Mushroom + Herb Wild Rice Casserole
Updated Jul. 29th, 2024
Don’t rack your brain for another gluten-free casserole again! With its bold, comforting flavours you can serve it as a side dish, or even get creative and use this rice as a substitute for stuffing. So try it for your next Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter bird – we bet you’ll even satisfy the ‘white-rice-only’ lovers and the ‘there’s-no-bread-stuffing?’ snobs!
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Egg Free
- Vegetarian
Ingredients:
| 1 tablespoon coconut oil | 5 cups chicken broth | 1 pear, chopped |
| 4 yellow onions, thinly sliced | ½ teaspoon dried sage | 1 apple, chopped |
| 500g assorted mushrooms, sliced | 1 1/3 cups wild rice | ¼ cup pepita seeds [pumpkin seeds] |
| 1 cup chopped celery | 1 ¼ cups short grain brown rice | ¼ cup slivered almonds |
| 3 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves | 1 cup curly parsley, chopped |
Directions
- Heat a saucepan over medium heat with half of the coconut oil. Once melted, add in the onions and sauté. For ultimate flavour, it is best to caramelize the onions on low heat for roughly 20 minutes. Transfer limp onions to a large bowl. Set aside.
- To save yourself the dishes, use the same pan and melt the remaining coconut oil. This time sauté the mushrooms until tender. Adding in the celery and roughly half of the thyme so everything seasons together.
- Combine mushroom mixture in same bowl as onions – toss with some salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Using the same saucepan (third times a charm!) add your chicken broth and bring to a boil with the remaining thyme and your sage.
- When it’s boiled, add in your wild rice. Place the lid on tight and allow the mixture to come back to a boil. Once it does, promptly lower heat so it changes to a simmer.
- After the 25-minute mark of simmering, remove lid briefly and add in your remaining rice. Return the lid and bring the entire pot back to a light boil/simmer. Checking every 20 minutes to see when the liquid is absorbed – which should roughly be around the 40-minute mark.
- Just as you think the rice is ready, lift the lid and add your bowl ingredients to the rice, as well as your remaining ingredients: pear, apple, seeds, almonds and parsley. Mix thoroughly and only cook for another few minutes.
- Place rice into a casserole dish and bake for another half an hour at 350F – serve hot!
Make It This Way
We recommend using some delicious Portobello or wild mushrooms, instead of the white button ones. It adds a delicious flavor to the dish. Use a dash of Herbamare to season the sautéed veggies for an added taste.
You can easily make this dish nut-free by removing the almonds.
Try This
If you’re stumped for a gluten-free stuffing, you found one! This can also be doubled as a stuffing for inside a bird. If this is what you are using it for, avoid step 8 and instead stuff the mixture into the bird and cook with it. Spoon it out into a dish before serving and cutting up the bird!
I love a good healthy casserole, and this wild rice and mushroom herb casserole is delicious and nutritious. I love how this includes many healthy ingridents and spices as well as pumpkin seeds for protein. I love wild rice, it is simultaneously comforting and satisfying. I love adding tobasco sauce to dishes like these to elevate the flavours! Adding fruit such as apples and pears is a great and fun idea to add some sweetness as well as more fiber and a fresh taste! Great reciep, thank you!
Hello, Oh,
Tabasco sauce is a great idea to spice up this dish! Thank you for sharing your twist on this recipe. We love to hear how you make our recipes your own and enjoy them. This is a nice warm dish to have anytime of year, particularly during the Fall months. You can learn about the benefits of pumpkin seeds here:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/pumpkin-seeds/
Have a healthy day!
This recipe is so me. I love the flavor and nuttiness of the wild rice and bet it pairs fabulously with the pumpkin seeds. Mushroom is so rich & nourishing and the coconut oil prepared onions...I am almost drooling: this recipe is right up my alley! I am plant-based so I will have to sub the chicken broth for vegetable broth and I do plan to add a side of beans for protein, but I have added this recipe to my list :D I bet it keeps well in the fridge too! Thank you for the great recipe idea, NN!