Wild Rice Salad is a delicious blend of wild rice, pecans, apricots, onions and golden raisins. It's served cold as a salad, and has a savory curry dressing.
What's Special About This Dish?
Wild Rice Salad is one of those recipes you can't stop eating. I mean, as I write this blog post, I'm scarfing down spoonfuls every minute. Gosh, it's soooooo good!
This rice dish goes with just about everything, so it's my first choice when I want to serve a cold salad that's packed with flavor. During holidays and special occasions, it tastes great with turkey or ham.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
The curry in this dish also makes a nice accompaniment to chicken or salmon. When summer rolls around, it's the perfect side for grilled pork tenderloin.
Wanna know the best part? It can be made ahead and kept for several days in the fridge, which allows room in the oven for holiday casseroles. Now, that's a groovy dish!
How to Make Wild Rice Salad
Start by stirring a cup of wild rice with 4 cups of boiling water in a dutch oven. (ad) Cover and simmer for 30 minutes over medium low heat, stirring often. While the rice is cooking, chop a small onion, a few apricots, and a cup of pecans. Throw in some golden raisins for sweetness.
Next, gather the ingredients you'll need for the dressing which includes apple cider vinegar, olive oil, sugar, curry and salt. Whisk the dressing ingredients together, then pour over cooked rice in the dutch oven. Add the other ingredients and give it a big stir. Garnish with parsley.
How Long Does it Have to Chill?
Once this salad chills in the fridge for at least 4 hours, it absorbs all of the flavors, which makes it taste amazing. It's even better if refrigerated over night.
My sisters-in-law absolutely love this recipe and beg me to make it for ever holiday. Try Wild Rice Salad for your next holiday meal, or anytime in-between. If you do, please leave a comment below and let me know how it goes!
More Salads to Love
- Rainbow Salad
- Steak & Potato Salad
- Cranberry Pecan Salad
- Rock & Roll Chicken Salad
- Egg Salad Toast
- Toasted Pecan Peach Salad
Wild Rice Salad
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Wild Rice Salad is served cold and keeps well in the refrigerator for holiday meals. It's a great alternative to heavy sides at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Ingredients
RICE
- 1 cup wild rice
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
- ½ cup golden raisins
DRESSING
- 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. dried curry
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. parsley, minced
Instructions
- Bring wild rice to a boil in a dutch oven (ad) filled with 4 cups of water.
- Turn down heat, cover and simmer rice for 30 minutes until soft, stirring frequently.
- While rice is cooking, chop pecans, onion and apricots. Place in a bowl and add golden raisins.
- To make dressing, whisk vinegar, olive oil, sugar, curry and salt together in a separate bowl.
- Pour dressing over cooked rice in dutch oven. (ad) Stir well.
- Add pecans, onion, apricots and raisins to rice and mix together.
- Garnish with parsley.
- Store rice in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
Notes
Substitute dried cranberries or cherries for apricots if desired. It's fun to change the dried fruit depending on the season.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Method: Dutch Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: wild rice salad, apricots, pecans, cranberries, wild rice, salad, holiday recipes, Thanksgiving, Christmas
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Carol Tyndall
Oh Debi-this dish is sooo good! Perfect accompaniment for any meal!
★★★★★
Debi
Yay! I made it just for you, Carol!
Joan in VA
It sounds really good. But, I do have a question. I have a friend who is allergic to onions. I was wondering how much leaving the onion out would affect the taste.
Debi
Thanks Joan. Great question! I don't think you would miss the onions in this dish because there is a lot of flavor from the curry. It's definitely worth making without them! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Carol McManus
I made this yesterday. Wow! It is delicious and has earned a place on the Covid 2020 new recipe rotation! Thanks!
★★★★★
Debi
Awesome, Carol! I love it too. It's such a refreshing salad with bold flavors. 🙂