Wild Rice Chicken Salad

This Wild Rice Chicken Salad is great for lunch! It's made with roasted chicken breasts, cranberries, almonds, and a mayo Dijon dressing.

If you're looking for a healthy lunch or light dinner, be sure to check out this Chicken Wild Rice Salad. This flavorful salad can be served on its own, in a wrap, or inside lettuce cups.

Spring is just around the corner and that means I start to crave meals that are lighter and full of bright flavors. Chicken salad is a great dish to enjoy for lunch or a light dinner during the warmer months.

This version is made with roasted bone-in chicken breasts that are diced and then tossed together with cooked wild rice, garlic and shallots, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and a mayo Dijon dressing.

It's got a nice blend of savory, sweet, earthy, and tangy flavor. The wild rice gives this salad a nutty flavor, the cranberries add sweetness and tanginess, and the almonds provide a crunchy texture.

This salad can be served on its own or in a wrap or lettuce cups. It's healthy, gluten free, and won't weigh you down. It can also be made with rotisserie chicken, leftover roasted chicken or turkey or leftover wild rice, cutting back on cooking times.

Jump to:

• What Is Wild Rice?
• How To Cook Wild Rice
• How To Roast Chicken For Chicken Salad
• Which Chicken Is Best For Chicken Salad?
• Ingredients For Wild Rice Chicken Salad
• How To Make The Dressing
• How To Add Flavor To Chicken Salad
• How To Make Wild Rice Chicken Salad
• What To Serve With Chicken Wild Rice Salad
• How Long Does This Salad Last In The Fridge?
• Can It Be Frozen?
• Wild Rice Chicken Salad

What Is Wild Rice?

The great thing about chicken salad is that it's incredibly versatile and can be customized in many different ways. You can jazz up chicken salad with any number of grains, dried and fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, and dressings.

This version is prepared with one of my all-time favorite ingredients; Wild Rice. The wild rice gives it a delicious earthy flavor, excellent texture, and a heartiness that you don't typically find in chicken salad, making it feel more like a meal.

Wild rice is not rice but technically a 'water grass seed'. It consists of a grain that is harvested from a species of aquatic grass. Wild rice is grown and harvested across the northern United States and Canada. It's ubiquitous here in the state of Minnesota.

Wild rice is low in fat, high in protein, and a great source of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. It's also naturally gluten free.

It's super healthy and can be added to all kinds of dishes from salads to soups to casseroles.

How To Cook Wild Rice

Wild rice is easy to prepare, but does take a while to cook. It's usually cooked in a pot on the stove top and takes 45-50 minutes to finish cooking. Cooking times vary slightly depending on the brand used and how tender you prefer your wild rice.

I recommend using long grain wild rice for this recipe and not a wild rice blend or seasoned wild rice. Wild rice is naturally gluten free, but wild rice blends or seasoned wild rice may contain gluten. For the best results, stick with long grain wild rice.

Wild rice is usually made with a 4:1 ratio of water to wild rice. This means that the ratio calls for 4 cups of water to 1 cup of dried wild rice.

Wild rice fluffs up quite a bit as it cooks, and 1 cup of dried wild rice yields about 3-4 cups of cooked wild rice.

You can also prepare wild rice using the Instant Pot. Check out this recipe for Instant Pot Wild Rice if you prefer to cook it using that method.

1. To make the wild rice, add 4 cups of water and ¼ tsp. of kosher salt to a small pot.
2. Bring the water to a boil.
3. Once boiling, add 1 dried cup of long grain wild rice and stir until combined.
4. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45-50 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed and the wild rice is tender, but not mushy.
5. Drain any excess water and set the cooked wild rice aside to cool.

You can also use leftover cooked wild rice to make this Wild Rice Chicken Salad.

How To Roast Chicken For Chicken Salad

When it comes to this chicken salad, you can roast the chicken in the oven, use leftover roasted chicken or turkey, or opt for rotisserie chicken.

If you choose to roast the chicken, I recommend using bone-in (also known as split) chicken breasts. Split chicken breasts are great because they are roasted with the bone and the skin, which keeps the meat moist and flavorful.

Roasting chicken breasts is easy to do and can be done ahead of time. All you need to roast the chicken is some olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, and a baking sheet.

It takes about 40-45 minutes to roast the chicken at 375 degrees Fahrenheit and it can be prepared at the same time as the wild rice.

Cooking times will vary, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. The best way to tell if chicken is fully cooked is to insert a food thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. The chicken is ready when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. To roast the chicken, start by heating the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place 2 bone-in (also known as split) chicken breasts (equals 2 - 2 ½ lbs. of chicken breasts) onto a baking sheet.
3. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. of olive oil over the chicken breasts, making sure that both the top and bottom are evenly coated in the oil.
4. Sprinkle ¼ tsp. each of kosher salt and pepper over the top of the chicken breasts.
5. Flip the chicken breasts over and sprinkle another ¼ tsp. each of kosher salt and pepper over the second side.
6. Place the chicken breasts skin-side up on the baking sheet.
7. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast the chicken for 40-45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit using a food thermometer.
8. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove the baking sheet from the oven and set aside, allowing the chicken to cool.

Which Chicken Is Best For Chicken Salad?

As mentioned, you can use roasted split chicken breasts that are diced or shredded, any leftover roasted chicken or turkey that you have on hand, or a rotisserie chicken.

You can dice or shred the chicken, depending on your preference. I like a chunky chicken salad, so I dice the chicken, but either is fine.

You can pick up a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store and it's already fully cooked and seasoned (make sure to check the ingredients to see that it's gluten free).

1. Place the cooked and cooled chicken breasts or a rotisserie chicken on a cutting board and dice or shred the chicken, depending on your preference.
2. Make sure to remove and discard any bones before adding to the chicken salad.
3. Feel free to include the skin if you like. If not, simply discard the skin.
4. You should end up with about 4 cups of diced or shredded chicken. Place the cooked chicken into a large bowl.

Ingredients For Wild Rice Chicken Salad

Here's what you'll need to make it.

• 2 Bone-In Chicken Breasts (also known as split chicken breasts) (equals 2 - 2 ½ lbs.) (or 1 2 lb. rotisserie chicken) (yields 4 cups cooked chicken)
• 1 cup Long Grain Wild Rice (yields 3-4 cups cooked)
• 4 cups Water
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 Shallots
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• ⅓ heaping cup Mayo
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. White Wine Vinegar (can use red wine vinegar)
• 1 tsp. each Kosher Salt and Pepper (split)
• ¾ cup Dried Cranberries (or dried fruit of choice)
• ¾ cup Slivered Almonds (or sliced almonds) (or unsalted nuts of choice)

How To Make The Dressing

I aimed to allow the natural flavors of the ingredients shine through with this Wild Rice Chicken Salad and didn't want to overload it with dressing.

I like the dressing to bring out the flavors in a salad like this and to provide a base that ties the whole thing together.

This dressing is made with mayo so it's slightly creamy. Dijon mustard is added for a little kick and some white wine vinegar brightens it up.

1. To make the dressing, combine a heaping ⅓ cup mayo, 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. of white wine vinegar, and ¼ tsp. each of kosher salt and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Stir all of these ingredients together using a small whisk or a fork until completely combined.

• I recommend a Dijon mustard over a grainy country mustard as this can change the texture of the dressing but you can use any variety you like.
• Feel free to red wine vinegar in place of white wine vinegar. White wine vinegar is great for salads like this because the flavors are bright and not overpowering.

How To Add Flavor To Chicken Salad

For extra color, sweet and tangy flavor, and crunchy texture, I love to add some dried fruit and nuts to this Harvest Salad.

I added dried cranberries (also known as craisins) and some slivered almonds. You can use sweetened or unsweetened cranberries, depending on your preference and sliced or whole almonds if you prefer.

I recommend using unsalted almonds or nuts of choice so that the salad does not become too salty.

• Instead of dried cranberries, you can use dried cherries, figs, prunes, apricots or any kind of dried fruit.
• Feel free to swap out the almonds for any kind of unsalted nuts. Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts are all great choices. Seeds such as pepitas or sunflower seeds may be used if you have a nut allergy.
• Feel free to add some feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, or any kind of dry, salty cheese if you'd like to add some richness.

How To Make Wild Rice Chicken Salad

Once the chicken, wild rice, and dressing are ready all that's needed is to combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss with the dressing.

It's important to keep in mind that this chicken salad is not 'creamy' like most recipes out there. Most of the dressing is absorbed by the chicken and wild rice so the texture is not 'creamy', but it does help to bind the ingredients and the dressing brings out the flavor of the ingredients without overwhelming them.

Minced garlic and onions are added to the chicken salad for extra flavor. I recommend using shallots instead of onions because they are more mild and less pungent than onions. Feel free to use ¼ of an onion in place of the shallots if that's what you have on hand.

1. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and 2 shallots (or ¼ of an onion, any color).
2. Place the 4 cups of diced or shredded chicken, 3 cups of cooked wild rice, the minced garlic and shallots, and ¾ cup each of dried cranberries and slivered almonds into a large mixing bowl.
3. Drizzle the dressing into the bowl and stir until combined.
4. Continue until all of the dressing is added and the salad is completely combined.

This recipe yields 8-10 servings, making for a large batch. You can cut the recipe in half if you prefer a smaller amount.

What To Serve With Chicken Wild Rice Salad

The wild rice gives this chicken salad a hearty quality and makes it feel like a meal. This means it can be enjoyed for lunch, a light dinner, as a side dish, or a salad for a potluck.

It can be served on its own or in lettuce cups. Lettuce cups are light and don't overpower the flavors of the salad.

It would also be great in a wrap, served with crackers, or simply eaten with a fork.

Feel free to garnish this salad with some fresh herbs like chives or parsley for extra color and flavor.

A salad like this one pairs well with roasted vegetables like maple Dijon Brussels sprouts, Mediterranean cauliflower, Parmesan roasted cauliflower, or roasted green beans.

It feels like a lunch you would order at a bistro served alongside a cheese plate or fresh fruit.

Looking for more lunch recipes? Don't miss these!

• Smoked Salmon Arugula Quinoa Salad
• Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwich
• Dill Egg Salad
• Quinoa Zucchini Shrimp Salad
• Mustard Egg Salad
• Italian Quinoa Arugula Salad

How Long Does This Salad Last In The Fridge?

Any leftover chicken salad may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

If using for meal prep simply divide among 4-5 airtight containers, store in the fridge, and enjoy throughout the week.

The chicken and wild rice may both be prepared the day ahead and stored in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator until the salad is assembled.

Can It Be Frozen?

For optimal taste and texture, I do not recommend freezing this salad.

If you have leftover cooked wild rice, you can add it to your favorite soups, salads, or casseroles.

Love chicken salad? Don't miss these recipes!

• Lemon Basil Chicken Salad
• Tarragon Chicken Salad

Love wild rice? Check out these recipes!

• 25 Gluten Free Wild Rice Recipes
• Autumn Wild Rice Salad
• Wild Rice Fennel Stuffing
• Wild Rice Turkey Soup

Looking For More Chicken Salad Recipes? Don't Miss These!

Deli-Style Chicken Salad

Mexican Chicken Salad

Avocado Chicken Salad