This show-stopping cranberry-orange Wild Rice Pilaf is made with seasoned wild rice, juicy clementine oranges, sweet, dried cranberries, crisp apples, and more! To amp up the flavor even more, we toss the pilaf in a simple orange-honey vinaigrette.
Wild Rice Pilaf
After testing Crockpot Chicken Wild Rice Soup, I had a good amount of wild rice leftover and was brainstorming ways to use it. Suddenly it came to me: why not make a fall-inspired pilaf? I combined elements from these two beloved salads — Autumn Crunch Pasta Salad and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with a brand-new dressing recipe to create this pilaf. Truly, I couldn’t be more excited about how it turned out.
The wild rice is deeply savory and is balanced with sweet additions like cranberries, apples, and oranges. The sweet-tart dressing ties everything together beautifully. Wild Rice Pilaf makes the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners this year. I know it has a spot reserved on our holiday table!
There are a few components to this pilaf — the wild rice, the veggie/fruit additions and the dressing. I’ll break down each aspect below and share some great make-ahead tips if you’d like to prepare this in advance for a holiday dinner.
Wild Rice
While you can use plain wild rice (not to be mistaken with black rice — read about differences here), I like using a wild rice blend best. Wild rice isn’t like regular rice; it’s much heavier and dense, so the blend helps keep it from being weighed down.
The rice that I’ve had the best results with is this wild rice blend by Lundberg®. I highly recommend that blend if you are able to find it; you’ll find it near other varieties of rice, quinoa and couscous.
To infuse the wild rice with plenty of flavor, we cook it in chicken broth with a few seasonings and a pat of butter. Wild rice takes a while to cook and needs to be completely cooled before being added into this pilaf, so make sure to plan ahead time-wise.
Wild Rice Pilaf add-ins
- Celery: Celery adds a nice crunch! Dice it into small pieces; I like to slice celery stems in half width-wise before thinly slicing length-wise.
- Dried sweetened cranberries: we’ve also used dried tart cherries in this wild rice pilaf and love both.
- Clementine oranges: We use clementines in both the pilaf and the dressing.
- Flat-leaf Italian parsley: Go with flat-leaf Italian parsley, as opposed to curly for this recipe. Flat-leaf parsley has a more robust flavor and curly parsley is used more commonly as a garnish.
- Pepitas: Roasted and crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds) make for the best addition in this Wild Rice Pilaf! They add a sweet and nutty flavor, similar to sunflower seeds, but a bit sweeter. You can make your own roasted pepitas or buy them at the store. If you buy them, make sure they’re roasted and salted (not raw). You can generally find them in the bulk section of a grocery store, or with other salad toppings like candied nuts and dried cranberries.
- Pecans: If you have extra time, I recommend toasting the pecans before chopping and adding to the pilaf.
- Apple: Any sweet and tart apple will work in this recipe. Our personal favorites are Honeycrisp or Fuji, but if you’d like more of a tart flavor, grab a Granny Smith. If you’d prefer the apple without skin, simply peel it before chopping and adding to the pilaf.
Quick Tip
Clementines which are a hybrid of mandarin and sweet oranges. These clementines are easy to peel, usually seedless, and sweeter than most other citrus fruits. I highly recommend “Cuties” or “Halo” brands. While clementines look similar to tangerines, the flavor profile is quite different.
Clementine dressing
This sweet-tart dressing is the perfect finishing touch to this Wild Rice Pilaf. We use clementines — both the zest and juice to infuse the dressing with a lovely orange flavor. A few notes on the dressing:
- Use a microplane (like this one) to zest only the very outside bright orange part of the clementine. Avoid the white pith below the peel.
- This citrus juicer makes juicing the clementines a breeze!
- Make sure to use Dijon mustard, not yellow. There’s a big flavor difference.
Converting Wild Rice Pilaf into a main dish
We love this wild rice pilaf with thinly sliced grilled chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken added in.
We’ve also enjoyed it on the side with a grilled flank steak (check out this Grilled Flank Steak recipe and skip the chimichurri).
Make Ahead
Wild Rice Pilaf is a great dish to make ahead. Here’s what you can do ahead of time:
- Prepare the wild rice 1-2 days in advance. Refrigerate in a separate airtight container and make sure to fluff with a fork before adding in the other pilaf ingredients.
- Prepare the dressing 1-2 days in advance and store it in a mason jar. Don’t be concerned if the dressing separates or forms clumps — this is just the olive oil solidifying which it does at cold temps. Take the vinaigrette out of the fridge about 20-30 minutes or so before you need it to bring it back up to temperature; then shake it up to remix.
- Chop nuts. Chop the nuts and measure out the pepitas; store together in a plastic bag or airtight container at room temperature.
- Prepare the toppings. The oranges, parsley, and celery can all be chopped ahead of time and stored together in the fridge.
- To assemble: Toss the chilled wild rice, prepared toppings and dressing together. Quickly dice an apple and throw in the prepared nuts. Gently stir everything to combine and enjoy!
The assembled Wild Rice Pilaf keeps nicely in the fridge for a few hours, but after that, the apple will begin to brown and the nuts will soften.
More Holiday Side Dishes
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a crispy Parmesan topping
- Crockpot Mashed Potatoes ultra creamy!
- Spinach Salad with bacon and apples
- Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup with chickpeas
- Green Bean Casserole from scratch
Wild Rice Pilaf
Equipment
- Medium pot nonstick
- Mason jar or other sealable container
Ingredients
Wild Rice
- 1 cup wild rice blend I use Lundberg
- 3-1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Pilaf
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced celery 2 to 3 stalks
- 3 clementine oranges I like Cuties and Halo
- 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1 large apple Fuji or Honeycrisp
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice optional
- 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped, see note 1
- 3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
- 1/3 cup roasted and salted pepitas
Dressing
- 1 clementine orange
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Thoroughly rinse the wild rice blend in a fine mesh sieve with cold water until the water runs clear. In a medium nonstick pot, add chicken broth, mustard, butter, salt, parsley, pepper, and dried thyme. Bring to a boil, then add rinsed rice. Cover and reduce heat to low (just above the lowest low setting). Simmer 45–60 minutes or until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed (stir occasionally, returning the pot lid as soon as stirring is done). Add additional broth if rice has absorbed all the liquid and is still not tender.
- Check if rice is done at 45 minutes and every 5–10 minutes after that (my stovetop takes about 50–55 minutes). If rice is tender but still has liquid left, drain off additional liquid. Once tender, remove the pot from the burner, leaving the lid on, and let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Cover and chill in fridge until cooled through.
- Zest and juice a clementine to get 1/2 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice. Combine clementine juice and zest with all dressing ingredients in a mason jar. Season with salt and pepper (I add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper). Seal and shake to combine. Refrigerate until ready to dress.
- Prep the pilaf ingredients: Cut celery stalks in half width-wise, then thinly slice. Peel clementines and separate into segments, then cut segments in half. Finely chop parsley. Peel (if desired; I leave peel on) the apple and finely chop. Squeeze fresh lemon over all. Coarsely chop pecans.
- Add everything to the large bowl with the chilled wild rice—celery, clementines, parsley, apple, pecans, dried cranberries, and pepitas. Toss gently to combine. Drizzle dressing over everything to your desired preference (you may not want to use all the dressing). Gently toss again, then taste and adjust seasonings; I usually add another 1/4 teaspoon salt here. Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes before serving. Gently toss again to combine and serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
