• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • Work With Me
  • Contact

CPA: Certified Pastry Aficionado

Wild Rice Salad

appetizer· Easter· salad· sides· Summertime Favorites· Tailgating Recipes
April 15, 2021

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Wild Rice Salad – Hearty wild rice is tossed in a tangy vinaigrette with dried cranberries, sliced almonds, corn, and red onion to make for a delicious salad that will completely shock you

photo of wild rice salad on a white plate with a spoon set in the center

Some of my favorite recipes to share are my recreations of meals I’ve loved from restaurants. My latest obsession was a side dish that I ordered on a whim because I wanted something refreshing. It’s the Wild Rice Salad from Houston’s Restaurant. From the first bite, I was in love. I was immediately shocked by the punch of flavor from the vinaigrette. I love a great, simple vinaigrette. It really can take a dish from “bleh” to “pow!”

In honor of the spring season, I thought I’d share this dish that is both bright in color and flavor. It’s super simple to make and can be made at the beginning of the week and enjoyed little by little each day. Or make it for a BBQ as an alternative to the potato or macaroni salads you’ve been enjoying over the years.

Without further ado, here is my Wild Rice Salad!

overhead shot of wild rice salad on a white plate

How to make this salad

This salad is just as simple as any other salad you’ve made. The most time consuming part is cooking the rice. Wild rice is super hearty so the grain takes some time to cook, about 40 minutes. This is a lot longer than traditional white rice, which takes about 20 minutes.

angled overhead shot of cooked wild rice in a sauce pan with a wooden spoon

Once the rice is cooked, it’s added to the homemade vinaigrette, along with dried cranberries, corn, sliced almonds, red onion, and fresh parsley. Combine them all together and the salad is done! Simple as that!

overhead shot of all ingredients used in wild rice salad
shot of all wild rice salad ingredients in a clear bowl before combining together

Tips & Tricks

  1. This recipe calls for a wild rice blend, which is wild rice plus some brown rice. If you cannot find a wild rice blend in stores, simply use 1/2 cup of wild rice and 1/2 cup of brown rice. You pay have to cook them separately if the cooking instructions are different.
  2. Wild rice takes a long time to cook so make sure you give yourself enough time to cook the rice and to let it cool to room temperature before assembling the salad.
  3. When cooking the rice, do not add seasoning. The dressing used in the salad has seasoning so you don’t want to risk over seasoning it. It’s always better to under season and add more salt than over season and not be able to fix it.
Print Recipe

Wild Rice Salad

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the salad:
  • 1 cup uncooked wild rice/brown rice blend
  • ¼ cup sliced almonds
  • ½ cup cooked corn kernels
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
For the dressing:
  • ½ clove garlic minced
  • 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  • Cook wild rice blend according to package instructions. Do not season the rice. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
  • In a large bowl, add all dressing ingredients. Taste dressing and add more seasoning, if necessary. Add rice, almonds, dried cranberries, corn, onion, and parsley. Toss together to combine. Serve immediately or chill until planning to serve. Salad will stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Pin for later:

collage of photos featuring wild rice salad on a white plate

More recipes you’ll love:

Citrus Almond Salad
zoomed in shot of citrus almond salad on a trivet, shot from a side angle
Lemon Avocado Pasta Salad
a bowl of Lemon Avocado Pasta Salad with a spoon in it, shot from the front
Apple Pecan Farro Salad

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

10 Comments

« French Almond Cakes (Financiers)
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Comments

  1. Aly says

    April 20, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    Yum! That looks so good!

    Reply
  2. LIZ CLELAND says

    April 16, 2021 at 1:35 pm

    This is nice to have some other ideas to use rice in. We have rice with pork or mixed with some quinoa.

    Reply
  3. Bella says

    April 16, 2021 at 11:45 am

    Yumm this looks so so good!! I love rice, I need to make this recipe so tasty!

    Reply
  4. Jen @ JENRON DESIGNS says

    April 16, 2021 at 11:38 am

    Yum this is a perfect dish for a meatless Monday, which we try to do every week over here at our place. While we are not vegan or vegetarian we fall into a Pecastarian relm and the meatless options help to keep us on track, can’t wait to try this one!

    Reply
  5. Katherine Fox says

    April 16, 2021 at 10:07 am

    This sounds, and looks like, one of the very best wild rice salad recipes I’ve ever seen! I pinned it so I can surprise my boyfriend with something a little different this weekend! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Jac says

    April 16, 2021 at 5:40 am

    Simple yet delicious! Thanks for the lunch idea! Even my kids enjoyed it with a baked sweet potato.

    Reply
  7. Adrianne says

    April 16, 2021 at 4:50 am

    This salad looks seriously amazing! I love the simple combination of ingredients and the dressing sounds to die for ! Can’t wait to make this on the weekend.

    Reply
  8. Beth says

    April 16, 2021 at 2:23 am

    I made this for my hubby and I for lunch, and it’s so delicious! We devoured this salad and I’ll definitely make this again!

    Reply
  9. Maria says

    April 15, 2021 at 10:51 pm

    This honestly looks so quick and easy to make, and my gut tells me that this is a hearty and filling meal. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I’ll make sure to try it this weekend.

    Reply
  10. Jo says

    April 15, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    So flavorful and filling! Love it!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi, my name is Sharon. I’m an accountant by day, risk-taking baker and food enthusiast by night. Come join me as I share my favorite recipes and test out new ones along the way!

ORDER MY NEW COOKBOOK NOW!

photo of entertaining made easy cookbook available for preorder now

fall flavors

portion of sweet potato gratin being removed from casserole dish, revealing gooey center

Sweet Potato Gratin

styled shot of Turkey Noodle Soup

Turkey Noodle Soup

pumpkin challah bread sliced with a knife

Pumpkin Challah Bread

stacked maple walnut cookies on a red orange napkin and one cookie with a bite removed

Maple Walnut Cookies

Roasted Brussel Sprouts in a baking dish with melted butter and a spoon in it, shot from a side angle

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Breakfast
Appetizers
Entrees
Salads
Sides
Drinks
Desserts
Roundups
Holidays

Browse by Date

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy Policy

fall flavors

a trio of gingerbread souffles on a serving platter

Gingerbread Soufflé

styled shot of Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria

Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria

oatmeal rolls sitting on a baking sheet

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

slice of pistachio loaf on a cutting board with the rest of the loaf in the background

Pistachio Loaf

picture of apple pecan farro salad served on a white plate

Apple Pecan Farro Salad

 

Apple pie egg rolls have cinnamon apples rolled in Apple pie egg rolls have cinnamon apples rolled into an egg roll wrapper with cream cheese and air-fried until crispy. They are finished with an enrollment of cinnamon sugar.

To find this recipe, search for apple pie egg rolls on certifiedpastryaficionado.com

#apples #appledesserts #applecinnamon #appleseason #falldesserts #desserteggrolls #eggrollwrappers #airfryer #airfryerdesserts #airfryercooking #yum #eatingfortheinsta #instayum #picoftheday #foodblog #delicious #nomnomnom #feedfeed #foodietribe #eeeeeats #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #buzzfeedfood #TODAYfood #foodblogeats
Apple cider bundt cake is a perfectly spiced Bundt Apple cider bundt cake is a perfectly spiced Bundt cake sweetened with apple cider.

To find this recipe, search for apple cider bundt cake on certifiedpastryaficionado.com

#bundtcake #applecider #appledesserts #falldesserts #fallcakes #autumnbaking #cider #homebaking #spicedcake #yum #eatingfortheinsta #instayum #picoftheday #foodblog #delicious #nomnomnom #feedfeed #foodietribe #eeeeeats #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #buzzfeedfood #TODAYfood #foodblogeats
Apple cinnamon Charlotte has brioche stuffed with Apple cinnamon Charlotte has brioche stuffed with cinnamon apples, baked, and covered in a cinnamon sabayon sauce

To find this recipe, search for apple cinnamon Charlotte on certifiedpastryaficionado.com

#apples #appledessert #brioche #stuffedbrioche #applecinnamon #cinnamon #falldesserts #homemadedesserts #bakedapples #yum #eatingfortheinsta #instayum #picoftheday #foodblog #delicious #nomnomnom #feedfeed #foodietribe #eeeeeats #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #buzzfeedfood #TODAYfood #foodblogeats
Oatmeal dinner rolls are homemade dinner rolls mad Oatmeal dinner rolls are homemade dinner rolls made with oatmeal and brown sugar.

To find this recipe, search for oatmeal dinner rolls on certifiedpastryaficionado.com

#dinnerrolls #rolls #sidedish #bread #baking #oatmeal #bakedrolls #brownsugar #homebaking #yum #eatingfortheinsta #instayum #picoftheday #foodblog #delicious #nomnomnom #feedfeed #foodietribe #eeeeeats #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #buzzfeedfood #TODAYfood #foodblogeats
My favorite pumpkin loaf is the most moist, perfec My favorite pumpkin loaf is the most moist, perfectly spiced pumpkin loaf. I make this every year and freeze extra for leftovers. It’s my all-time favorite loaf cake.

To find this recipe, search for pumpkin loaf on certifiedpastryaficionado.com

#pumpkin #pumpkinbread #pumpkinloaf #spicedpumpkin #pumpkinrecipes #falldesserts #autumndesserts #bakeddesserts #yum #eatingfortheinsta #instayum #picoftheday #foodblog #delicious #nomnomnom #feedfeed #foodietribe #eeeeeats #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #buzzfeedfood #TODAYfood #foodblogeats

Copyright © 2023 Certified Pastry Aficionado · Web Design by Viva la Violet

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.