Delicious Wild Rice Stuffing is a perfect alternative to traditional stuffing. This gluten-free stuffing is perfect for stuffing your turkey, chicken or oven roasted cornish hens.
Made with a wild rice blend, mushrooms, dried cranberries and crunchy pecans.
Stuffing or dressing
We are pretty traditional at our house for holiday dinners. For Thanksgiving, we always have a roasted turkey served with stuffing made with sausage and dried bread. Over the years, I have expanded my traditional menu to accommodate others, and we have several guests who need gluten-free dishes. This wild rice stuffing is now a regular dish for our holiday meals.
I still serve my traditional bread stuffing, but this wild rice stuffing has become so popular that I now make a double batch.
If you’re serving this for a holiday meal, you’ll want to follow all my make-ahead tips. Making dishes ahead of time helps make your holiday less stressful.
Wild Rice Mushroom Stuffing ingredients
- Wild Rice Blend - This is a combination of wild rice, brown rice, and long-grain rice. You can usually find packages in your grocery store. This recipe works best with a wild rice blend that is not instant.
- Shallots - Finely minced. A white or yellow onion can also be used.
- Mushrooms - I used regular button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms. White or brown can be used. Wild mushrooms would also be delicious in this recipe. If you have morel mushrooms, chanterelles or other wild mushrooms feel free to add them along with the button mushrooms. If using dried wild mushrooms, rehydrate before adding.
- Celery - Adds that classic stuffing flavor
- Stock - Use your choice of chicken, turkey stock, or veggie stock.
- Fresh Herbs - Sage and thyme add delicious flavor. If you only have dried available, reduce the amount in the recipe by half.
- Pecans - Add a delicious crunch and nuttiness
- Dried Cranberries - Adds sweetness, fruitiness, and beautiful color. Use dried sweetened cranberries.
How to make Wild Rice Stuffing
- Rinse rice under cool water and drain well
- Place rice along with stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil
- Place lid on pan and simmer for 45 minutes until rice is fully cooked. Turn off heat and let rice rest with lid on for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Saute celery and shallots together in a pan until soft, about 5-7 minutes
- Move celery and shallots to one side of pan and add mushrooms. Allow mushrooms to cook for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Stir once and then after they have released a lot of their liquid, stir them in with the celery.
- Add fresh herbs and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant about 30 seconds
- Place cooked rice, sauteed mushroom mixture, cranberries and pecans in a large bowl. Toss lightly to mix.
- Taste and add a bit of salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve warm or allow to cool and use as stuffing in a turkey or bird
Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe tips
- If using dried herbs, reduce the amount by half
- The flavor of the herbs will continue to develop the longer the dressing sets.
Make ahead tips
This stuffing is perfect for making ahead of time, which makes getting a holiday dinner together so much easier. Everything that you can do ahead of time means one less thing you need to prepare on the big day.
- Prepare as directed and allow stuffing to cool
- Cover and refrigerate for up to three days
- To serve as a side dish, place in a casserole dish and cover with foil
- Place in a preheated 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes until heated through
- If stuffing feels a bit dry, just drizzle a bit of broth over the top before baking
- Stuffing can also be reheated in the microwave
To use as a stuffing in a bird
- Prepare as directed and allow stuffing to cool to room temperature or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days ahead of time
- Place stuffing in the cavity of a turkey, chicken or cornish hen
- Bake until the bird is fully cooked through. In a turkey, the temperature of the thigh should be 180°F, the breast 170°F and the stuffing should be 165°F.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, this stuffing is gluten-free.
Store wild rice stuffing in a covered container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
More delicious holiday recipes
- Cranberry sauce
- Green beans almondine
- Roasted brussels sprouts
- Mashed red potatoes
- Sweet potato gratin
- Homemade dinner rolls
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my delicious side dish recipes!
Wild Rice Stuffing
Equipment
- 10 Inch Skillet
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup wild rice blend
- 1¾ cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Stuffing
- 2 tablespoons butter (or oil)
- 3 stalks celery (finely chopped, about 1 cup)
- ½ cup shallots (finely chopped)
- 6 ounces mushrooms (chopped, about 2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (leaves removed from stem)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (sweetened)
- ⅓ cup pecans (coarsely chopped)
- salt
- pepper
- fresh herbs (for garnish)
Instructions
Rice
- Rinse rice under cool water and drain well1 cup wild rice blend
- Place rice along with stock and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil1¾ cup stock, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Place lid on pan and simmer for 45 minutes until rice is fully cooked. Turn off heat and let rice rest with lid on for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Stuffing
- Saute celery and shallots together in a pan until soft, about 5-7 minutes2 tablespoons butter, 3 stalks celery, ½ cup shallots
- Move celery and shallots to one side of pan and add mushrooms. Allow mushrooms to cook for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Stir once and then after they have release a lot of their liquid, stir them in with the celery.6 ounces mushrooms
- Add fresh herbs and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds1 teaspoon garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh sage, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- Place cooked rice, sauteed mushroom mixture, cranberries and pecans in a large bowl. Toss lightly to mix.½ cup dried cranberries, ⅓ cup pecans
- Taste and add a bit of salt and pepper if needed.salt, pepper
- Serve warm or allow to cool and use as a stuffing in a turkey or bird
Notes
- Select a regular cook wild rice blend, not an instant rice blend
- If using dried herbs, reduce amount by half
- The flavor of the herbs will continue to develop the longer the dressing sets.
- Prepare as directed and allow stuffing to cool
- Cover and refrigerate for up to three days
- To serve as a side dish, place in a casserole dish and cover with foil
- Place in a preheated 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes until heated through
- If stuffing feels a bit dry, just drizzle a bit of broth over the top before baking
- Stuffing can also be reheated in the microwave
- Prepare as directed and allow stuffing to cool to room temperature or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days ahead of time
- Place stuffing in cavity of a turkey, chicken or cornish hen
- Bake until bird is fully cooked through. In a turkey, the temperature of the thigh should be 180°F, the breast 170°F and the stuffing should be 165°F.
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
David @ Spiced says
I absolutely love wild rice mixed with cranberries and pecans. We make that as a side dish quite often! This is perfect for Thanksgiving, and I really like how you used this to stuff inside of those Cornish hens, too. Cheers, Kathy!
Kathy says
It's so good! I love the leftovers too. Perfect for lunch the next day.
fwg says
Great idea! -fwg
Kathy says
Thanks!