This savory gluten free wild rice salad recipe is best served during the fall and winter. Bacon, white beans, fresh herbs, and onions make this salad a winner! Here’s how to make it.

If you’re gluten free, rice is probably a very familiar grain to you. There are so many wonderful types of rice – from white, to brown, to Jasmine, to wild rice blends.
Rice is the perfect base for an allergy friendly side dish, like this cheesy garlic spinach rice. It’s also delicious for serving along side recipes like this dairy free curry.
I love a good wild rice salad. Wild rice has a great texture and flavor – it’s hearty and holds up really well in both warm and cold salads. You can be so creative with rice salads – they can be savory, or sweeter, or they can be served warm or cold.
Ingredients
- Caramelized onions – these add such a nice note of sweetness to this salad. Take the time to caramelize them properly – don’t rush this step!
- Bacon – very necessary for salty, savory flavor, and a good complement to the onions.
- Tomatoes and fresh basil – these add freshness and color to this salad.
- Homemade balsamic vinaigrette – this dressing is so simple. It’s just Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. This is the perfect finishing touch for this rice salad.
Ideas for Substitutions
- You can use a different variety of bean if you like. Try lentils, chickpeas, or black beans.
- You can use different fresh herbs, such as Italian flat leaf parsley or cilantro.
- If you’re vegan, try adding vegan bacon.
- To add a little crunch, you can add some roasted pepitas or sunflower seeds.
This savory wild rice salad is wonderful when it’s warm and freshly mixed together, but it also works really well as a cold salad, too. Make this as a side dish at dinnertime, then enjoy the leftovers as lunch the next day!
How to Make this Wild Rice Salad
- Cook the wild rice. Place in a pot with the water and oil, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for about 45 minutes, until the rice is tender.
- Caramelize the onions: place the sliced red onions and olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and browned. This process will take about 45 minutes.
- Make the dressing. Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, sugar, sea salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Place the wild rice blend, caramelized onions, crumbled bacon, navy beans, grape tomatoes, and basil in a large bowl and mix together.
- Pour the Balsamic vinaigrette over the top of the salad and stir gently. Enjoy!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should stay fresh for 3-4 days.
If you know you aren’t going to eat the salad right away, it’s best to keep the dressing separately. Once you add it to the salad, the rice really absorbs all the moisture and flavor. Keeping it separate is a great choice because you can add it right before serving.
More Gluten Free Salad Recipes
- Curried Quinoa Broccoli Salad
- Wild Rice Salad with Lentils and Cranberries
- Honey Mustard Quinoa Salad
- Chopped Vegetable Salad
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Recipe
The Easiest and Most Delicious Wild Rice Salad Recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice blend
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 red onions sliced very thin
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 15 ounces navy beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup grape tomatoes sliced
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Make the rice:
- Place one cup of wild rice blend, 2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon olive oil in a pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for about 45 minutes, until all water is absorbed and rice is tender. Fluff with a fork.
Caramelize the onions:
- While the rice cooks, caramelize the onions. Place the sliced red onions and the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are brown and soft, for about 45-60 minutes.
Make the vinaigrette:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ¼ cup olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, sugar, sea salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Assemble the salad:
- Make the salad: In a large bowl, place the wild rice blend, caramelized onions, crumbled bacon, navy beans, grape tomatoes, and basil. Mix together.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad, then stir to coat. If you are not serving the salad immediately, keep the salad and the dressing separate until you are ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in March 2015. It has been updated.
Darryl
This is delicious and wildly satisfying!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
This salad looks delicious, Kelly! I love that you caramelized the onions in here. Such a great touch! And your pictures are gorgeous, too!
genevieve y
Growing up Chinese, rice was a huge staple of my diet. I’d love to try a bacon-free version of this! Yum!
Kelly
It’s really good without bacon, too!
Julia
Rice is my all-time favorite grain and this salad is sheer brilliance! LOVE caramelized onions and I can taste all those flavors through my computer screen!
Deanna Segrave-Daly (@tspbasil)
Wow – this is like all my favorite ingredients in one pot. Admittedly, this is something I would make with pasta (Italian girl) but I love all different varieties of rice and am cooking with them more than ever. Gotta replenish my wild rice supply to make this.
Serena Ball
All my fave foods: Bacon, beans and balsamic (wow- I just noticed they all start with B)! (: I’ll be making this for sure!
Sarah@ Whole and Heavenly Oven
I love a good wild rice salad and this is looking fantastic with all that veggie and bacon goodness! Gotta try this!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely
I just love rice of ALL kinds. This wild rice salad sounds delicious! I can definitely see making a big batch of this and eating it for lunch for the week. Yum!
Kelly
Thanks so much, Natalie!