Mandarin Oranges substitute

Best substitute

Fresh clementine, satsuma or tangerine segments

Use one 11 oz can, drained (about 1 cup segments) for every 4 to 5 clementines

Best for ambrosia salad

Different texture

For canned mandarin segments, the best swap is fresh clementine or satsuma segments, using about 4 to 5 peeled clementines for a standard 11 oz can, which drains to roughly 1 cup of fruit. Canned peach slices cut small or canned pineapple tidbits also work at 1:1 drained. If you only have a navel orange, supreme it, meaning cut away every scrap of membrane, because a mandarin has almost no chew to its segment walls and a navel very much does. The distinction that trips people up: canned segments are soft, seedless, membrane-free and sitting in sweet syrup, while fresh mandarins are firmer and less sweet. If a recipe such as ambrosia or a jello salad was built around the canned fruit, fresh segments make it noticeably less sweet and a bit chewier, so add a tablespoon of sugar or a spoonful of the syrup from another can.

Other mandarin oranges substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Canned peach slices, cut into bite-size pieces
Different taste
Use the same amount drained, by volume
A strong practical answer for the classic canned-fruit salads, because it brings the same soft yielding texture and the same light syrup sweetness that makes those dishes work.
What changes
Best for
ambrosia salad, jello and congealed salads, fruit cocktail, cobblers, trifles
Tastes of peach rather than citrus, obviously, and it does not bring the small acidic lift that mandarin gives, so add a teaspoon of lemon or orange juice. Cut the slices to roughly segment size or the salad looks wrong.
3Canned pineapple tidbits or chunks
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount drained, by volume
Already a standard partner to mandarins in ambrosia and Asian chicken salads, so it slots in without looking out of place, and it supplies more acidity than a mandarin does.
What changes
Best for
ambrosia salad, Asian chicken and cabbage salad, fruit cups, sweet-and-sour dishes, upside-down cake
Considerably tarter and more assertive, and it contains bromelain, which means it will stop gelatin setting unless it is the canned kind, which has been heated. Never use fresh pineapple in a jello salad for that reason; canned is safe.
4Navel or Valencia orange, supremed
Different texture
Use one 11 oz can, drained for every 2 medium oranges
The everyday-pantry answer.
What changes
Cutting away the peel, pith and all the membrane gives you naked segments that behave much like canned mandarins.
Best for
green salads, citrus salads, cake decorating, salsas, chicken salad
You must actually supreme it rather than just peel and separate, because navel segment walls are tough and chewy where mandarin walls are barely there. Expect more acidity and a larger, more angular piece of fruit, and you will lose about a third of the weight as trim.
5Canned or jarred grapefruit segments
Different taste
Use the same amount drained
Sold right beside the mandarins in most supermarkets, already membrane-free and soft, so structurally this is the nearest thing on the shelf.
What changes
Best for
fruit cups, green salads, citrus salads, brunch plates
Distinctly bitter and much tarter, which is a real change of direction in a sweet salad, so use half grapefruit and half something sweet like canned peach if you can. In a savoury salad with avocado or fennel it is arguably better than mandarin.
6Frozen mandarin or orange segments, thawed and drained
Different texture
Use the same amount by drained weight
Useful in blended and baked applications where softness does not matter, and often cheaper than fresh out of season.
What changes
Best for
smoothies, sorbet, muffins and cakes, sauces and glazes, compotes
Freezing wrecks the structure, so the segments slump into mush once thawed and are hopeless on top of a cake or in a crisp salad. Drain thoroughly or the extra water will thin a batter or weep into a salad dressing.

What is Mandarin Oranges?

Mandarin Oranges is Mandarin oranges are small loose-skinned sweet citrus, sold fresh as clementines, satsumas and tangerines, and sold canned as peeled segments in light syrup or juice, which is the form most American recipes mean when they say a can of mandarin oranges.

Cooking tips

Know your drained weight. A standard 11 oz can of mandarin oranges yields roughly 1 cup, or about 6 oz, of drained segments. Recipes are almost always talking about the drained fruit, so if you are swapping in fresh, weigh or measure rather than counting cans.
Do not throw the syrup away when you are the one draining a can. A tablespoon or two whisked into a vinaigrette, a glaze or a jello salad puts back sweetness and a little body, and it is the easiest way to make fresh segments taste like the canned fruit a recipe expects.
Fresh pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that stops gelatin setting; canned pineapple has been heat-treated and is safe. Citrus has no such enzyme, so fresh mandarins will set normally. If you are making a congealed or jello salad, use canned fruit or briefly simmer fresh fruit first, otherwise the mould will never set and you will not know why.
For cake decorating and tart tops, canned segments need to be blotted properly dry on kitchen paper before they go on, or the syrup bleeds into whipped cream and pastry cream and turns it soupy within an hour.
In an Asian chicken salad the mandarin is doing a specific job: it is a sweet-acid counterweight to the soy and sesame in the dressing. If you substitute something with no acidity, such as peach, add a squeeze of lime or rice vinegar or the dressing will taste heavy and salty.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the mandarin oranges out?

In a green or chicken salad, yes, though the dressing will taste saltier and heavier without that sweet-tart pop, so add a squeeze of citrus or a teaspoon of honey. In ambrosia or a jello salad the fruit is a large part of the volume and the sweetness, so leaving it out with nothing in its place leaves the dish thin and bland. Any canned soft fruit will fill the space.

Are clementines, satsumas and tangerines the same as mandarin oranges?

They are all mandarins, so yes for cooking purposes. Clementines are the small seedless ones sold in mesh bags, satsumas have the most delicate segments and are the closest to canned in texture, and tangerines are slightly larger, tarter and sometimes seedy. Any of them substitutes for the others one for one.

Can I use fresh mandarins instead of canned in ambrosia or a jello salad?

Yes, with two adjustments. Add a tablespoon of sugar or honey, because canned segments arrive pre-sweetened by their syrup and fresh ones do not, and fresh mandarins set normally in gelatin, unlike pineapple, kiwi or papaya, whose enzymes stop it setting altogether if you are making a congealed salad.

Is canned mandarin the same fruit as canned tangerine?

Effectively yes. Most canned mandarin oranges are satsumas, and cans labelled tangerine segments are the same category of fruit prepared the same way. They are fully interchangeable, and price rather than variety is usually the only difference on the shelf.

Why are canned mandarin segments so smooth compared to fresh ones?

Because the thin membrane around each segment has been removed during processing, which is what makes them so tender and easy to eat. This is why fresh segments always taste slightly chewier in a recipe designed for canned, and why supreming a larger orange, which does the same job by knife, is a better substitute than simply pulling segments apart.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Mandarin Oranges substitute

Other mandarin oranges substitutes

2Canned peach slices, cut into bite-size pieces

3Canned pineapple tidbits or chunks

4Navel or Valencia orange, supremed

5Canned or jarred grapefruit segments

6Frozen mandarin or orange segments, thawed and drained