Wild Rice Salad

This simple cold Wild Rice Salad is a riff on Gulfstream’s Wild Rice Salad recipe.  It’s a delicious mix of wild rice and brown with onion, celery, cashews, pecans and figs.  It’s festive enough to serve for the holidays, but easy enough to make any night of the week.  

This cold rice salad comes together in about an hour.  It’s made with a delicious blend of brown rice and wild rice, celery, onion, dried figs, and roasted pecans and cashews all tossed in a light vinaigrette.

Gulfstream is a popular restaurant in Newport Beach that’s known for its seafood, but their amazing wild rice salad is also a popular feature on the menu. This delicious rice salad is my riff on Gulf Stream’s Wild Rice Salad.  It’s festive enough to serve for the holidays and simple enough to serve with grilled chicken or fish any night of the week. 

Wild Rice Salad Recipe

This cold rice salad has a delicious combination of flavors and it’s super easy to make.

• Water. We need enough salted water to cook the rice in.
• Wild Rice Blend. We use a lend of wild rice and brown rice for this salad.
• Dried Figs. These and a nice sweet flavor to the salad.
• Nuts. We toss toasted pecans and cashews in this salad for flavor and texture.
• Onions. We use both green onions and red onions for this salad.
• Celery. Celery adds a nice crunch to this salad. 
• Vinaigrette. The vinaigrette to toss this salad with is an easy one to make. We use red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, honey and olive oil.

Find printable recipe with measurements below.

How To Make Wild Rice Salad 

1. Make Wild Rice. Combine the water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Drain well and cool. Transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl.  
2. Make Vinaigrette. Add the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a mason jar, seal the lid, and shake well. Refrigerate before serving.
3. Chop Ingredients. Chop the figs, pecans, cashews, green onion, red onion and celery. Toss in the bowl with wild rice. 
4. Toss Salad. Toss the ingredients lightly with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.

Is Wild Rice Gluten-Free?

Wild rice is naturally gluten-free.

Looking For More Healthy Side Dish Recipes?

• Homemade Spanish Rice
• Spanish Quinoa
• Lemony Quinoa with Turmeric
• Pesto Cauliflower Rice
• Caramelized Onion Quinoa

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Yield: Serves 4

Wild Rice Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes

This simple cold Wild Rice Salad is a riff on Gulfstream's Wild Rice Salad recipe.  It's a delicious mix of wild rice and brown with onion, celery, cashews, pecans and figs.  It's festive enough to serve for the holidays, but easy enough to make any night of the week.  

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup wild rice/brown rice blend
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dried figs
• 1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
• 1/3 cup chopped toasted unsalted cashews
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion tops
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

For The VInaigrette

• 1 tablespoons raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon pure clover honey
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine the water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Add the rice. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.
3. Drain well and cool.
4. Transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl.
5. Add the figs, pecans, cashews, green onion, red onion and celery

For The Vinaigrette

1. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, honey and olive oil to a mason jar.
2. Place the lid on the jar and shake vigorously until well blended,
3. Pour the vinaigrette over the rice mixture and toss well.
4. Season salad with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 535Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 32gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 663mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 5gSugar: 12gProtein: 6g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.