This hearty and healthy roasted sweet potato wild rice salad is packed with superfoods and nutrients. Perfect for wholesome lunch or dinner.
Do you often cook with sweet potatoes?
Honestly, I am not a big fan of sweet potatoes; however, I try to include them in our diet, given their health benefits. Therefore, I cook them in a way to enjoy my favorite flavors, such as this sweet potato chili, sweet potato gnocchi, etc.
And here I am sharing one more of our favorite dishes that feature roasted sweet potatoes with wild rice and kale salad. You can also include this as a side in the Thanksgiving or holiday party menu.
Ingredients needed
- Wild rice blend - I use a blend of wild rice.
- Sweet potato - peel and dice sweet potatoes into small pieces.
- Kale - clean and chop it into small pieces.
- Pecans - crush or chop them.
- Green apple - preferably use organic green apple. Dice into small pieces.
- Arugula - use fresh organic baby arugula leaves as a salad base.
- Dressing - use a blend of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and freshly chopped parsley to prepare the dressing.
How to make healthy wild rice salad?
Cooking wild rice - cook rice as per instructions given on the package. I either use an Instant pot or cook it on the stovetop. Cooking wild rice on a stovetop takes about 40-45 min while you can cook it in 20 min in an Instant pot on high pressure. Allow it cool before adding it to the salad.
Preparing veggies - In a large frying pan, roast diced sweet potatoes for a few mins. Add chopped kale and cook it until it wilts down. Let the mixture cool.
Preparing salad dressing - In a small mason jar or bowl combine extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, fresh parsley, and salt. Mix everything well.
Making the final salad - Add fresh arugula in a large salad mixing bowl. Then add cooked rice, roasted sweet potato, and kale. Also, add diced green apple, crushed pecans, and the dressing. Using salad spoons or tongs, mix everything gently.
Serving suggestions!
- A bowl of this salad is sufficient for a light lunch or dinner.
- Pair this salad with cilantro lime chicken to make it more filling and protein-rich.
- You can also prepare soups like healthy broccoli soup, lentil soup, or roasted tomato soup to serve on the side of wild rice salad.
- This salad recipe is also perfect for including in your healthy holiday party menu along with roasted chicken with gravy, sauteed brussel sprouts, cranberry mimosa, almond chocolate truffles, etc.
Helpful tips!
- You can cook the wild rice blend in an Instant pot to save some time on cooking. If you do not have an Instant pot, then cook it on the stovetop.
- Dice sweet potato into even pieces as much as possible that will help them roast or cook evenly.
- Allow cooked wild rice and sweet potato mixture to cool down completely before preparing the final salad. Otherwise, the salad greens will become mushy.
Recipe variations!
- Greens - you can skip the arugula and use your choice of greens for the salad base. Or, skip using the salad greens and make a salad without it using other ingredients.
- Non-vegetarian - add sliced chicken sausage while roasting the sweet potato to make the salad protein-rich and filling.
- Rice - use brown rice instead of wild rice blend to make it into sweet potato brown rice salad.
- Add dried cranberries to the salad for the pop of color and to make it elegant and perfect for the Thanksgiving dinner table.
FAQs
Store leftover salad in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. However, fresh greens in the salad will become soggy the next day.
Preferably make the salad enough to serve on the same day to enjoy while it is fresh. Or, you can save extra cooked wild rice and roasted sweet potato-kale mixture separately to prepare the fresh salad the next day.
More healthy salad recipes
- Italian Lentil Salad
- Healthy Avocado Cucumber Salad
- Mexican Chicken Avocado Salad
- Vietnamese Summer Rolls Salad Bowl
- All Salad Recipes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments if you REALLY like this recipe. Thank You!
📖 Recipe
Easy Roasted Sweet Potato Wild Rice Salad
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cup wild rice blend + 3.5 cups water
- 1-2 sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 4 large kale leaves chopped
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- 2-3 oz Arugula
- ¼ cup pecans chopped
- 1 green apple sliced
Dressing
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2.5 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- salt
Instructions
- Cook rice as per the instructions given on the package. Or see the note below for options to cook the rice. Let the rice cool down completely.
- Meanwhile, heat some cooking oil in a medium skillet and add diced sweet potatoes, little water, smoked paprika, and toast them for 5-6 min.
- Add chopped fresh kale and cook the mixture for 1-2 min or until the kale wilts down. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down.
- In a small bowl or a small mason jar combine lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, and fresh parsley. Mix well and keep it aside.
- In a large salad bowl add arugula, cooked rice, toasted sweet potatoes, and kale. Also, add diced green apple, chopped pecans, and the prepared olive oil dressing; gently mix everything to combine.
Notes
- Cooking rice in the open pan - In a medium pot add rice and water, bring mixture to boil, and cook it on low heat for 40-45 mins with the lid on or until the rice is tender.
- Cooking rice in an Instant pot - Add rice and water to the Instant Pot and cook it for 20 min on manual high pressure. Release the pressure manually and let the rice cool down before adding it to the salad.
- Use a large salad bowl and salad hands for easily mixing the salad ingredients. Add dried cranberries to give this salad fall holiday vibes.
Sarah says
Was looking for something healthy to make this weekend, and came across this one! Thanks for sharing 👍🏻