Asian Rice Salad

Take your potluck in a new direction with this tasty Asian Rice Salad. Dotted with dried apricots and crunchy peanuts, this easy wild rice salad with homemade soy and ginger dressing recipe is tangy, sweet and delicious!

If you want to switch up your usual summer sides with something flavorful and easy to make, you’ll love this Asian wild rice salad with ginger soy dressing. This healthy summer salad goes excellent with Asian chicken thighs or tequila pork tenderloin and is delicious with seared tuna.

This recipe starts with wild rice, which is not rice at all.  It’s an aquatic grass.  I wrote about its origins in this post for Green Bean and Wild Rice Salad.  Wild rice is slightly nutty and chewy, the perfect base for this cold rice salad.

I use equal parts water and orange juice for cooking rice to add a little citrus nuance. Since wild rice takes longer to cook than white and brown rice, you’ll want to get it on the stove before you prep the other ingredients.

While the rice simmers, you can pull together the rest of the veg. The basis for this Asian rice salad starts with a little grated carrot and finely diced celery.  (save the celery leaves for later – they’re really good).

Finely chopped dried apricots add a sweet tart flavor to this wild rice salad recipe. You can also try other dried fruit like golden raisins, dried cherries or chopped dried plums, but if you have dried apricots on hand, use ’em.

Combine the apricots, carrots and celery in a bowl with chopped scallions and toss to combine.

When the wild rice is cooked, strain it through a fine mesh strainer and let the rice cool to almost room temperature.  (It can still be warm, you just don’t want to add hot rice to the vegetables, otherwise they’ll wilt and won’t have the same texture).

Toss the wild rice with the veggies and apricots.

We like a little crunch in our salads and peanuts (especially Virginia peanuts because they’re larger and crunchier) are my favorite, though you could also use toasted cashews or even almonds if you prefer. 

Soy and ginger dressing

The ginger soy dressing is what makes this Asian rice salad so special.  Its got a healthy dose of freshly grated ginger, minced garlic, olive oil AND toasted sesame oil, soy sauce (or use Tamari to make it gluten free), rice wine vinegar and honey. You can substitute agave for the honey to make it a vegan salad dressing recipe.  The flavors in the easy Asian salad dressing really pop and give this wild rice salad recipe that distinct Asian flavor.

Assembling the wild rice salad

Toss the peanuts and dressing with the salad and sprinkle with reserved chopped celery leaves.  You can serve it at room temperature or chilled and it works great either way. This is one of those dishes that no one sees coming. They don’t expect the flavors. They don’t anticipate the crunch and it’s one that you’ll go back to again and again.

How long will Asian rice salad keep?

Though its best served the first day, it will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days — and is better if you add the chopped peanuts just before serving. 

Asian wild rice salad with ginger soy dressing is a great side dish for barbecues, potlucks and picnics or a delicious main course for vegetarian and vegan eaters (substitutions included).

More rice recipes you might like: 

• Curried Rice Salad
• Green Rice (Arroz Verde)
• Tropical Coconut Mango Rice
• Pickled Cherry Cold Rice Salad
• Saffron Rice
• Basmati Rice Pilaf with Fall Vegetables

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