Thanksgiving Wild Rice
Ground pork, dried cranberries, onions, mushrooms, and wild rice combine to make a tasty side dish known as Thanksgiving Wild Rice Dressing (or stuffing). If you enjoy wild rice, try my Chicken Wild Rice Soup and Chicken Wild Rice Casserole.
Thanksgiving Wild Rice
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Wild rice, rinsed and drained
- 1 Container (32 Ounces) chicken stock
- 6 Tbsp Unsalted butter, divided
- 1 Pound Ground pork
- 2 Tsp Kosher salt, divided
- ½ Tsp Black pepper
- ½ Tsp Ground thyme
- 1½ Cup Dried cranberries
- 1 Cup Yellow onion, diced
- 16 Ounce Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced ¼-inch thick
- Parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the wild rice and chicken stock in a medium pot and cover tightly. Bring the mixture to a boil, uncovered, over high heat.
- After it boils, turn the heat down to low and cover. Simmer until tender, about 60 minutes.
- Drain the extra liquid after simmering, then add the rice back to the saucepan. To stay warm, cover.
- Melt three tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the ground pork, thyme, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, breaking up the pork as you go, until it is no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
- To the rice, add the cooked pork and cranberries. Mix to blend.
- Melt the remaining butter in the same skillet. Cook the onions for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are tender.
- Add the remaining teaspoon of salt and the mushrooms. Keep cooking until most of the liquid is gone, about 20 more minutes.
- To the rice mixture, add the mushroom and onion mixture. Mix to blend.
- Warm up and serve.
Dressing with Wild Rice
It is appropriate to include this side dish on your Thanksgiving menu as the occasion is named Thanksgiving. Don’t restrict this dish to the holidays, though. You may enjoy this delicious and aromatic side dish all year long. Thanks to the addition of ground pork, it might also serve as a light main course with homemade cornbread on the side.
Ingredients for Dressing
Wild Rice: Despite its name, wild rice is actually a grain that is found in the seeds of aquatic plants that grow in lakes, rivers, and streams. Before cooking, be sure to rinse and drain the rice.
Chicken Stock: If you don’t already have any, make your own homemade Chicken Stock. In contrast to chicken broth, which is mainly made from the meat of the chicken, chicken stock is often made from the bones of the bird. The stock has a stronger flavor, although they can be used interchangeably.
Ground Pork: The addition of pork gave this meal a bit more body. You can omit it if you’d like.
Dried Cranberries: To test the recipe, we first made it without cranberries and then added some. The dried cranberries, however, elevate this dressing to a whole new level of flavor. Similar to the pork, you could omit them, but at least keep some on hand in case you choose to add them later.
How to Prepare Wild Rice
A little note on how to prepare wild rice. Although wild rice is a finicky little grain, when cooked correctly, it produces a lovely, deep, earthy taste that works well as a side dish (like this one), in a salad, or on its own. I added flavor to this recipe by cooking the wild rice in chicken stock. Allow around one hour for this.
Rinse and drain the wild rice first. Next, put the rice and chicken stock in a pot and cover it tightly. Heat the mixture until it boils. Once it reaches a boil, cover the pot, lower the heat to low, and simmer the rice for approximately one hour. When the rice is cooked, most of the grains will be split apart and tender. To keep the rice warm, drain it and return it to the saucepan with a lid.
How to Prepare Dressing with Wild Rice
Now that the rice is cooked, it’s time to combine the remaining ingredients and add them to the rice. First, melt three tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet. After adding the ground pork, cook until it is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the pork to the saucepan with the cooked wild rice. This is also the time to add dried cranberries to the wild rice.
Then, saute the onions and mushrooms in the same skillet with the melted butter. Once both are cooked and the majority of the liquid has been removed, add this mixture to the wild rice. Combine all ingredients and serve warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
The Distinction Between Stuffing and Dressing
Simple! Traditionally, the dressing is made in a pan away from the turkey. Stuffing is stuffed into the cavity of birds and can be made using the same recipe as dressing. The ideal use for this recipe is as a dressing.