Holiday Wild Rice Salad

What You’ll Need

Here’s everything you need to create this festive fall & winter salad. Scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact ingredient amounts.

• Bacon – I like to use a good-quality, thick-cut bacon.
• Chicken broth – Use a low-sodium broth to cook the wild rice, for extra flavor.
• Wild rice – Look for whole grain 100% wild rice, for the prettiest appearance. Don’t use cracked wild rice or a wild rice pilaf blend.
• Salt – I add a little bit to the wild rice to lightly season.
• Apples – Use your favorite crisp, sweet apple. Royal Gala, Honeycrisp, or Granny Smith apples. You can also go for pears.
• Lemon juice – To sprinkle over the apples, to prevent browning.
• Fresh greens – They should be sturdy like arugula, baby spinach, or baby kale.
• Pomegranate seeds – They’re like bright, juicy holiday jewels! These are also called pomegranate arils. You can use a whole pomegranate or buy the seeds/arils already removed (find them in the refrigerated fresh produce section).
• Grapes – I like to use big red grapes, but green are good too.
• Blue cheese – Crumble it yourself (my preference) or buy blue cheese crumbles.
• Pecans – I recommend the roasted and salted ones from Trader Joe’s. Walnuts and pistachios are also good.
• Maple Dijon Dressing – Try my recipe or use your own favorite. Balsamic vinaigrette is a great swap.

How to Make This Wild Rice Salad Recipe

Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe card.

• Cook the bacon. Using your preferred cooking method, cook the bacon until it’s chewy-crisp, then set it aside. Once cool, chop it into bite-sized pieces.
• Make the rice. Pour the broth into a medium-large pot over high heat. Let the broth come to a boil, then add the rice and salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Simmer for 50-60 minutes or until the rice splits open and curls. Remove from the heat and drain away any excess liquid. Fluff it with a fork and set aside to cool.
• Prep the rest of the ingredients. While bacon and wild rice are cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients:
  • Slice the apples and toss them with lemon juice to curb browning.
  • Remove the seeds/arils from a pomegranate.
  • Slice the grapes in half.
  • Chop the pecans.
  • Crumble the blue cheese.

• Assemble the salad. Add a layer of greens to a serving platter. Arrange all of the prepared ingredients over the top. Serve with dressing on the side. Enjoy!

Tips & Variation Ideas

This wild rice salad is very versatile – make it your own!

• Use the right wild rice. I beg you to use only whole grain 100% wild rice for this salad. It offers the prettiest look, and really lets that (Minnesota) wild rice shine.
• Fully cook the wild rice. Make sure to let the wild rice simmer long enough, until the hard outer shell splits open to let the chewy inside pop open.
• Use a good quality bacon – When bacon is such a prominent ingredient in a recipe, such as this salad, I like to splurge on really good bacon. I grab some from our local butcher shop.
• And a good blue cheese! I also like to pick up a little wedge of creamy, pungent blue cheese and crumble it myself with a fork. It’s so much better that some of the blue cheese crumbles out there.
• Other fresh fruit. Add pears, grilled peaches, mandarin orange sections, fresh raspberries, or pitted black cherries.
• Dried fruit. Dried cranberries, figs, dates, and blueberries are beautiful additions.
• Swap out the blue cheese. I know that blue cheese is not for everyone. So swap it out if you like, or just add another cheese option, such as shaved or cubed Parmesan, large-shredded Monterey jack, goat cheese crumbles, or cubes of feta or brie.
• Use a different meat. Thinly sliced prosciutto or chopped ham would be a good substitute for the bacon. And to make this a Thanksgiving main entree salad, add roasted or smoked turkey!
• Add avocado. Chopped or sliced avocado would add a lovely creamy texture.
• Other nuts. I always recommend using roasted, salted nuts, for the best flavor and texture. Besides pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and almonds are also great.
• Use your favorite dressing. I ALWAYS use my maple Dijon dressing for this salad, but would fully support if you’d rather use a balsamic vinaigrette.

What Goes With Wild Rice Salad?

I most often serve this salad as the main course. It goes perfectly with:

• A bowl of soup: Try my savory squash soup or creamy potato soup. It’s also beautiful with oyster stew for the holidays!
• Some bread: Bake some light and fluffy homemade Rhodes rolls. Or serve steaming popovers or flaky cream biscuits.

How to Store Extras

To keep all the ingredients separate, store each ingredient in their own container, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If desired, just mix it altogether in one larger bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate.