Say goodbye to stale, boxed bread with its mile-long ingredient list, and hello to tender wild rice tossed with all the fixin’s including bacon, mushrooms, herbs, almonds, and dried cranberries — plus a secret ingredient you do NOT want to miss. This easy, no-bake gluten free side dish will change the holidays as you know them!
Watch How to Make It
Wild Rice Stuffing vs Bread Stuffing
I think you’re either a bread-stuffing person or you’re not. My family is a stuffing family in that we serve it at Thanksgiving because, I don’t know, we feel as though the pilgrims of yesteryear would frown upon our holiday gathering if we didn’t have a giant bowl of wet stale carbs on the table that everybody begrudgingly takes a spoonful of because it’s there. This year I challenge you to serve this sophisticated yet simple, totally scrumptious wild rice stuffing that’s full of ALL the fall flavors. Like I said, you don’t even need to bake it. Your friends and family will swoon!
Prep Ahead to Save Time
Since we’re talking the holidays, know that the components in this dish can be prepped a day ahead of time. Chop the vegetables and bacon the night before then saute and assemble up to several hours before your holiday dinner. You can warm the stuffing up in the oven if need be, or simply pop the baking dish or serving bowl in the microwave for a couple minutes. You will be making this scrumptious, wild rice stuffing side dish for many years to come.
How to Make This Recipe
Start by adding a wild rice blend to a medium saucepan with chicken broth, a bay leaf, and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer until the rice is al dente, 40-45 minutes. Take the pan off the heat the let it sit with the lid on for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork. I love Lundberg Wild Blend Rice.
Meanwhile, brown bacon in a large, 12″ skillet over medium heat then scoop the bacon into a bowl and set aside, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet.
Turn the heat up to medium-high then melt butter in the skillet and add chopped onion or shallot, mushrooms, and celery. Saute until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are starting to brown then season with dried thyme, salt, and pepper. Once the vegetables are tender add chopped fresh sage and minced garlic then saute until the garlic is very fragrant and golden brown, 1-2 minutes.
Last step is to add the cooked wild rice and bacon back into the skillet along with chopped almonds, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and dried cranberries. The parmesan cheese is the “secret” ingredient I mentioned, by the way! It gives the rice stuffing a totally unique flavor. Stir well to combine, adding a splash of chicken broth if needed to loosen the stuffing up a bit.
That’s all she wrote — told you it was easy! Garnish with a couple whole fresh sage leaves and more chopped almonds for a beautiful presentation, then scoop and serve next to your Thanksgiving favorites. As I mentioned, leftovers reheat wonderfully so you can scoop the stuffing alongside your leftover turkey and pumpkin pie days after the holiday. Enjoy!
More Gluten Free Holiday Side Dishes
Gluten Free Scalloped Potatoes Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole Healthy Mashed Potatoes Gluten Free Traditional Stuffing Gluten Free Cornbread Stuffing Gluten Free Party Potatoes Deluxe
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