Mandarin Pasta Spinach Salad with Teriyaki Dressing – this salad is easy, quick, healthy, and tossed in the most addictive teriyaki vinaigrette dressing!
Happy Salad Monday!!! I’ve been looking forward to this moment because this salad is my new obsession. I mean… it’s not like I’ve already made it three times in the past five days or anything…
Oh wait. yes I have.
Once for my husband and myself, then for a neighbor (and myself), and then for a huge family gathering on Sunday (where I was present). Every single time it completely disappeared and everyone raved about it.
And I’m just going to be totally honest – this dressing is positively addictive. It completely makes the salad. And that’s saying something because the combination of craisins + spinach + mandarin oranges + pine nuts + cilantro borders on magical. But the dressing. THE DRESSING.
It makes me want to cry.
Tears of blissful heavenly joy.
I’ve actually doubled the dressing recipe and saved half to keep in the fridge. All day long I find myself looking for anything and everything to dip in this stuff. Pasta, chicken, pretzels, cucumbers. And yes, once or twice I may have opted to go straight for the spoon.
One taste and you will understand what I’m talking about. I am begging you. Make this salad.
Pretty pretty pretty please. Something this incredible has to be shared.
- 8 ounces bowtie pasta noodles
- 4 cups spinach leaves
- ½ cup craisins
- ⅓ cup cashews or Diamond of California Pine Nuts
- 1 4-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup teriyaki sauce (the thicker, the better!)
- ⅓ cup rice wine vinegar (may sub apple cider vinegar)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder (if you have it)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup oil (such as vegetable oil, canola oil, olive oil)
- Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- While pasta is boiling, prepare the dressing. In a jar combine all dressing ingredients. Cover and shake to combine. Chill until ready to use.
- In a large bowl toss together pasta, spinach, raisins, nuts, mandarin oranges, and cilantro. Just before serving pour dressing over salad, toss, and serve.
Recipe inspired by The Style Sisters.
A huge thank you to Diamond of California Nuts for sponsored this awesome salad recipe!
This sounds delicious! I’m always looking for different kinds of salads to make to mix it up a bit.
And it’s SO easy – I made it 3 times this week, it’s quickly become a go-to!
I can only find rice vinegar @ my store NOT rice wine vinegar. Can you give me the brand and where you buy it? Thanks.
Hi Beverly, Rice Vinegar will work as well. 🙂
This is absolutely the best salad I have EVER had!
Isn’t it addicting?! So glad you enjoyed it!!
That looks so yummy. I have never had a teriyaki dressing before so I’m looking forward to something new.
That dressing is honestly probably the best thing you will ever taste – so crazy good!!!
Your salads are always so creative and GORGEOUS! I love that there’s teriyaki dressing, so unique!
Nicole you are so nice – thank you!!! This dressing, I’m totally hooked on it and want to put it on EVERYTHING.
This sounds super yummy! Have you ever added chicken to this salad? You could even bake some teriyaki chicken and throw it in for a main dish salad. I would love to give that a try!
I actually meant to put chicken in this salad!! I had it all planned out and then when I went to make it I realized I hadn’t thawed any chicken from the freezer – gah! so I made it without the chicken and it came out great but I’ve made it since WITH chicken and it was wonderful!!! Definitely perfect for a main dish!
For the dressing ingredients, am I using store bought teriyaki salad dressing or just the typical teriyaki sauce? It said dressing so I’m making sure. Can’t wait to try this!
For the dressing, you use teriyaki sauce that you can find in the Asian aisle! I love the Kikkoman kind in a big bottle, it’s really thick and has sesame seeds in it – it’s my favorite!
Tastes like heaven!
I’m also looking for new homemade salad dressing recipes. And I love that the bowties are mixed in. YUM!
My partner HATES cilantro, but I love it. This salad sounds awesome. Any suggestions for a substitute herb?
Oh what a shame – cilantro is a beautiful thing I would die without it!!!! But you can definitely throw some parsley in there instead. 🙂
Thanks for the suggestion. I might make a portion or two with parsley and the remainder with cilantro. I LOVE it.
Great idea!
Is there a difference between rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar?
Hi Jana, you can probably use either!
Would there be any reason to not use fresh mandarins, Halos? I don’t care for the canned ones and the fresh are in the stores now.
Hi Amy – you could definitely use the fresh ones! The only reason I mentioned the canned ones in the recipe is that they are available all year round and I don’t want anyone to think they couldn’t make this recipe in November! 🙂
I couldn’t find rice wine vinegar, both of the stores I checked had either rice vinegar or white wine vinegar so I ended up using apple cider vinegar…….it was very good!
Yummy !
SO delicious! Love this salad and have made it three times this week. There’s more than enough dressing for this recipe – which is fine, because I can use it all week long. Double the entire recipe, and then in a sealable bowl, layer the cooked pasta, then the oranges, then spinach, then cranberries, then cilantro. No dressing. Then when I want it, I just add the nuts and dressing (already in a jar in the fridge), shake the bowl and done!
Completely obsessed with this recipe. It is so good!!!! It is going to be my new go to for lunches.
Which oil do you prefer to use when making this?
Can’t wait to try it!
I use vegetable oil and it comes out great 🙂
Question: You mentioned using bowtie pasta salad. Do you mean bowtie pasta? Or is this some type of salad mix with bowtie pasta (like Suddenly Salad).
Hi Carol, it’s just bowtie pasta noodles. 🙂
What do you mean when you say 8 ounces bowtie pasta “salad?” Do you mean 8 ounces cooked bowtie pasta?
Yes it is bowtie pasta noodles.
I am wondering about nutrition ad the recipe is written. It that available??
Hi Lindy, I don’t have the nutrition stats but you could always use http://www.myfitnesspal.com – it’s a great source!
i have a question when you say teriyaki sauce what exactly is that.
I have found kikkoman teriyaki marinade and sauce which is very thin and also
Kiikoman teriyaki baste and glaze. Which do you use or is it something different?
Thank you for your help.
Hi Becky, I’d go with the sauce/baste/glaze if it’s thicker. 🙂
This looks DE-lish! I will be pairing this with frilled salmon this weekend. Can’t wait. Thank you.
…and maybe Grilled salmon too 🙂
Salmon would be PERFECT in this salad!
All I have ever made it with is the marinade and I think it is fabulous. My dish is always the hit of the party, which is fun.
This looks great! Could you use teriyaki marinade as a sub for the sauce? I’ve got some sitting in the fridge. Thanks!
Hi Cali! The thicker the teriyaki sauce, the thicker the dressing – which I prefer – but if you have a favorite marinade on hand, I’d give it a try! The flavor is the most important part!
How long could the dressing keep for to re-use for another salad? I made this 2 weeks ago and had more than enough dressing and want to make it again today- do you think the dressing is still good or should I dump it and make more? Thanks!
Hi Jill, I’ve kept this dressing for a couple weeks and it was still great – as long as it isn’t too coagulated it should be just fine! 🙂
Okay, dumb question but – do you serve this as a side? Or as a full meal? I’m looking to make it this week but didn’t know if you were considering your portions to be full meals. Thanks!
Hi Natalie! I typically serve this as a side which feeds 6-8 easily, but I’ve also served it as a main dish for about 4-5 people and added grilled chicken breast. 🙂
I have made this salad twice. I LOVE THIS SALAD. I actually feel like my body craves it. Very good. I omitted the oranges and cilantro and added chopped red onion. SO GOOD!
Chopped red onion = GENIUS! I love red onion so I absolutely have to add that next time!
Would you by any chance know how many calories this salad might have? Probably not too bad. Just curious.
Thanks!!
Hi Cindy, I don’t have the nutrition stats on hand but I recommend using http://www.myfitnesspal.com – it’s free, easy, and I feel like it’s pretty accurate! 🙂
You were right – that dressing is amazing! And this is my new favorite salad. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
1. You’re right, the dressing is AH-mazing!!!
2. Loved the salad
3. I plugged it into my fitness pal, and calculating with 6 servings, it came to 257 calories. I used raisins, olive oil, and pine nuts
I feel like this recipe is totally plagerized from a salad posted on melskitchencafe.com in 2009. The dressing especially. Do you regularly lift recipes from other bloggers and then credit yourself as the “author”? Shady.
No, I never “lift” recipes from other bloggers – as you would have noticed if you had looked at the recipe card, I credited The Style Sisters for inspiration for this recipe. Have a nice day!
This was amazing! I added a bit of arugula and turkey quinoa meatballs. I had fresh mandarins for once so used 2 instead of the canned. Such a fresh, nice salad and I believe I have a new favorite dinner! Thank you!
Holy mother of all things heavenly! I do food prep every Sunday for my work week in my Mason Jars and so I put this salad in the jars (dressing separate). Just had my first today after 3 days of sitting in fridge. It was still fresh, crisp and my all time favorite salad now! I just put the dressing in a small container, poured a little in jar and shook up real good, then poured out on plate. Used a spiral whole wheat noodle and regular raisins but those were the only 2 changes I made, (because they were all I had) and YUMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! My new favorite! Thank you so much for posting!
Hey, I did see someone asked a questions about which Kikkoman teriyaki sauce to use. I have seen both the “marinade & sauce” which is the thinner one and the “baste & glaze” which is the thicker one. But my friend found the Kikkoman Original Teriyaki which is under the Takumi Collection and in a brown bottle. Was the one you used in a brown bottle, a red bottle or an orange bottle. I just want to make it exactly the way you did. On a side note, when my friend was originally making this recipe before she passed it along to me, she missed the part about Teriyaki Sauce and used Soy Sauce instead and said it was the BEST thing ever. I told her it was supposed to be Teriyaki Sauce and she said she can only imagine how good it would be with that instead. So I guess soy sauce is a good alternate if you can’t find Teriyaki sauce where you live. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!!
Hi Anne! Wow, I can’t believe it came out so great with soy sauce, I’m going to have to try that now!! As for the teriyaki sauce, I use this exact one here!
If I were to make this for a family how soon in advance do I need to make it? Driving to North Carolina with it?
Hi Andrea, not sure how far away North Carolina is for you but if you make it just before you head out you should be fine. Just wait to toss the salad with the dressing until you’re ready to serve!
What type of Kikkoman teriyaki sauce do you use? Regular or the glaze? Sorry, I saw what you used in a prior post.
This salad is sooo awesome! Made again for today’s pool party. The dressing is to die for:)
I have an aunt that makes a version of this salad but marinates the cooked pasta in the dressing overnight and uses honey roasted peanuts! This really is one of the best salads I have ever had!!
Ooh I had never thought to marinate the pasta, that sounds amazing!!
I just made this for dinner last night with one variation – I added sliced, grilled chicken breasts to make it more of an entree! This is a divine salad and I will definitely make again. I may add some grilled pineapple chunks, next time, too. Thanks for sharing! (And you are right – the dressing is to to die for!). Bon Appetit!
I love adding chicken to salads to make them a perfect main dish! So glad you enjoyed it and agree that the dressing is so amazing!!
This salad dressing is AWESOME!!! The BEST Asian I have ever had!! All others fall short. The salad is delicious, I used sugar snap peas, red onion, carrots honey roasted almonds and the spinach and mandarin oranges of course. A very versatile salad!
OOh, I definitely have to try adding some sugar snap peas that would be amazing!! Thanks for the idea Gina!!
I can’t wait to make this salad, but I have a question. My husband is allergic to pine nuts. But he can have peanuts or almonds. What would you suggest using?
I would go with the almonds!!
This printed weird. All the “Follow on [social media]” links overlaid the Notes section. Also, the eCookbook promo code printed on there (though without obstructing the recipe text). Dunno if anything can be done about that…
Hi! Sorry about that, it occasionally happens with some printers/devices but I’ve gone ahead and emailed you a print-ready version!
Hi! Sorry about that, it happens occasionally with some printers/devices but I’ve gone ahead and emailed you a print-ready version!
OK. So. At first I was like: “Why is she begging me to make this salad? What is so good about it?” haha…But then I decided to make it and after one bite I screamed: “NOW I know!” It was delicious. All ingrediends were really good friends and the DRESSING. I made homemade Teriyaki dressing and after I finished eating I had to make more for my mom. I bet she will love it! Wonderful! Thank you 🙂
See?? I wasn’t kidding this salad really is incredible right?! Haha – so glad you gave it a try and loved it as much as I do!!!
this salad is very adaptable, using items you have on hand. I did use apple cider vinegar instead of The rice wine vinegar as that is what I had. The dressing is AWESOME!!! I’ve tried other Asian salad dressings, none of them compare to this!
Made this yesterday. It’s got a lot of tastes in it that I’m not used to, but it’s addictive in its strangeness. I had to keep the dressing separate, as the salad’s going to be sitting around for days before it’s finished off, and I had to withhold the pine nuts (to be sprinkled on top) due to concerns of food sensitivity with a roommate. While I’m eating it, I’m never quite sure if I like it, yet I keep going back for more… Thanks for sharing!
This is my family’s new favorite salad! Everyone that has the opportunity to taste it loves it. I recently retired from the Fire Dept and this would have been a huge hit in the Firehouse. Thanks for posting it, it is very rare to have something this easy and wonderful come along. (we also often add grilled chicken or steak to it and it becomes our summer night main dish)
So glad you’ve enjoyed it Mike! I love that you add steak to it, we’ve done chicken many times but now I am craving it with steak!!
I love looking for new recipes but what I love more are the comments when people actually make it and this one sounds like a winner! I am going shopping for the ingredients today! Thank you!
Your recipes are always winners! In making the sauce, I only had runny teriyaki sauce but did have some of your recipe sweet and sour sauce. I put the s & s sauce in the 1/3 measuring cup and topped it off with the runny teriyaki sauce. Debated on leaving out the sugar, because of the s & s sauce, but ended up adding 2 tsp. sugar substitute. It taste great! Eventually I’ll make it the proper way, but this more than works for now. Thank you thank you thank you!
Just made the Mandarin Pasta Spinach Salad… Everyone here loved it!!! Guess what will be my lunch tomorrow??? 😍😍😍
This looks amazing. I can’t wait to make it for a family party. How much should I make for 25 people as a side dish?
Made this tonight and my family really enjoyed it. The dressing is excellent! I need to bring a pasta salad for a large outing and will substitute sunflower seeds in lieu of the other nuts.
Made this today… Love it !!!! Had to make my own teriyaki glaze as I didn’t have any on hand. Put sunflower seeds (all I had) right in the dressing. So good !!! Will use this recipe often!
The awesom picture drew me in but the way you talked about this dressing…my stomach is roaring! I’m going to try this for lunch for sure. Great post!
I hope you do try it Jess, this salad gets amazing reviews and I personally am pretty much obsessed with it ha!
Sooooo, I didn’t make the salad, but I did make the dressing. I made a cold pasta salad and wanted a different dressing than the usually creamy options. Oh my word, this is amazing! And I recommend having a spoon nearby so you can get all the dressing from the bottom of the bowl! Of course, if you’re alone just tip the bowl right up to your mouth!
I saw this recipe and decided to fix it for our Woman’s Club meeting tonight at which time we have a fascinator hat making workshop. I just finished boiling the pasta, draining and rinsing it, drained the mandarin oranges and added the pine nuts for now. Have sealed that and refrigerated. Tonight I will add the raisins and spinach and dressing before serving. I hope it’s a success! Never made it before but it came so highly recommended I couldn’t resist.
You weren’t lying about this dressing.., WOW. So delicious and unlike anything else I’ve had before! I’m not a huge fan of cilantro so I omitted that and added in some red onion and chicken, and holy moly am I feeling fat and satisfied after just gobbling up a huge bowl 😊 will definitely be making again!
So beautiful and healthy! I’m always looking for new salad recipes.
My family loves this pasta salad! We make it with grilled salmon or have added cooked chicken to it as well. It’s my favorite thing to bring to BbQs or big gatherings as its a great crowd pleaser!
This looks absolutely delicious. What I was wondering was how big of a batch does this make? Was wanting to make as a dish to pass for a get together.
I think this serves about 8 people easily as a side dish! You could easily double the recipe if you need more than that! 🙂
this is so good. i bought the ginger teryiaki. whole family loved it
Yay!! So glad you loved it Heidi!!
I made the dressing the day before and put it in the fridge.
The dressing is Wonderful, yes you could just drink it!
It is now my favourite dressing
Think it would also make a nice marinade for chicken
Made the salad but could only find craisin in cranberries here in the UK so used those.
Love spinach, love salad, love pine nuts and mandarins love pasta
So this salad was a hit for us…..
For my granddaughter I just served the pasta with the fruit and the dressing she loved it.
This salad is the best.
I wish all recipes came with nutritional values. Is it possible to include?
Super!!! This is the best salad….este cea mai buna salata!!! in romaneste
I made this with no spinach and no cilantro – -did not have it in the house,
But i did have the following, crazins, a small can of corn, 1 can of diced tomatoes, mandarin oranges and pine nuts – -ITS AMAZING!
Thanks for the recipe.
This is the most delicious dressing I have ever tasted!!! I had to hide it in the back of my fridge so there would be some left to put on the salad for dinner.
Thank you for this recipe! I made it with chicken and fresh mandarins and it was delicious! Will definitely be making this again and sharing it with friends.
Made this and my family loved it! Only difference was that I used Honey Roasted Cashews and 16 oz. drained Mandarin Oranges. It is delicious and makes an attractive presentation! Thank you.
This Pasta Salad sounds something I would definitely Love!! 🙂 Looks fantastic!
One of my go to recipes!