This Wild Rice Salad with Orange Maple Vinaigrette is a salad worth serving on Thanksgiving! This salad is hearty, filled to the brim with texture, and tossed with a mouthwatering orange maple vinaigrette. It’s made with wild rice, shredded brussels, pomegranate arils, thinly sliced shallots, kale, toasted pepitas, and fresh thyme. It’s a fantastic holiday side dish to make for any type of winter entertaining!
I’m one of the few people that actually wants a little green with their Thanksgiving dinner. I just love salad SO much, and it’s hard for me to have a meal without some type of crunchy veggie – even if it’s Thanksgiving! Don’t worry, most of the real estate on my plate is stuffing and more stuffing, but there’s always room for greens on my plate.
The amount of texture in this wild rice salad is tough to beat. We’ve got wild rice, brussels, pomegranate arils, thinly sliced shallots, shredded kale, toasted pepitas, and fresh thyme. So much crunch! It’s super hearty, so it holds up really well if you want to make it several hours before serving it!
Which makes it perfect for turkey day prep!
This is the salad I think of when I think of a winter salad. All of the cruciferous veggies, lots of colors, so much flavor from the orange, a slightly sweet vinaigrette, fresh thyme, festive pomegranate, and toasty pumpkin seeds. And believe it or not, there’s no cheese! I personally don’t even think it needs it, but I’m never against adding a handful of salty feta or shaved parm. So feel free to make it your own in that sense!
Another way to keep it fresh, is to combine all of the ingredients, minus the dressing in a large serving bowl, and then toss the dressing in when you’re ready to serve! If you want to make the dressing ahead of time, it keeps beautifully in the fridge for several days. It’s SO ridiculously good and it’s my go-to dressing in the colder months for hearty salads like this one.
If I were you, I’d double it!
This is exactly how I’d recommend prepping this salad ahead of time for your Thanksgiving or holiday dinner:
- make the orange maple vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead of time and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge
- cook the wild rice up to 2 days ahead of time and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge
- the morning of, combine all of your ingredients (minus the toasted pepitas and the vinaigrette) in a large bowl and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready for it
- when you’re ready to serve, toss in the pepitas and the vinaigrette, along with a few pinches of salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- finish the salad off with a little orange zest and fresh thyme!
- serve!
I’ve also found that even when I’ve had leftovers of this salad that has been dressed already, it’s still delicious 2-3 days later. That being said – I’d recommend making it ahead without adding the dressing until you serve it!
This is seriously everything you’d want in a Thanksgiving/holiday salad. We’ve got nutty, texture filled wild rice, shredded brussels, festive pomegranate arils, thinly shaved shallot for a mild oniony bite, shredded kale, toasted pepitas, and fresh thyme. AND the most insanely delicious orange maple vinaigrette. Do not be afraid to season the wild rice salad generously with salt and pepper.
I find that the raw, hearty, cruciferous veggies really need to be seasoned generously, whereas a delicate green salad doesn’t need as much! So don’t be alarmed when I tell you to liberally season every layer of this salad with salt and pepper.
Aside from this being a fantastic holiday side, it would be a really great lunch to pack to take to work because it’s so hearty!
Here are a few more of my favorite wintery salads that make great holiday side dishes:
- Honeycrisp Arugula Date Farro Salad
- Fall Harvest Salad with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
- Shaved Brussels Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Mandarins, and Candied Pistachios
- Roasted Cauliflower Kale Salad with Dried Cherries, Walnuts, and Feta
- Autumn Blood Orange Kale Salad
- Spinach Arugula Salad with Roasted Fennel, Tangelos, Pumpkin Seeds, and a Citrus Vinaigrette
Are you guys usually team salad or no salad on Thanksgiving?!
Wild Rice Salad with Orange Maple Vinaigrette
This Wild Rice Salad with Orange Maple Vinaigrette is a salad worth serving on Thanksgiving! It's hearty, filled to the brim with texture, and tossed with a mouthwatering orange maple vinaigrette. It's made with wild rice, shredded brussels, pomegranate arils, thinly sliced shallots, kale, toasted pepitas, and fresh thyme. It's a fantastic holiday side dish to make for any type of winter entertaining!
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 small-medium bunch lacinato/Tuscan kale, de-stemmed and shredded (about 3-4 cups)
- 1 pound brussels sprouts, very thinly sliced*
- 3/4 cup pomegranate arils
- 2 medium shallots, very thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup pepitas, toasted*
- 1 1/2-2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus extra for serving
- orange zest for serving
- salt and pepper to taste
For the orange maple vinaigrette
- 1/2 of a medium shallot, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- juice of 1 navel orange
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- pinch of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Begin by making the rice. Cook the rice according to package directions. Make sure you season the water with a geneous couple pinches of salt! Let cool compeltely. You can also do this a couple days ahead of time and keep it in the fridge!
Make the vinaigrette. To a medium bowl, add the shallot, garlic, orange zest, maple syrup, dijon, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine. Slowly stream in the olive oil, whisking until combined. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.
To assemble the salad, add the kale to a large mixing bowl along with a tablespoon or two of the vinaigrette and a generous pinch of salt. Massage the kale for a minute or two until it has softened and decreased in volume. Add the brussels, pomegranate, shallots, pepitas, thyme, a few pinches each of salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and the vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Season to taste the salad with more salt and pepper (don't be shy here!) Finish the salad with a few grates of fresh orange zest and more fresh thyme leaves. Serve!
Recipe Notes
*You could also buy the pre-shredded brussels sprouts to save time!
*To toast your pepitas, just toast them in a dry skillet over medium-low until they start to make a popping noise and they're golden and fragrant!
*This is exactly how I'd recommend prepping this salad ahead of time for your Thanksgiving or holiday dinner:
- make the orange maple vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead of time and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge
- cook the wild rice up to 2 days ahead of time and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge
- the morning of, combine all of your ingredients (minus the toasted pepitas and the vinaigrette) in a large bowl and keep it in the fridge until you're ready for it
- when you're ready to serve, toss in the pepitas and the vinaigrette, along with a few pinches of salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- finish the salad off with a little orange zest and fresh thyme!
- serve!
[…] This Wild Rice Salad with Orange Maple Vinaigrette is a salad worth serving on a special occasion! It is hearty, filled to the brim with texture, and tossed with a mouthwatering orange maple vinaigrette. It’s made with wild rice, shredded brussels, pomegranate arils, thinly sliced shallots, kale, toasted pepitas, and fresh thyme. Recipe from Spices In My DNA. […]