Wild Rice Chicken Salad with Grapes and Cashews

Wild rice chicken salad is a refreshing and versatile meal for busy days, summer picnics, and on the go lunches!

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Growing up my mom always made chicken salad for summer lunches and now as an adult I understand why! It is a perfect dish to prep ahead of time, make for a large family, and goes with just about anything.  There are many ways to serve this wild rice chicken salad depending on your preferences and what you have on hand.  My personal favorite is on croissants, but you can use any bread, wrap, salad, or lettuce wraps.  

We usually bring a large batch of this chicken & wild rice salad recipe when we go camping . It is a perfect salad to pull out after a busy morning of hiking and all the prep is done before the trip, win-win! 

Ingredients

• Cooked Wild Rice – Wild rice is an aquatic grain native to the great lakes region and has a delicious nutty wild rice flavor.  It can take a while to cook, so if you are short on time you can buy pre cooked wild rice in a can which is what I did this last time and it worked wonderfully. 
• Shredded Chicken – I cook a large batch of chicken and shred to keep in my freezer for easy meals like this.  Rotisserie chicken would also be an easy option for this recipe. 
• Mayonnaise- You can use full or reduced-fat mayonnaise
• Honey
• Dijon Mustard 
• Grapes – Green or red taste great – whichever you prefer!
• Cashews 
• Green Onions – Don’t skip them, they add great flavor to the salad
• Lemon Juice – Fresh is always best!
• Salt and black pepper

How to Make Wild Rice Chicken Salad with Grapes and Cashews

1. Cook wild rice and let cool if you are not using precooked wild rice
2. As the wild rice is cooking cut grapes in half, shred the chicken and cut the green onions
3. In a large bowl combine the mayonnaise, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, and lemon juice
4. Add the wild rice, grapes, cashews, chicken, and green onion
5. Stir until well combined
6. Cover and refrigerate in air tight container until ready to serve

Substitutions and Variations

Depending on what you have in your pantry, this recipe can be changed to suit what you have available! 

• You could add in cranberries or raisins for an additional flavor punch.  Simply rehydrate your dried fruit in a bowl with boiling water for 10-15 minutes and they will plump right up!
• Another option in place of grapes would be sweet apples. I highly recommend adding the grapes, as they lend juiciness and a nice crunch to the salad, but this is a great alternative if you don’t have grapes on hand.  
• If you don’t have wild rice on hand you can use a wild rice blend, I prefer to use long grain wild rice. I don’t recommend using white rice or brown rice for this recipe. 
• Add 1/2 cup celery if you would enjoy some additional crunch.
• Add red bell pepper or chopped carrots or other crunchy vegetables to get in some extra veggies.  
• Substitute slivered almonds or water chestnuts in place of the cashews.
• Add some sunflower seeds for some additional crunch and flavor. 

Favorite Ways to Eat Wild Rice Chicken Salad

• Croissants
• On this yummy cranberry wild rice bread 🙂
• On top of your favorite salad mix to make a chicken wild rice salad
• Lettuce Wraps or lettuce cups
• Wraps or tortillas
• As a cold salad with crackers 

Meal Prep and Storage

This chicken salad can be made a day ahead of time, just wait to add the grapes and cashews until right before serving to preserve their texture.  

You can keep the chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. 

If you try this chicken and wild rice salad recipe I would love to hear from you! I hope this quick, easy to make recipe is one you love!

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