This Black Rice Salad is one you'll come back to again and again! With hearty and chewy black rice as the star, you're gonna love the fresh ingredients in this chopped salad like spinach, grape tomatoes and feta cheese. Topped with an easy balsamic vinegar dressing.
Easy salads are in the house!🏡
Oh my gosh!
So I tried black rice for one of the first times the other day and WOW.
So. GOOD.
After that, I had to make this cold black rice salad.
Black rice makes an amazing salad because it travels well, won't get soft and mushy (ew) AND the black rice with veggie combo is packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals too.
You're going to LOVE this salad.
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📝Ingredients for black rice salad
- Red onion
- Canned mixed bean salad
- Feta
- Black rice
- Fresh spinach
- Cherry tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Grainy mustard
- Maple syrup
- Fresh garlic clove
🍚Is Black Rice Gluten Free?
Black rice IS gluten free - woohoo!
🔪How to make black rice salad
Soak the purple rice in water for 30 minutes. Prep the salad ingredients while it soaks.
Cook the black rice until the grains are separate and slightly chewy and all the water has been absorbed. (See below for instructions).
In a large bowl, add the diced red onion, halved grape tomatoes, chopped spinach, crumbled feta cheese and mixed bean salad.
Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup and garlic in a mason jar. Shake to combine well.
Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients.
Toss to coat the black rice salad with the dressing. Serve or keep in fridge until needed.
🍚How to cook black rice
Cooking black rice isn't that different from cooking other kinds of rice.
Here's a simple way to cook black rice:
For about 3 cups of cooked purple rice, you'll need:
- 1 cup black rice
- 1 ¾ cups water or gluten-free broth
- Salt (optional)
Instructions:
- Rinse the rice: Place the black rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse it thoroughly under cold running water. Rinsing helps remove excess surface starch and any impurities from the rice.
- Soak the rice (optional): While you don't have to soak the rice, soaking black rice for 30 minutes to an hour can help to cut the cooking time and improve the texture. If you go the soak route, drain the rice after soaking.
- Combine rice and water or broth: In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the rinsed or soaked black rice with 1 ¾ cups of water or gluten-free chicken broth. If you like, add a pinch of salt for seasoning.
- Bring to a boil and simmer: Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, and let the rice simmer. Cooking times may vary, but typically black rice takes about 30-40 minutes to cook. If you buy the rice in bulk, use this method for cooking. But if you buy the black rice in a pacakge, check the package instructions for specific times for cooking.
- Check for doneness: After the recommended cooking time, check the rice for doneness. It should be tender but still have a slight chewiness.
- Let it rest: Remove the saucepan from heat and let the black rice sit, covered, for an additional 5-10 minutes. This allows the residual steam to finish cooking the rice and makes it fluffier. Fluff with a fork.
🍽️What to serve with black rice salad
A hearty purple rice salad with vegetables like this one can stand on it's own two feet.
ie, you don't NEED to serve anything with it if you're looking for a light meal, healthy lunch option or an afternoon snack.
But here are some ideas to serve alongside the salad if you're looking for some ideas:
- 🥚If you're having the salad for lunch, pop it into those pretty glass meal prep containers and add a couple hard boiled eggs to boost the protein and round out the meal
- 🐔If you're having this black rice salad for dinner, make this Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Breast and serve it with the salad for a filling and nutritious meal
- 🐟Think FISH. This salad goes really well with a piece of cooked fish. Go for a white fish like haddock or cod or something richer like salmon or rainbow trout. Check out this Cast Iron Skillet Salmon recipe for inspo
🥡Storage and Leftovers
This recipe makes enough rice salad for use in lunches for the week or leftovers to serve with supper for the busy weeknights ahead.
Once made, the salad will be good in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
🥗More Salads with Rice
Top Tips
When cooking your black rice, I do recommend rinsing and soaking it.
It takes more time but it's totally worth it for a really nice texture on the rice.
What's great is that with this rice salad recipe, you can do all the vegetable prep while the rice soaks😄
And a time saving tip: make the black rice the day before you want the salad and keep it in the fridge.
Hope you love this recipe like we do❣️
~April
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups black rice cooked
- ½ red onion diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup canned mixed bean salad rinsed and drained
- ½ feta crumbled
- 1 cup spinach chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoon grainy Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove minced
Instructions
- Cook the black rice according to package instructions (or see post for easy cooking steps). Set aside to cool afterwards. Recommended step: soak the rice for 30 minutes before cooking. While the rice soaks, you can do all the prep for the salad.
- While the rice is cooking, get all the salad ingredients ready: finely dice the red onion, cut the grape tomatoes in half and roughly chop up the fresh spinach. Crumble the feta cheese, rinse and drain the bean salad.
- In a large bowl, add the diced red onion, halved grape tomatoes, chopped spinach, crumbled feta cheese and mixed bean salad.
- In a small mason jar, add all the dressing ingredients, secure the lid and give the jar a good shake.
- Pour dressing over the salad and toss everything together to combine.
- Enjoy right away or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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