Apple Wild Rice Salad is a beautiful and delicious salad with layers of spinach and romaine lettuce, apples, grapes, cranberries, and walnuts with a creamy homemade avocado yogurt dressing. Perfect salad for entertaining a crowd and holiday gatherings.
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Wild rice is so delicious in salads. These hearty whole grains add nutty flavor and a chewy texture that's just so satisfying.
When paired with juicy apples, sweet grapes, chewy cranberries, crunchy walnuts, crispy bacon, and creamy dressing without mayo, you get a wholesome cold wild rice salad that's as tasty as it is beautiful.
Because this harvest salad is arranged it layers, you can make it several hours ahead of time, so it's perfect for holidays and entertaining.
It's also quite pretty and will make a great addition to your dinner table for any special occasion.
You can even turn this into a main dish salad by adding a layer of leftover Thanksgiving turkey or rotisserie chicken!
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Why You're Going to Love This Wild Rice Salad
Hearty salad with sweet and savory flavors from earthy wild rice and fresh fruit
Beautiful holiday side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings
Delicious no mayo dressing is made from avocado and Greek yogurt
Great recipe for entertaining because you can prepare it hours in advance
Ingredients
Romaine and spinach. A combination of soft and sturdy greens adds texture and flavor to the salad. Feel free to toss in your favorite fresh greens like peppery arugula or hearty kale.
Cooked wild rice. Wild rice adds heartiness, nutty flavor, and chewy texture to the salad. If you can find canned wild rice in your grocery store, it's a great way to make this salad in little time. I treat it like canned beans -- drain and rinse well.
Apples. Apples add a fresh crispy crunch to this wild rice salad recipe. I'm partial to Braeburn apples because they're sweet and tart. Honeycrisp, Fuji, and Pink Lady are also great in a cold salad.
Red Grapes. Halved grapes add juiciness and a pretty, colorful layer to this salad. I chose red for flavor and contrasting color, but green grapes will also work well.
Dried cranberries. Dried cranberries bring chewy texture, bursts of sweetness and ruby red color.
Walnuts. Walnuts add a necessary crunch factor to the salad, You can also use crunchy pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts.
Green onions. Green onions have a mild onion flavor without overpowering the salad. Red onion is a great substitute. Check here for more green onion substitutes.
Feta cheese. Creamy feta adds tangy flavor and salt. Blue cheese or goat cheese are delicious crumbly cheese alternatives.
Bacon. Crispy bacon is the crowning glory on this wild rice salad. You could also crisp up some prosciutto or pancetta. If you’re avoiding meat, skip the bacon and sprinkle a few more cranberries and green onions on top for color.
Avocado Greek Yogurt Dressing
Avocado. Avocado becomes smooth and creamy when blended, making it a delicious and healthy base for salad dressings.
Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt makes the blended avocado even creamier. You can use full-fat, low-fat or nonfat.
Orange zest. A little orange zest adds so much flavor to the salad dressing. Use the orange juice to toss with the apples in so they'll stay fresh until you're ready to serve the salad. You can also use lemon zest and lemon juice.
Maple syrup. The dressing gets its sweetness from maple syrup. You can use honey or regular sugar, if you prefer.
Dijon. Dijon adds richness and a mild tang to the dressing. You can use any kind of mustard. Click here to find the best substitutes for Dijon.
Apple cider vinegar. If you don't have apple cider vinegar, you can use white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or citrus juice like orange, lemon, or lime.
How to Make Apple Wild Rice Salad
Prepare the wild rice according to the package directions. To add more flavor to the wild rice, cook it in chicken broth or vegetable broth. If using canned wild rice, drain and rinse it well.
Make the salad dressing. Add the avocado, Greek yogurt, zest of one orange, maple syrup, Dijon, and apple cider vinegar to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and creamy.
If you don't have a food processor or blender, you can mash the avocado with a fork in a small bowl and whisk it with the rest of the ingredients. It may not be as creamy, but will still be delicious.
Set the dressing aside while you assemble the rest of the salad.
Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces, fry until crispy, and set them on a paper towel lined plate.
Chop the apples and toss the apple chunks in the juice of the orange.
Halve the grapes. Slice the green onions.
Assemble the salad.
Place each of the salad ingredients in a single layer in a large bowl. If possible, use a trifle dish or other clear-sided bowl to show off the beautiful layers.
As you layer, focus on the outer edges and fill in the center with lettuce, as needed.
Assemble the layers in this order:
- Mixture of chopped romaine and baby spinach.
- Wild rice.
- Chopped apples.
- Grapes
- Cranberries.
- Walnuts.
- Green onions.
Spread the dressing evenly across the top of the salad. Crumble the feta and bacon over the top.
Cover the salad with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until it's time to serve. This salad is best served the same day.
Make ahead
To make it a day ahead of time, store all of the components separately in the refrigerator and assemble the salad the next day.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Expert Tips
Tossing the apples in citrus juice will keep the apples crisp and fresh so you can make the salad several hours ahead of time
When building the layers, focus on the outside first, then fill in the center with lettuce, if needed
If you can find canned wild rice in your grocery store, it's a handy shortcut if you don't have time to boil your own
FAQs
Apple wild rice salad can be made several hours in advance, so it's a great side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and entertaining. To make it even further in advance, prepare and store all of the components separately and assemble the salad the day of.
No, just toss the apples in citrus juice, like orange, lemon, or lime, and they will stay fresh and crispy.
If you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge for a couple of days.
More Easy Side Dish Recipes to Try!
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📖 Recipe
Apple Wild Rice Salad
Ingredients
Avocado Greek Yogurt Dressing
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
apple Wild Rice Salad
- 8 ounces bacon
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 2 apples, chopped and tossed in orange juice
- 1 ½ cups red grapes, halved
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- ¾ cup feta
Instructions
- Prepare the wild rice according to the package directions. To add more flavor to the wild rice, cook it in chicken broth or vegetable broth. If using canned wild rice, drain and rinse it well.
- Make the salad dressing. Add the avocado, Greek yogurt, zest of one orange, maple syrup, Dijon, and apple cider vinegar to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and creamy.
- Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces, fry until crispy, and set them on a paper towel lined plate. Chop the apples and toss the apple chunks in the juice of the orange. Halve the grapes and chop the green onions.
- Assemble the salad by placing each layer in a clear bowl, focusing on the outer edges and filling in the center with lettuce, as needed. This is the order I follow:Mixture of chopped romaine and baby spinachWild riceChopped applesHalved grapesCranberriesWalnutsGreen onions
- Spread the dressing evenly across the top of the salad. Crumble the feta and bacon over the top.
- Cover the salad with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until it's time to serve. This salad is best served the same day.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Make ahead
- To make the salad a day ahead of time, prepare all of the components and store them in separate containers. Assemble the salad the next day.
Notes
- Tossing the apples in citrus juice will keep the apples crisp and fresh so you can make the salad several hour ahead of time
- When building the layers, focus on the outside first, then fill in the center with lettuce, if needed
- If you can find canned wild rice in your grocery store, it's a handy shortcut if you don't have time to boil your own.
- If you don't have a food processor or blender, you can mash the avocado with a fork in a small bowl and whisk it with the rest of the ingredients. It may not be as creamy, but will still be delicious.
Nutrition
This salad had lovely flavors and a nice balance of sweet and crunchy. It was very pretty. However, I did not include the rice-not that I don’t like it, I just didn’t have any on hand. Big mistake. I imagine that it helps keep the layers from getting too mushy. I did make the salad a day ahead, and while tasty, it was a bit of a runny mess. If I make it again, I would definitely not skip the rice, and probably wouldn’t make it a full day in advance.
Hi, Keri, I'm so sorry to hear that your salad was mushy! The rice was intentionally layered between the lettuce and everything else as a barrier. So, you're right, that may have been the culprit, as I just haven't experienced that before. In fact, the finished salad photos on this post are actually after a night in the fridge. I'm glad you enjoyed the flavors and hope it turned out for you next time. Thank you so much for your note, Keri. Cara