Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries is a colorful fall salad packed with chewy wild rice, sweet-tart cranberries, toasted nuts, and a bright cider-Dijon dressing ~ perfect for Thanksgiving, but just as good for lunches all season long.
A colorful and crunchy wild rice salad is one of my fall staples. It debuted on the site in 2014, and has been a reader favorite ever since.
Comment highlights
➡ “I made this salad for Thanksgiving and it has since become a regular rotation in my family’s dinners. Sooo good. Great textures and zing.“
➡ “It was a conversation piece… so colorful and just pretty. Everyone who tried it loved it.”
➡ “I’m always asked to bring this!”
Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to make a wild rice salad
If quinoa and farro are already in your rotation, add wild rice. It has that chewy, nutty texture that makes a fall salad feel substantial enough for lunch, dinner, or a holiday table.
- Naturally gluten-free ~ wild rice is actually an aquatic seed, not rice at all.
- Great texture ~ chewy, nutty, and sturdy enough to hold up to a punchy dressing.
- Made for fall flavors ~ cranberries, apples, pears, toasted nuts, squash, herbs, and sharp cheeses all work beautifully with it.
- A great make-ahead salad ~ the flavors settle in as it chills, so it’s especially handy for lunches and holiday cooking.
- More than a side dish ~ use wild rice in salads, grain bowls, soups, or as the base for a simple fall lunch.
Cider Dijon dressing pulls it all together
This is a sharp, slightly sweet cider-Dijon vinaigrette that cuts through the chewy rice and rich toasted nuts. Shallot gives it a little bite, while honey rounds out the vinegar. Use it on other fall salads, too!
- olive oil
- cider vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- shallot
- honey
tips for making wild rice salad with cranberries
- Cook it until pleasantly chewy. Wild rice should be tender but still have some bite; some of the kernels will split as they cook, and that’s perfectly normal.
- Salt the cooking water. Wild rice needs seasoning from the start or the finished salad can taste flat.
- Dress the rice while it’s warm. Toss the drained rice with some of the cider-Dijon dressing right away so it can soak up all that flavor.
- Toast the nuts. It makes a surprisingly big difference in both flavor and crunch. I do mine in a skillet or quickly in the microwave.
- Make it ahead. This salad is especially good after the flavors have had time to mingle. Refrigerate it, then give it a good toss and add a little extra dressing if it needs waking up.
I’m not gonna lie, this is a chewy salad. There’s texture upon texture in here; you know you’re eating real food and it’s wonderful. Some grain based salads can be mushy or heavy; this one is neither. I think you’ll love it for the holidays, but will find yourself making it over and over again.
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Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice, rinsed
- 1/4 cup pecan halves
- 1/4 cup shelled pistachios, rough chopped,, roasted and salted is fine
- 1/4 small red onion, finely minced
- several small inner stalks of celery, with leaves, minced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 small shallot, finely minced
- 1 tsp honey
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a quart of water and a teaspoon of salt to boil in a saucepan and add the rice. Return to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and cook for about 30-40 minutes, or just until the rice is tender but not mushy. Some of the grains will be splitting. Note: Wild rice will always have a little bite to it, so don't try to cook it until completely soft.
- While the rice is cooking, put the pecans in a large skillet and toast, over medium heat, until you smell them and they start to turn slightly brown. Take them off the heat and let them cool before giving them a rough chop. You can also do this in the microwave: spread out in a single layer, just 2 minutes on high.
- Whisk together the dressing or shake in a small jar. If you put the top on and shake it vigorously, it should emulsify. Taste it to adjust the amount of vinegar or seasonings.
- Drain the rice well and transfer to a large bowl.
- Toss the warm rice with some of the dressing, then add the rest of the ingredients.
- When ready to serve, add more dressing if needed, and toss well.
Notes
Nutrition
more wild rice recipes
Beet and Wild Rice Salad with Spiced Pecans
My beet and wild rice salad with spiced pecans goes from packable lunch to holiday table ~ this superfood salad is healthy and super delicious!!
Creamy Wild Rice Soup
A thick, creamy wild rice soup just like the kind you'd get at an old fashioned supper club in the midwest. My secret ingredients make it the best!
Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice and Mushrooms
Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice and Mushrooms ~ this earthy, stick-to-your-ribs skillet dinner is ideal for a chilly fall night!
How to Cook Wild Rice
Simple instructions for the best way to cook wild rice for delicious fall recipes.
This is amazing. Love all the flavors. I added a lot of lentils to mine to boost protein in salad.
Interesting idea to add beans, I’m all for it!
When you say fig vinegar, do you mean fig balsamic vinegar? Thank you!
Any type of fig vinegar will work, I think it does tend to be balsamic. If you like it, it will work!
I just made this salad and I absolutely LOVE it!
I always make my wild rice in broth instead of water and I added diced apple to the mix because I had some. It’s a gorgeous salad and the texture and flavors are incredible! Thank you!
I love this salad. It’s perfect for fall. Absolutely delicious.
Wild rice takes forever to make so I make a ton of wild rice and freeze it in 2 cup batches.
This salad came together very quickly for me.
I think that’s such a smart idea to make the wild rice once and freeze it for the rest of the season, I’m going to do that.
Thank you for the recipe. Made it for thanksgiving dinner. We never have healthy dishes on the table. I been trying to eat healthier and felt no better way to stay focused on healthier eating, than to make something healthy for the table myself. It was a conversation piece and it looked so colorful and just pretty. I love pretty food and it was so delicious everyone who tried it loved it. I made it with pinenuts, pepitas ( pumpkin seeds ) and cashews. Love the texture & flavor of this salad. Thank you again!
Thanks Lisa, what a nice comment, I could just picture this pretty salad on your table 🙂
Just made this for our Thanksgiving. It tastes and looks great. I used white wine vinegar and added a little more honey than called for. Also, skilled the salt as I used salted nuts. Yum! A nice change.
Thanks Cory, glad you like it!
Hi Susan, not sure you saw my note on FB but I made this and it is Delicious. Very mild flavors but not boring. You COULD add more mustard to the dressing to give it more zing but I liked it as is. I COULD have used a little more dressing though. I saw another poster commented on the combo of textures and that is the best thing about this. Nothing strong here and so healthy and good.
So glad you liked it Shirley, and always feel free to play with the amounts etc in my recipes to tailor it to what you love. I agree about the textures, so wonderful in this salad!
I used toasted slivered almonds .. yummy
I’m so glad you liked this salad Mary, it’s one of my favorites!
Just wondered about the celery – after chopping, what would be the measurement (in cups) used, approximately? Thank you! Can you tell I’m a novice cook?
You can start with half a cup, Janet, but if you like more feel free to add more.
Love love love this recipe!
Wild rice is such an interesting grain (grass!) I love to experiment with it. Hope you like this Manu <3