Best Ever Wild Rice Stuffing is full of fall flavors like herbs, dried cranberries, and bacon. A delicious gluten free version of the classic!
“This is the BEST RECIPE!!!! I have been making it for years now. Made it again tonight & it seems to get better every time. Thank you!!”
It’s time to think outside the (stuffing) box, with Best Ever Wild Rice Stuffing!
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 we feel like 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, I guess?
This year I challenge you to serve this sophisticated yet simple, totally scrumptious wild rice stuffing that’s full of ALL the fall flavors instead. 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.
- 24 hours ahead of time: chop the vegetables, bacon, and almonds, then freshly grate the parmesan cheese. Store separately.
You can actually fully make the stuffing several hours ahead of time, if need be. Warm it up covered with foil in the oven, or pop the serving bowl in the microwave for a couple minutes.
Your family will be making this scrumptious, wild rice stuffing side dish for many years to come!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Cook the Wild Rice blend.
Start by adding a wild rice blend to a medium saucepan with chicken stock or broth, a bay leaf, and a dash of salt.
Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat 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.
Recipe Tip
I highly recommend Lundberg Wild Blend Rice. If using a different brand, be sure it’s a wild rice/brown rice BLEND, vs straight wild rice or plain brown rice.
Step 2: Brown the bacon.
Meanwhile, brown chopped bacon in a large, 12″ skillet over medium heat then scoop the bacon into a bowl and set it aside, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet.
Step 3: Saute the aromatics.
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, the liquid cooks off, and they begin to brown, then season with dried thyme, salt, and pepper.
Once the vegetables are fully tender add chopped fresh sage and minced garlic then saute until the garlic is very fragrant and golden brown, 1-2 minutes.
Step 4: Combine the ingredients.
Last step is to add the cooked wild rice and bacon into the skillet along with chopped almonds, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and dried cranberries.
The parmesan cheese is the “secret” ingredient I mentioned. 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 for a beautiful presentation, then scoop and serve next to all your holiday favorites.
As I mentioned, leftovers reheat wonderfully in the microwave so you can extend the holiday experience for several days afterwards. I hope you love every bite of this flavor-packed, delicious take on stuffing. Enjoy!
More Gluten Free Holiday Side Dishes
- Green Beans and Bacon
- Gluten Free Scalloped Potatoes
- Gluten Free Gravy
- Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole
- Healthy Mashed Potatoes
- Gluten Free Traditional Stuffing
- Gluten Free Cornbread Stuffing
- Gluten Free Party Potatoes Deluxe
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups wild blend rice, Lundberg recommended, see notes
- 2-1/4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 large shallot or small onion, chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional
Directions
- Add the wild blend rice, chicken stock or broth, bay leaf, and a pinch of salt to a medium-sized saucepan then bring to a boil over high heat. Place a lid on top then turn heat down to low and simmer for 40-45 minutes or until the rice is al dente. Let the pan sit off the heat with the lid on for 5 minutes then remove the bay leaf, fluff the rice with a fork, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, add the bacon to a large, 12" skillet then turn the heat to medium and brown. Scoop the browned bacon into a bowl, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet, then turn the heat up to medium-high. Melt the butter in the skillet then add the shallots or onion, mushrooms, and celery. Saute until the mushrooms have released their liquid and begin to brown then add the dried thyme and season with salt and pepper. Saute until the mushrooms are golden brown and the vegetables are tender, 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and fresh sage then saute until the garlic is very fragrant and golden brown, 1 minute.
- Remove the skillet from the heat then add the cooked rice, bacon, chopped almonds, dried cranberries, and parmesan cheese, and stir well to combine. Add a splash of chicken broth if needed to loosen the stuffing up a bit. Taste then add salt and pepper if necessary, and then serve.
Notes
- Be sure to use a wild blend rice, vs straight wild rice, or plain brown rice.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
How many people will this wild rice stuffing feed? Thanks!
How many people will the Best Ever wild rice stuffing serve? Thanks!
I made this yesterday. Easily the star of our Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, I made a few changes – so take this with a grain of salt – but they were simply to double the fresh herbs and shallots. In addition, I added toasted pepitas and half of the broth was some leftover french onion soup that I had made with red onions & beef broth, red wine, etc. That boosted the flavour quite a bit, but whichever broth one uses would work (just trying to use leftovers and reduce waste)! Love it. What a find!
OH my gosh, so happy to hear it, Anna!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!!
Hi! Hoping to make this recipe and bring it to a my aunts house. Any idea if I could cook it and then keep it warm in a crockpot? Or would it dry out too much?
I think it could work! Might bring extra chicken broth to splash in there every so often in case it starts drying out.
Testing out Thanksgiving recipes tomorrow and this along with your roasted balsamic butternut squash and green bean casserole are all on my list!! Always love your recipes!!
Oh this is great! my husband is gluten intolerant and this looks like a wonderful sub for boxed stuffing. We’ll have to omit the nuts though because he has nut allergies. I’m thinking of subbing in pumpkin seeds.
Tried this dish for thanksgiving and it was DELICIOUS!! Everyone liked it! Thank you!
This was amazing, Kristin!! Thank you for such a great recipe. I made it for family and everyone loved it!
The name says it all: “Best Ever Wild Rice Stuffing”! It truly is delicious! I made this for our family Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! I made it the night before and tossed in the oven along with some other side dishes on Thanksgiving Day. You have to try this dish! Fantastic!
Thanks so much for the great feedback, Jim! So, so glad you enjoyed!
OMG, THE BEST EVER!!! Did this for Thanksgiving & everyone LOVED it! I used organic turkey bacon, vegan parmesan cheese (made with sunflower seeds), dehydrated morel mushrooms, and pecans. YUMMY!!!!
So glad you were able to make it work with substitutions – sounds delicious!!
Thank you for the pecan suggestion! Almonds do not agree with one family member, so I was hoping to see a suggested nut alternative. Pecans sound delicious too!
?? I’d like to print JUST the recipe. The “print recipe” button results in 14 pages of color ink pictures and the whole shebang…. how do I print JUST the recipe?
I’m so sorry to hear that, that should not be happening! Just to confirm, you did not use your browser’s print button?
Best ever wild rice stuffing! Skipped the cranberry and bacon and stuffed the turkey with it. Even the tough traditionalists loved it! Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
So glad to hear it, Julie!! Thanks for the great feedback – I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
This was wonderful and I will be making it often. Thanks
So glad to hear it, Carol, thanks for your feedback!