Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries & Pecans
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 2/3 cups wild rice or wild rice blend we used Lundberg wild rice blend (This translates to 5 cups cooked)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried apricots cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 cup pecan halves broken into pieces
- 1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1/4 cup red onion diced
- 1/4 cup green part of green onions sliced thin
Lemon Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt or more to taste -- NOTE: the pistachios we used were salted; use more salt if unsalted pistachios
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper or more to taste
Instructions
Cook the rice
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- While waiting for water to boil, rinse rice to remove some of the starch.
- When water is boiling, add rice to water and cook rice as you would pasta. Cook in boiling water for 30 minutes. Taste the rice, should be cooked but firm. You do not want a mushy rice. As cooking times vary by brand, you may need to cook a few minutes longer but we have always been good with 30 minutes.
- Drain rice into a strainer with small holes (you don't want to lose the rice!) and run cold water over it to remove any remaining starch.
- Set aside and let cool.
Lemon Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
- Whisk all ingredient together until well combined.
Salad
- Add all ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine. PRO Tip: When making as part of meal prep, I sometimes like to keep the dressing separate until serving so that it stays fresher. And when you add dressing, a little goes a long way!
- Serve cold or room temperature.
- Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
I made this as a side dish for my Sunday family dinner night and it was a HUGE hit! I got compliments from everyone (even the kids!!). I used Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Medley and it made a little more than 5 cups of rice so I made a little extra dressing and it was still delicious. Thanks for the awesome recipes!
So happy you all loved it! Love the way you adapted the recipe so that it worked and was easy! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Loved this. It was perfect for Thanksgiving. I replaced the pistachios with pinons because that was what I had on hand.
Happy you loved it! It’s one of my favorites! Pine nuts are a great substitution — did it need extra salt? The pistachios definitely add some salty flavor to the salad…
Big hit!! Will be making this again, likely for thanksgiving! ?
Oh, I replaced the apricots with mandarin oranges, cuz it’s what I had in the house! It was really delicious!
Yay! So happy you love this salad as much as we do! I think we may make it for Thanksgiving too!
I love a recipe like this that’s so intuitive (but I never intuited it)! Of course these flavors would be fabulous together—why didn’t I think of this?—so that’s why I couldn’t wait to make it, and it was even better than I thought. Second time around, I subbed sweet potatoes for rice (not as good, but my garden yielded a bumper crop this summer). Thank you.
This is delicious!! I’ll be making it again soon and also plan to serve it on Thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So happy you love it! And so perfect for Thanksgiving! Thank you!
Really great recipe! Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make. Everyone loves it😊
Thank you so much! Happy you love it too!
I made this wild rice salad to go along with Thanksgiving dinner and it was an absolute hit! Used the same recipe, but also added some roasted butternut squash and it paired so well with Turkey! Just made another batch to go along with leftovers for the week! The dish is so easy to make and is delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
One of my favorite salads! Happy you all loved it too! Butternut squash is always a great add –love it here! Thanks!
WOW! WOW! WOW! What a great recipe! Just made it for a Pot Bless dinner tonight. Made it before reading the ratings and I concur with everyone! Thank you for such a great recipe 🤗
Thank you!! So happy you love it too!
Delicious! I added a little chopped up broccoli because I wanted to. This would make nice addition to a dinner party menu. Thank you so much!
Thank you love it! And I agree, it is perfect for a dinner party! Always a crowd-pleaser and doesn’t have to be heated!
This looks delicious! Do you think the dressing would still taste good without the garlic? Sensitive stomachs over here to garlic. TIA…
Most definitely! There is not a lot of garlic and lots of other great flavor! Hope you love it!
Delicious! Next time I will try adding some avocado.
Delish! Thanks so much for recipe. I added apples and we loved it.
So happy you love this salad too! Apples are a great add!