout dish and sure to be a hit at the table.
🥗 Orange Chicken Salad Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this salad:
- 2 cups small breaded chicken pieces (Trader Joe’s orange chicken or air fryer popcorn chicken)
- ½-1 cup orange sauce (use both sauce packets that come with the bags of Trader Joe’s orange chicken or use another orange sauce to taste)
- 5¾ cups coleslaw mix (use a mix with cabbage and carrots or use 5 cups shredded cabbage and ¾ cups shredded carrots)
- ½ cup scallions, sliced thinly
- ½ cup drained mandarin oranges (from a can)
- 1½ tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- Fried wonton strips and sesame seeds (optional; for garnish)
Get a printable recipe card at the end of the post.
This salad extremely flexible. I’ve included some substitution suggestions above but don’t be afraid to get creative in your own kitchen.
🍊 How to Make Orange Chicken Salad
Cook the small breaded chicken pieces according to the package directions. Place them in a bowl with the coleslaw mix, scallions, and mandarin oranges. Toss the ingredients together. Drizzle with the orange sauce and sesame oil and gently stir to combine.
Garnish with the wonton strips and sesame seeds (if desired) and serve immediately.
If you keep the salad dressing separate until serving, this salad will last for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. However, the chicken may begin to lose its crispy texture if you don’t serve it right away.
Watch How to Make It!
Orange Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups small breaded chicken pieces (Trader Joe’s orange chicken or air fryer popcorn chicken)
- ½-1 cup orange sauce (use both sauce packets that come with the bags of Trader Joe’s orange chicken or use another orange sauce to taste)
- 5¾ cups coleslaw mix (use a mix with cabbage and carrots or use 5 cups shredded cabbage and ¾ cups shredded carrots)
- ½ cup scallions, sliced
- ½ cup drained mandarin oranges (from a can)
- 1½ tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- Fried wonton strips and sesame seeds (optional; for garnish)
Instructions
- Cook the small breaded chicken pieces according to the package directions. Place them in a bowl with the coleslaw mix, scallions, and mandarin oranges. Toss the ingredients together. Drizzle with the orange sauce and sesame oil and gently stir to combine.
- Garnish with the wonton strips and sesame seeds (if desired) and serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). Serving orange chicken over a fresh salad instead of rice is a simple way to make the meal lighter and more nutritious. Swapping in cabbage, mandarin oranges, and scallions adds volume with fewer calories, while boosting fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants. Aside from providing a greater feeling of fullness, the bright citrus flavors and crisp texture of this salad pairs perfectly with the sweet-savory orange chicken. It’s a deliciously healthy upgrade! Nutrition information is for one serving and depends on the chicken and orange sauce you use.
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x
Nutrition
👩🏻🍳 More Chicken Salad Recipes
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Hello! I’m Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create recipes for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
This is definitely a summer calling recipe Summer. It looks awesome.
Thank you so much! Hope you get a chance to try it!
A beautiful combination, Summer, both in terms of looks and taste. You say it’s loaded with nutrients too? Nearly too good to be true.
If you’ll allow a couple digressions, your mentioning strawberry-rhubarb pies reminds me of helping my grandmother make the same, back when I was a kid, and when they still lived Up North here, before retiring.
As for the mint, my parents grew some in a outdoor planter box. Naturally, the mint escaped its confines, and even years after the planter box was removed, every time I’d stop over to cut the grass, going over that section of the lawn always was a minty-fresh experience. Particularly inviting mid-swelter.
So, you’ve gone and done it, Summer. You’ve unleashed all sorts of dreams with this creation, both in fond reminiscences, and anticipation of the wonder you created!
Thank you so much! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if other things grew as easily as the mint? I wouldn’t mind if the tomatoes, berries, or even something like lettuce took over as easily as the mint does. I recently did some soil testing and learned that the mint is growing in soil that is almost completely depleted of nutrients. It seems to thrive where other plants cannot and it reliably comes up year after year.
I still have a lot of rhubarb and strawberries in the freezer so I have a strawberry rhubarb crumble planned for later this week. This is pretty much the only month I enjoy the strawberry-rhubarb combination, so at least I’m making the most of it! I think a lot of us who live in the northeast US may have an old family recipe for strawberry-rhubarb pie. It’s a nice thing to have as part of our family traditions 🙂
For sure, Summer! My grandparents are gone now, and the last couple decades brought retirement to Florida’s palm-lined coast, but reading of rhubarb always takes me back to helping them harvest stalks and gather berries from their sun-dappled garden, all those years ago, on a perfect Northeastern summer afternoon.
Sigh.
Thanks so much, Summer, both for the recipe and for reminisces from a honeyed past!
Sounds like a lovely memory! I’m happy you were able to revisit, at least by mind. 🙂
Hopefully they were able to continue growing delicious things when they moved to Florida. (If they wanted and/or were able to, of course!)
That dressing is a great idea! Flavorful yet healthy since it doesn’t have oil. And, fruit in salads compliments so many vegetables. Cherries and mangoes are two favorites. I also noticed pistachios in the recipe. You can never go wrong adding pistachios to anything. Thanks for posting Summer!
Hi Brian, thanks for visiting! Mango and cherries are great. I don’t usually add fresh cherries to salads, only dried. I’m thinking I may have to change things up and start using the fresh ones too!