Pomegranate Wild Rice Christmas Salad

This festive Christmas salad is the perfect side dish to serve with your holiday meal! Loaded with arugula, nutty wild rice, roasted pecans, juicy pomegranate arils, greens onions, tart dried cherries, and tangy garlic dijon dressing; this hearty salad is a major crowd pleaser! Vegan and gluten-free. 

This is my all-time favorite salad! I love the combination of flavors and textures, it’s so incredibly delicious and it’s such a good Christmas salad! The festive red pomegranate arils and green arugula ingredients make this the perfect vegan holiday side dish! 

The first time that I made this simple salad was for our Christmas dinner a few years ago and my family (especially my mom) fell in love with it!

Now, my family loves this wild rice pomegranate Christmas salad recipe and they request it at every holiday, so I usually end up making it for almost every single family get-together or holiday gathering.  

Related Post: Complete Vegan Thanksgiving Menu 

The combination of peppery arugula, tart dried cherries, nutty wild rice, sweet pomegranate arils, and roasted pecans tossed in a tangy garlic dijon dressing is so tasty! This vegan wild rice salad is definitely a crowd-pleaser and I think that you’re going to love it as much as we do!

Ingredients You’ll Need

To make this delicious vegan salad recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Arugula
• Wild Rice
• Roasted Pecans
• Pomegranate Arils 
• Green Onions
• Dried Cherries
• Lemon
• Dijon Mustard
• Garlic
• White Wine Vinegar
• Maple Syrup
• Salt
• Pepper

How to Make Christmas Salad 

Step #1 – First, cook the wild rice.

The easiest way to cook wild rice is to cook it like you would cook pasta. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Salt the water and add the wild rice. Reduce the heat to a low simmer (medium-high), and let the rice cook for 40-45 minutes. Most of the grains will pop open and be chewy and tender.

Step #2 – When the wild rice is done cooking, drain it and let it cool for 20-30 minutes. If you add the hot rice to the fresh arugula, the heat will cause the arugula to wilt. So make sure that the rice is completely cool before you add it to the bowl with the fresh arugula. 

While the wild rice is cooling, prep all the salad ingredients. Roughly chop the arugula and pecans, slice the green onions, and remove the arils from the pomegranate (see step by step pictures of how to cut a pomegranate the easiest way in the next section).  

Step #3 – In a separate small container with a lid or small bowl, make the salad dressing. Add the dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Whisk it together or put the lid on and give it a good shake (Photo 6). 

Step #4 – Once the wild rice has cooled completely, you can add the wild rice, arugula, pomegranate seeds, green onions, pecans, and dried cherries to a large mixing bowl (Photos 1-5). Drizzle the salad dressing over the salad and mix it well to combine all of the ingredients. Serve immediately. 

How to Cut a Pomegranate (Mess-Free Method!)

There is so much incorrect information out there about how to cut a pomegranate, but this truly is the easiest, quickest, and the best way (that I’ve found!) to cut a pomegranate without making a mess! 

Step #1 – Use a sharp knife to cut a 2×2″ inch square into the top of the pomegranate and remove the skin (Photo 1).

Step #2 – Once you remove the top, you should be able to see the white membranes that separate the pomegranate into sections. Use your knife and make an incision along each of the membrane lines (Photos 2 & 3). 

Step #3 – Gently pull all of the wedges away from the core of the pomegranate (Photo 4).

Step #4 – You can tear or cut each wedge away from the base of the pomegranate. Then use your fingers to gently pop off each of the pomegranate arils. If you run your fingers over the wedges, the arils should easily pop off and fall into the bowl below without any splattering (Photo 5).

You may need to peel off pieces of the membrane to remove all of the arils. Repeat with each wedge until all of the arils have been removed from the pomegranate (Photo 6). 

Should I Eat This Salad Hot or Cold?

This vegan wild rice salad is best enjoyed cold (if you prep the ingredients ahead of time and they’re chilled from being in the fridge) or at room temperature, if you make it fresh. If you eat the salad with hot rice, the heat will wilt the arugula and the salad won’t have the best texture.

Can I Make This Salad Ahead of Time?

Yes, you can make this salad ahead of time. You can prep the salad the day before and combine all of the ingredients except for the dressing and wild rice (I like to store the rice separately just in case there is any moisture that might make the arugula wet) in a large bowl and mix it well.

Make sure that the container that you store the salad in is airtight. Add the rice and dress the salad right before you want to serve it.

What Goes With It? 

I call this recipe “Christmas salad” because I make it every year to go with our vegan Christmas dinner menu but, you can make this a “thanksgiving salad” or a salad to serve any time of the year!

The following recipes would be delicious with a side of this tasty vegan salad:

• Vegan Lentil Mushroom Meatloaf
• Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Vegan Lentil Sloppy Joes
• Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff

I also like to make this salad as a base and top it with this easy to make, 4-ingredient crispy baked tofu for extra protein. It’s a delicious dinner!   

Notes & Substitutions

• Arugula Substitutions: You can substitute fresh spinach, mixed greens, or thinly sliced kale leaves (that have been massaged first). 
• Pecan Substitutions: Roasted walnuts or cashews are a good substitute for pecans. If you are nut-free, you could use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or crunchy chickpeas.
• Raw Pecans: If you use raw pecans, arrange them on a parchment paper-lined baking tray and bake them at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. 
• Wild Rice Substitutions: If you don’t want to use wild rice, you can substitute brown rice, tri-colored quinoa, or plain quinoa. 
• Dried Cherry Substitutions: You could use dried cranberries or goji berries.
• Salad Additions: If you’d like to add a creamy factor to the Christmas salad, chunks of vegan feta cheese would be delicious. I love the Violife vegan feta, so I recommend that you try that. 

Success Tips 

• Don’t add the wild rice while it’s still warm to the salad because it will wilt the arugula leaves. Make sure the rice has cooled completely before you add it to the salad. 
• Use raw pecans so you can roast the nuts yourself and then you can control the amount of salt you add to the salad. If you use roasted salted pecans, only add 1/4 tsp of salt to the dressing and then taste it and add more salt if necessary.
• If you want to prepare the salad the day before or more than 1 hour prior to when you’re going to serve the salad, don’t add the dressing or wild rice yet. Wait until right before you serve the salad to add the dressing and rice so it won’t make the salad wet. 
• Store the leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. It won’t go bad in 1-2 days but the dressing will make the arugula wet and this salad is at it’s prime when it’s fresh. 
• You can’t freeze the salad, the arugula leaves will become very soft and mushy if you try to freeze and defrost the salad. 

More Vegan Holiday Side Dishes You’ll Love!