Wild Rice Recipes ~ Healthy Salads, Soups & Sides - HealthyGreenSavvy (2024)

Last Updated on February 10, 2023

When was the last time you made wild rice? Can’t remember or think it’s only for holidays? This versatile ingredient deserves more attention and a place in your meal rotation. Once you check out these delicious and healthy wild rice recipes, you’ll be adding wild rice to your repertoire regularly.

Not yet wild about wild rice? Get to know this healthy, versatile, and delicious ingredient and you will be…

Wild Rice Recipes ~ Healthy Salads, Soups & Sides - HealthyGreenSavvy (1)

Why You’ll Love These Wild Rice Recipes

A 1-cup servingof wild rice has only about 160 calories and more than 6 grams of protein, twice as much as in most rice. (See morevegan protein sourceshere.)

Wild rice also has a decent amount of fiber,magnesium, and potassium, things most of us fall short on. It also serves up a healthy dose of antioxidants.

Wild rice is gluten-free and technically not a grain but theseed of a marsh grass, so those avoiding grains can enjoy it as well.

It’s easy to cook (more forgiving than regular rice as well as more nutritious).

And there are so many ways to use it!

  • Plain, wild rice is a tastysimple side dish for chicken or fish.
  • Throw some of your leftover wild rice in broth with some veggies for a delicious and easy soup.
  • Then use more leftover wild rice for a tasty salad (recipe below).

Cooking with Wild Rice

Wild rice takes a while to cook, so I like to make a large batchwhen I cook something like salmon and serve it as a simpleside with a vegetable like roasted asparagus.

The leftovers are then transformed into numerous other dishes: A couple nights later, I toss it with vegetables and spices and maybe some of the leftover fish for a filling and easy salad. Another night kids mix itinto chicken broth. I freeze some for nights when I need a quick side for the sometimes fussy little diners in my house.

Wild Rice Recipes ~ Healthy Salads, Soups & Sides - HealthyGreenSavvy (2)

I like to soak wild rice ahead to reduce cooking time. It’s pretty straightforward to cook on the stovetop and doesn’t require much attention, great for busy cooks who still want to serve delicious and healthy food. (If you want more info on cooking wild rice, here’s a post from the Kitchn with the deets.)

If you prefer crockpot cooking, check out these instructions for crockpot wild rice.

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Wild Rice Recipes

Since this site’s all about practical, and the rice itself takes awhile to cook, I did some careful snooping to find a few wild rice recipes that wouldn’t take too much time or effort.

I don’t know about you, but when the ingredient list takes up most of the page, I move on.

You’re on board with easy, right?

My absolutefavoritething to do with leftover wild rice is transform it into an incredibly easy but completely satisfying protein-packed salad. Call it a bowl, if you like, it’s filling enough to work for dinner and packs well for lunches, picnics and so on. Here’s my easy-peasy template for wild rice salad.

You might use up all your wild rice on that, it’s so good, but if you have more, here are some tempting-looking, not-too-complicated wild rice recipes.

Several of these call fora wild rice blend, but there’s no reason you couldn’t go 100 % wild rice.

Wild rice is native to my now-home state of Minnesota, where they call casseroles “hotdish.” So I had to include a hotdish recipe here. One of the few that didn’t call for the traditional canned soup (no thanks — here’s one of many reasons to avoid canned food) was a chicken and wild rice casserole from Well Plated. Wild ricegoes wonderfully with sweet autumn veggies like butternut squash.

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Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole by Erin Clarke ofWell Plated

Iowa Girl Eatssharesa simple-to-prepare but temptingcrock pot chicken and wild rice soup.

Gimme Some Oven adds in lots of fall vegetables to her cozy autumn wild rice soup.

♦ Mushrooms and wild rice go SO well together, and thisslow cooker mushroom wild rice soup from Easy Cheesy Vegetarian looks just perfect for a cold winter night. I will definitely be trying this when the weather cools again.

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Slow cooker wild rice and mushroom soup Easy Cheesy Vegetarian

♦Pinch of Yum has a tempting recipe forThanksgiving salad that I definitely would not save for holidays. It featuresmangos and looks like a wonderful anytime lunch.

♦ Detoxinista uses fruit, nuts, and an orange vinaigrette in herwild rice salad.

♦Some folks even like wild rice for breakfast! Check out theserecipes for a wild rice breakfast bake, a crockpot porridgeand a wild rice breakfastpudding.

Mmmm… What’s your favorite way to use wild rice? Share your favorite wild rice recipes in the comments!

Using what you have on handis just one strategy for eating healthy on a budget. Find lots more in my FREEguide, Affordable Healthy Food.

Other recipe collections to up your intake of super-healthy foods:

♦ 75+ Healthy Pumpkin Recipes

♦ 50+ Delicious &Healthy Bean Recipes

♦ 25 Healthy Kale Recipesthat Will Make You Crave Kale

Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes + Delicious Recipes

Pin to save these wild rice recipes for later!

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I share inspiringideas for healthy food, gardening, and natural remedies fromacross the blogosphere severaltimes a day. Follow me on Pinterest to see moreawesome finds from other great greenbloggers!

Other photo credits: Meal Makeover Moms, Whitney

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Susannah

Susannah is a proud garden geek and energy nerd who loves healthy food and natural remedies. Her work has appeared in Mother Earth Living, Ensia, Northern Gardener, Sierra, and on numerous websites. Her first book, Everything Elderberry, released in September 2020 and has been a #1 new release in holistic medicine, naturopathy, herb gardening, and other categories. Find out more and grab your copy here.

Wild Rice Recipes ~ Healthy Salads, Soups & Sides - HealthyGreenSavvy (2024)

FAQs

Is wild rice a healthy option? ›

Wild rice is a wonderfully balanced food source, providing a healthy mix of protein and fiber. What's more, it's also relatively low in calories. One micronutrient abundant in wild rice is Manganese. Manganese is an antioxidant, and plays a role in keeping the mitochondria in your cells healthy.

Can you eat wild rice cold? ›

Yes! Wild rice is delicious hot, warm, and cold. It's absolutely delicious at all temperatures.

Is it OK to eat wild rice everyday? ›

Wild rice is a special type of grain that's chewy and tasty. It's higher in protein than regular rice and contains several important nutrients and an impressive amount of antioxidants. What's more, eating wild rice regularly may improve heart health and lower your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Is wild rice anti inflammatory? ›

Reduces Inflammation

Instead of acid-forming like most grains, wild rice is alkaline-forming. The balance created by consuming alkaline-forming foods helps your body treat and prevent all sorts of inflammation.

What happens if you don't rinse wild rice? ›

The chief reason to rinse is to remove surface starch from rice grains, which can make them gummy as they cook. Soaking allows rice to absorb water, giving it a leg up on cooking. This helps it to have a better, more even texture, instead of drying out while the inside is not evenly steamed and fluffed.

Can you eat too much wild rice? ›

Some side effects of ergot toxicity include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, dizziness, seizures and mental impairment. Similarly to regular rice, wild rice may contain heavy metals. Over time, heavy metals can accumulate in the body and cause health problems.

Does wild rice go bad in the fridge? ›

How long can I keep wild rice? Uncooked wild rice keeps up to 10 years in an airtight container. Cooked wild rice (plain) keeps 1 week when refrigerated. Drain well; store in airtight container.

Is wild rice better for you than white rice? ›

Wild rice has less calories, less fat, and less carbohydrates than both brown and white rice. It is also a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids. Additionally it contains more fiber, potassium, and zinc than white and brown rice. After wild rice, brown rice is the next best option.

Which type of rice is the healthiest? ›

For example, whole grains are better for our health when compared to simple carbs – which is why brown rice or black rice are regarded as the healthiest options. You should certainly be looking into eating whole grain rice.

Is wild rice a good or bad carb? ›

Wild rice is a type of grain derived from grasses in the Zizania genus of plants. Compared with other types of rice, wild rice is significantly lower in carbs, with 32 grams of net carbs in each 1 cup (164 gram) serving of cooked wild rice ( 18 ). Plus, wild rice is brimming with health-promoting antioxidants.

Is wild rice hard on your stomach? ›

Rice is another great food to turn to when your stomach hurts. Just make sure it's white, as brown or wild rice are challenging for your body to digest — especially when you haven't eaten much else. Try eating a bowl of rice once you know that you can stomach solid food.

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