Get yourself ready for the holidays with this incredible Harvest Rice full of fall flavors. It’s really easy to make, great for any night of the week yet perfect for your holiday spread.
Harvest Rice
Now with a recipe like this one you might be shaking your head, already set in your preference of white rice as a side dish, but allow me to convert you. There’s no reason that wild rice doesn’t get as much love, or can’t be as lovingly made. I like to pack mine full of flavor, texture, and fresh ingredients – so it’s quite up to snuff!
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s time for some recipes that are worthy our your holiday table. I thought I’d start easy with a side dish, so here’s my recipe for this incredible harvest rice.
I loaded it with mushrooms, peas, dried cranberries and slivered toasted almonds which add a really nice crunch to the rice. For the rice I used a brown rice and wild rice mix which I absolutely love. You should be able to find the mix in your local grocery store, otherwise you can combine it yourself, but I really love the flavor of it, it has a really nice and earthy flavor, nutty and quite a chewy texture.
Ingredients In Harvest Rice
- Rice –Â I used wild rice today, I wanted something packed full of complex carbs, protein, and a bit of chew
- Veggies –Â White or yellow onion diced up as well as some nice mushroom, something like cremini or white. I also incorporated some frozen peas.
- Garlic –Â Fresh minced up is always best but if jarred is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 1/2 teaspoons equals 1 fresh clove.
- Liquids –Â A nice dry white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc and some low sodium chicken broth so as to control the salt content of our dish.
- Craisins –Â These will plump up so nicely and offer a nice sweet yet tart addition to our side.
- Almonds –Â Slivered, feel free to just pick up a bag of them at the grocery store for some great crunch.
- Herbs –Â Just some fresh thyme today, if dried is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon fresh.
- Butter –Â Unsalted is best, this is what we’re going to saute our veggies and sauteables in, if you’re worried about the butter burning feel free to add a bit of olive oil as well.
- Parsley –Â Fresh chopped up fresh to sprinkle liberally over top.
How To Make Harvest Rice
- Saute the sauteables: Melt butter in a large pan. Add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes until the onion softens and becomes translucent. Add the mushrooms, stir and cook until the mushrooms cook down and are soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Combine the dish: Pour in the wine, let it come to a boil, and add in the rice. Stir until all the liquid is absorbed. Pour in the chicken broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Cover the rice, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is almost cooked.
- Finish the rice: Add the craisins, peas, half of the almonds and continue to cook (covered) for another 5 or 10 minutes. At this time you can also taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.
- Garnish with remaining almonds and parsley
Having Trouble Cooking Wild Rice?
Wild rice can take quite a long time to cook, but it should absorb all the liquid when it’s cooked. If you feel that the rice isn’t cooked after the 30 minutes, add more chicken broth if needed and cook for a few more minutes.
What Can I Serve My Harvest Rice With?
This nice starchy side dish pairs perfectly with just about anything and everything I’ve found. I like to pair it with anything I’d like to bulk up a bit, to turn a main into a full blown meal!
- Maple Mustard Roasted Chicken Thighs
- Roast Chicken
- Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon
- Beer Can Chicken
- Braised Lamb Shanks
Feel free to pair it with fish, poultry, pork, dang near anything you can think of!
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Rice
- Feel free to throw in any protein you’d like! This dish is a perfect way to use up some leftovers you have sitting around taking up space in your fridge.
- If you’d like to add some golden color and complex flavor to this dish, feel free to saute the rice in some oil before cooking.
- Sub some water and a chicken bouillon cube for the chicken broth to give a flavor concentrate to the dish
Storing Leftover Harvest Rice
Be sure to store this dish as soon as it’s cooled as rice is a breeding ground for bacteria. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. If freezing store this dish in a freezer bag with the air pressed out. Thaw overnight in the fridge and fluff the rice before reheating. This dish will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
More Incredible Rice Recipes To Enjoy:
- Mexican Chicken Rice Salad
- Lemon Chicken Rice Bake
- Easy Shrimp Fried Rice
- Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole
- Korean Beef Rice Bowls
- Spanish Rice with Ground Beef
- One Pot Spanish Chicken and Rice
- Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
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Harvest Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1 large onion chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms chopped
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 3/4 cups brown and wild rice mix
- 5 cups chicken broth low sodium or no sodium
- 3/4 cup craisins chopped
- 1 cup peas frozen
- 1 cup almonds slivered and toasted
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pan. Add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes until the onion softens and becomes translucent. Add the mushrooms, stir and cook until the mushrooms cook down and are soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the wine, let it come to a boil, and add in the rice. Stir until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Pour in the chicken broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Cover the rice, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is almost cooked.
- Add the craisins, peas, half of the almonds and continue to cook (covered) for another 5 or 10 minutes. At this time you can also taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.
- Garnish with remaining almonds and parsley.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Wild rice can take quite a long time to cook, but it should absorb all the liquid when it's cooked. If you feel that the rice isn't cooked after the 30 minutes, add more chicken broth if needed and cook for a few more minutes.
- Be sure to store this dish as soon as it’s cooled as rice is a breeding ground for bacteria. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. If freezing store this dish in a freezer bag with the air pressed out. Thaw overnight in the fridge and fluff the rice before reheating. This dish will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Melinda says
Hi! What the best way to heat this rice up after freezing?
Jo Cooks Team says
Covered in the microwave will work best! You can also cover it and reheat in the oven if a microwave isn’t an option.
Wendy Hampton says
I’m just curious. It sounds good as written but I was wondering how I would make it vegetarian when I need a veggie dish. The hotlink in your recipe took me to red mill brown rice mix which seems to be vegetarian. is that right? And then substitute veggie broth for the chicken broth?
Joanna Cismaru says
That’s right, though I’m not an expert on vegetarian diet, but yes, you could use veggie broth and it’ll be just as delicious!
Alison says
I adapted this to the rice cooker (halved everything except the mushrooms to make it fit) and it turned out really well. I definitely plan on making it again. It was very moist and reminded me of stuffing. I really liked the added crunch from the slivered almonds as well.
Tara says
Ohhhh my yes! This was divine! I showed my husband (from India) this recipe and he thought it sounded dull cuz he prefers flavourful briyani’s and Indian pilau’s. I told him this looked fab but he dismissed it and told me not to make it cuz he wanted something more special for his Thanksgiving rice dish! I made it anyway and he raved about this rice all night!!!
I didn’t have a brown/wild rice mix, so I just used plain white basmati (and lessened the liquid and cook time) but other than that I followed your recipe to a T and wow it was yummy! I made one other very minor change which was to fry the almonds with the onions, rather than toast them–just easier!
I’ll definitely be making this again!! It ticked all the boxes! Thank you! I’m a newer reader to your site and really enjoying it!!
Joanna Cismaru says
Always great when you prove the husbands wrong. LOL Glad you enjoyed it!
Gail Plaskiewicz says
This sounds really yummy except I can’t eat Craisins because they make me ill and I don’t like white wine. I know I can sub more chicken broth for the wine but can I just leave out the Craisins or is there something I can sub? This serves 8 people so I would half it for just mom and I. Otherwise, I can’t wait to try it.
Joanna Cismaru says
Can you eat raisins? Those would be nice, or dried apricots!
Gail Plaskiewicz says
No, I can’t. I can’t eat sweets because when they hit my tongue they make me throw up. I’ll just leave them out. My sister would like this recipe though as she loves Craisins. I’ll pass it on to her. Thanks again for a great recipe even if I can’t eat part of it. I can’t wait to make it minus the Craisins.
Joanna Cismaru says
Yeah, it should be just fine without them, no worries.
imgrum says
It looks so good! I have never tried brown rice and wild rice mix, hope I will find the mix in the nearest grocery store. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Joanna Cismaru says
My pleasure!