This Chicken Fall Harvest Salad with Wild Rice & Rosemary Ranch tastes like your favorite fast casual bowl and a gourmet restaurant salad had a baby. Warm, juicy chicken sits on a bed of hearty kale and nutty wild rice, piled high with roasted sweet potato, toasted pecans, and pumpkin seeds for crunch in every bite. Finished with a rosemary and dill speckled ranch that ties the whole bowl together, it’s nutritious enough for a weeknight but feels genuinely festive. It’s the kind of fall meal you’ll want to make on repeat.
The Grain Bowl Culinary Fad
Texture Is the Whole Point
The chicken comes off the grill hot and juicy, the sweet potato comes out of the oven caramelized at the edges, and the ingredients at the base (kale, the apple, the pickled shallot) are cool and crisp. This contrast of the textures, the colors, and the sauce drenched all over it is what makes these so fun and crave worthy. It somehow just makes it taste better than if all of these ingredients were just separate on a plate.
Wild Rice Instead of Plain Rice
Wild rice has a nutty, almost smoky flavor and a satisfying chew that white rice just doesn’t have. It holds its shape under a heavy dressing instead of turning to mush, and it brings enough protein and fiber that this salad is a filling complete dinner instead of just a side. If you’ve only ever had it in soup, this is the recipe that’ll make you find yourself eating it more.
Make It Ahead
Marinate the chicken, cook your wild rice, then make the ranch, quick pickle the shallot, and chop your kale all in the morning. Then when its dinner time you are just roasting the sweet potato, grilling the chicken, and dicing the apple and assembling. Store the leftover ingredients in the fridge and this recipe makes for some great leftovers the next day. It also works well for meal prep. The ranch will store for 1-2 weeks.
Craving This in Summer?
Try my Summer Wild Rice Salad with Cherries, Feta, and Pistachios when the kale turns back to arugula and stone fruit is in season.
Wash your Kale
Kale is prone to bugs! Those curly crevices make the perfect hiding spot, so give it a rinse under running water, a soak in salt water, or a few spritzes of veggie wash before you chop.
What you’ll need
The fastest path to smooth, evenly blended Ranch. A high-powered blender works too. You want the Rosemary evenly distributed since its a strong flavor.
A pretty salad serving bowl makes it feel fancier.
Makes peeling the sweet potato faster than using a knife.
You can use any jar but this spout helps control the pour.
Chicken Fall Harvest Salad with Wild Rice & Rosemary Ranch
Ingredients
For the Maple Apple-Cider Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic finely grated
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon rubbed sage
For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
For the Rosemary Ranch
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup loosely packed fresh dill
- 1 to 1½ teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 to 3 tablespoons buttermilk or milk as needed
For the Wild Rice
- 1 cup wild rice blend
- 1 cup chicken stock
For the Bowls
- 4 cups chopped kale tough stems removed and washed well
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 3 cups cooked wild rice blend warm
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple diced
- 4 ounces Cheese (Gouda, Aged Cheddar, or Havarti will work) diced
- ½ cup toasted pecans and/or pumpkin seeds I like to use both
- 1 small shallot very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh dill roughly chopped or torn
- Apple cider vinegar for quick-pickling the shallot (optional but worth it)
Instructions
Marinate Chicken
- Whisk the apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil, Dijon, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and sage together in a bowl. Add the chicken, turn it to coat every side, and let it sit in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours.
Cook the Wild Rice
- Rinse 1 cup wild rice blend and add it to your Instant Pot with 1 cup chicken stock. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes with a natural release. Spread the cooked rice onto a baking sheet or large plate to cool completely.
Blend the Ranch
- Toss the sour cream, mayonnaise, dill, rosemary, garlic, Dijon, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper into a small blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy with little green herb flecks throughout. Thin it with milk or buttermilk a tablespoon at a time until it's thick but still drizzles easily. Taste it. Adjust the salt and acid until it makes you want to eat it with a spoon. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Roast the sweet potatoes
- Preheat your oven to 425°F. Toss the sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme, then spread them out on a sheet pan with some space between pieces. Roast 20 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until they're tender inside with deep browned edges.
Cook the chicken
- Pull the chicken out of the marinade and let the excess drip off. Grill or sear it over medium-high heat until it's deeply browned and hits 165°F at the thickest part. Let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
Massage the kale, quick-pickle the shallot
- In a large bowl, work the washed kale with the olive oil and a pinch of salt using your hands for a minute or two, until it softens and darkens up. For the shallot, toss it with a splash of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt and let it sit about 10 minutes, then drain. It takes the bite off and gives you that soft pickle-y crunch instead.
Build your bowl
- Start with the kale and then wild rice as your base. Layer on the roasted sweet potatoes, diced apple, cheese of choice, sliced chicken, toasted pecans, shallot, and fresh dill. Finish with a drizzle of rosemary ranch.
