Arugula and Wild Rice Salad with Zippy Lemon Dressing
This wild rice salad includes arugula, dried cherries, toasted almonds and feta, tossed in a zippy lemon dressing! It's gluten free, filling and delicious.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 22, 2024
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Have you tried wild rice in your salads yet? I’m hooked! Wild rice is chewy, nutty, and hearty. It’s high in protein and B vitamins, and adds a strong backbone to healthy green salads.
This salad is wholesome and filling, with plenty of bold arugula and bursts of flavor in the form of toasted almonds, creamy feta, dried tart cherries and fresh basil.
I shared this recipe several years ago, but I’m afraid the photos weren’t doing it justice. This salad should be a strong contender for your Thanksgiving table. It could pull double-duty as a hearty vegetarian option and serve as wild rice stuffing. It’s also a great healthy weekday option as the holidays approach (leftovers pack well for lunch).
If you aren’t quite sold on the concept yet, I have a little story for you. My boyfriend usually claims that arugula is too “peppery” for his liking, and initially declined the salad. Then, he got a look at it and asked for a bite. Then, I heard, “This salad is really nice.” After a few more bites, “Why is this so good? What’s in it?” Finally, “This is so good. Will you make this for me on my birthday?” Victory!!!
Wild Rice and Arugula Salad Tips
To make this salad in advance: You’ll want to cook the wild rice beforehand, at minimum. You could also whisk together the dressing, and compose the salad (don’t toss it with the dressing until you’re ready to serve). Store any components in the fridge, covered, for up to two days.
You can cook the wild rice in your Instant Pot, if you have one. It turns out great, and it’s nice not to babysit the pot while it’s cooking. See the recipe notes for details (I learned how to cook wild rice this way when I made this wild rice salad, from Megan’s The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook.
Don’t skip the toasted almonds step. Toasting the almonds brings a lot of irresistible savory flavor to this salad! The almonds can burn quickly, so don’t step away from the stove while they’re cooking.
Crumble the feta by hand. I always recommend crumbling your feta (or goat cheese) with a fork before using, rather than buying the pre-crumbled kind. Pre-crumbled is coated in powder to prevent clumping, and it doesn’t taste nearly as good (it’s also more expensive per ounce). The only exception to this rule that I’ve found so far is the crumbled feta by Organic Valley.
You can easily double the recipe for a larger crowd. As written, it yields 4 medium hearty salads, or could be stretched to up to 8 side servings. The arugula wilts down quite a bit (which is nice), but the wilting effect does make the salad look less substantial than it really is.
Watch How to Make Arugula and Wild Rice Salad
Please let me know how this salad turns out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback.
Looking for more Thanksgiving-worthy salads? Here are a few of my top picks:
- Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Arugula Salad with Sunshine Dressing
- Favorite Green Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Pepitas
- Balsamic Butternut, Kale and Cranberry Panzanella
- Autumn Kale Salad with Fennel, Honeycrisp and Goat Cheese
Arugula and Wild Rice Salad
This wild rice salad includes arugula, dried cherries, toasted almonds and feta, tossed in a zippy lemon dressing! It’s gluten free, filling and delicious. Recipe yields 4 medium salads, or 8 small side servings.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup wild rice, rinsed
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 5 ounces arugula (about 5 packed cups)
- ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh basil (from one ⅔ ounce container)
- ½ cup dried tart cherries or cranberries, chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (about 2 ounces)
Lemon dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon), to taste
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To cook the wild rice, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the rinsed rice and continue boiling, reducing heat as necessary to prevent overflow, for 40 minutes to 55 minutes, until the rice is pleasantly tender but still offers a light resistance to the bite. Remove from heat, drain the rice and return the rice to pot. Cover and let the rice rest for 10 minutes, then remove the lid and let the rice cool.
- To toast the almonds, warm one teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and a pinch of salt and cook until they’re turning lightly golden and fragrant, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until blended.
- To assemble the salad, transfer the cooled rice to a large bowl. Add the arugula, chopped basil, almonds, sour cherries and feta. Pour in the dressing, toss well, and season to taste with additional salt (I usually add another pinch or two) and pepper. If the salad needs more fresh, bright flavor, add up to 1 tablespoon more lemon juice.
- Set the salad aside for 10 minutes before serving, to give the rice time to soak up some of the dressing. This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for two to three days. You might need to wake up leftovers with an extra drizzle of olive oil and squeeze of lemon (the rice absorbs the dressing over time).
Notes
Recipe inspired by Plenty More and my trip to Michigan to learn about tart cherries.
Make it vegan: Skip the feta cheese and substitute maple syrup for the honey.
Make it nut free: Substitute pepitas for the pecans.
Instant pot option: Add the wild rice and 1 ¼ cups water to the Instant Pot. Secure the lid and move the steam release valve to Sealing. Select the Manual/Pressure Cook option and cook on high pressure for 22 minutes. When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then move the steam release valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure. When the floating valve drops, remove the lid and give the rice a stir. Let the rice cool for at least 10 minutes before tossing with the remaining ingredients.
Change it up: You can change up the whole grains (farro would be my top pick), almonds (pecans or pepitas would be lovely), feta (goat cheese would work just as well), and dried cherries (simply use dried cranberries). If you can’t find fresh basil this time of year, you can safely omit it.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
We’ve returned to this recipe time and time again. It gets rave reviews from guests and holds up well for leftovers. We follow the recipe as is for ourselves but recently made a vegan version for a friend using dairy-free feta crumbles. It was just as good and no one could tell it was a vegan feta substitute.
I love wild rice so I made this salad for Thanksgiving with a large crowd. A ton of people asked for the recipe afterward and are passing it on to their friends. Success!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Robin.
I’ve made this salad for two Christmas Eve dinners in a row. Last year cranberries (couldn’t get the cherries) and almonds, this year cherries and toasted pecans. Both were delicious, made a lovely presentation at the table and bonus, most of the recipe can be made ahead. Wonderful salad!
Enjoyed this last night for dinner. All the flavors worked so well together, loved the toasted almonds. I didn’t have basil but will put that in next time as this will be a repeat for sure. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Doreen!
Delicious! There is an amazing synergy with the varied flavors and the chew of the rice. I’ve made it twice this week and am in process of making a third batch
That’s great! I’m glad you have made it three times already.
If I want to double the recipe & am cooking the wild rice in my insopot, do I double the water? I love this recipe & have made it many times, but have never doubled it!
Hi! I believe so, but I don’t use my Instant pot all the time so I’m not sure. Sorry!
My 10-year-old son loves raw vegetables and salads, and he said this recipe is his favorite thing to eat in the whole world. We don’t even use the dried fruit or feta cheese, and it’s still absolutely fantastic. Thank you for all your delicious and healthy recipes!
I love that he enjoys veggies and salads! That’s great. I appreciate you taking the time to review, J.
This was so good! I didn’t have basil on hand, but used parsley and scallions I had and it was delicious! I paired it with salmon. Delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Naomi! I appreciate your review.
Amazing recipe! Just wow… what an incredible blend of flavors. Served alongside baked cod. Used spinach but otherwise kept the recipe as is. Both my son and I loved it, and my dog liked a few of the dried cranberries! So yummy. It will be gone by morning. For those wondering whether or not to keep the basil, I would make a special trip to the store for it every time. Or grow my own!
I’m excited this was a hit for everyone, Rame! I appreciate your review.
I don’t know if I already commented, but it can’t hurt to say it twice. I love this recipe! I’ve made it for dinner guest twice and I’m bringing to someone’s house for dinner tonight at their request. I’ve switched the arugula for baby spinach, and that works too. I love wild rice, and the dressing is great and versatile. Thank you for a delicious recipe
You’re welcome, Alene! I appreciate your review.
Made this last night and it was amazing!!! I used cranberries because that’s what I had. Definitely making this again!!
I loved this salad. I doubled the dressing so I could marinate chicken and grill it. I eliminated the cheese since we don’t like cheese but I don’t think the recipe even needed it. I will definitely make it again.
That’s great to hear, Diane. I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Huge hit in my house! Made it exactly as written. This is a seriously delicious salad — I made it tonight and my partner has already requested it weekly. Thank you for yet another amazing recipe :)
You’re welcome, Elizabeth! I appreciate your review.
This salad is awesome! I find it even better the next day. I love your site and all the amazing recipes that you share with us.
Thank you Kate!
That’s great to hear, Sherry! I appreciate your review and kind words.
I discovered your blog just a few months ago, and I LOVE IT!!
This recipe is AMAZING! Im thinking I might try dried blueberries as well. Thinking I could even add chicken for a switch up for the kids.
All in all, DELICIOUS!!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Jane.
Delicious! My sister in law made this with baked salmon. We all needed this recipe!! My 13 year old son even devoured it.
Hooray! Thank you for sharing, Anne.
I have made this salad and loved it. I want to make it again, but since last time natural wild rice has become impossible to find. Two questions: Have you used “cultivated wild rice” in this recipe (I have found this available)–and liked it?; and 2) would you make any adjustments if you were going to add some rotisserie chicken to the recipe? (I’m feeding two carnivore men!). Thank you!
I can’t say I have. Sorry! I don’t eat chicken as a vegetarian so I can’t speak to that.
I’m not exaggerating when I say my partner and I have made this salad about a hundred times. We love it! It’s our go-to salad and often we eat it as a meal. Love your recipes, thank you so much for everything you do!
I am on day 5 of lunches with this great salad. I add more fresh lemon juice before serving and it does the trick. Next time I’ll use-and buy-arugula. I only had baby spinach on hand – it was good with that but I think arugula will be fantastic. I also added pomegranate arils because I had them – little bursts of flavor along with dried cranberries!
Hooray! I’m glad you are still enjoying it, Jill. Thank you for your feedback.
Super good. Husband gave it 9.5 out of 10. Not 10 just because you should never close that door. Ha! We preferred it with dried cranberries but otherwise as written. Delish!
That’s great! Thank you for sharing, Marta.
Brought this to a potluck and got rave reviews. It’s delicious! I made it with the dried cranberries and feta and used honey in the dressing. I left out the basil because I didn’t have any on hand. It didn’t feel like anything was missing, though I may add it in the future if I have it. Will definitely be making it again!
Made this tonight and it was delicious!
I had some Forbidden rice (black rice) in the pantry that had been sitting for a few years. I know – it’s so embarrassing when good ingredients are left to go bad. I came across this recipe while looking for a rice salad. What a perfect balance of flavors! The husband thought it was going to be “weird” but ended up loving it.
Reading the comments, I think subbing avocado for the goat cheese would be a perfect way to veganize it and retain the creaminess.