This Spring Veggie Rice Salad is loaded with beautiful, crisp spring vegetables, fresh herbs, and a tangy dressing and would be a fabulous addition to a potluck spread or eaten all on its own for a light, refreshing dinner!
We’re bringing you this really delicious spring rice and veggie dish in proud partnership with Lundberg Family Farms. This dish is loaded with the most delicious spring veggies (think: radishes, snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, and spring onions), tons of fresh herbs, and a tangy citrus dressing. It would make a stunning dish for a spring or summertime gathering but can also be enjoyed solo for a quick, nutritious dinner!
Why Choose Lundberg?
Lundberg Family Farms is a family-founded and run company whose mission is to get top-quality, organic, non-GMO grains on grocery store shelves so that you (WE!) can get healthy, nourishing, and really delicious meals into the bellies of ourselves and our families! This is a brand that we truly love, trust, and consume regularly!
Aside from the quality of their products, we also really love that Lundberg is committed to leaving the land better than they found it through sustainable farming practices, conservation, recycling, and energy initiatives. Read all about Lundberg’s commitment to sustainability HERE.
Rice Salad
What is rice salad, you ask? It’s similar to a pasta salad, in that it’s a hearty take on a traditional salad (swapping leafy greens for rice) and is really just a mix of rice, (usually) veggies, and some sort of dressing. Rice salad is best enjoyed cold and is an excellent thing to make ahead of time so that all of the ingredients can really marry together.
Chilled Spring Veggie Ingredients
For this chilled rice salad, we opted for the freshest spring veggies, LOTS of herbs, and a tangy, citrus dressing. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Boxed Rice – to start, you’ll want to grab a boxed rice blend. We chose Lundberg’s Organic Wild Porcini Mushroom Whole Grain & Wild Rice. The flavor of the porcini mushroom seasoning pairs so beautifully with the veggies we chose, and the texture of the mix of whole grain and wild rice was spot on. Using a boxed side like this also keeps things super convenient!
- Radishes – a spring veggie classic! You’ll need 1 bunch (about 1 cup) of thinly sliced radishes.
- Snap Peas – 1 cup of snap peas adds the perfect crunch to this rice salad.
- Carrots – to add to the veggies, you’ll also want to grab a cup of julienned carrots. We bought ours precut at the store.
- Spring Onion – 1 large spring onion, thinly sliced, is really yummy here!
- Cherry Tomatoes – in addition to the above veggies, you’ll also want to grab a cup of cherry tomatoes. We picked multicolored ones (red, yellow, and orange) because they look stunning, but you could use all red if you’d like.
- Seedless Cucumber – go ahead and roughly chop half of a seedless cucumber to throw into the mix as well.
- Fresh Herbs – this is where things get really special! We used a mix of fresh dill, mint, basil, and curly parsley. Feel free to use that same combination or any other combination of fresh herbs that you love. You’ll want to grab about 1 cup of fresh chopped herbs.
- Lemon Juice – to make the tangy citrus dressing, you’ll need to start with a ½ cup of fresh lemon juice (this is about 2 lemon’s worth of juice).
- Olive Oil – you’ll also need a ¼ cup of olive oil for the dressing.
- Sea Salt + Black Pepper – ¼ teaspoon of sea salt and black pepper to taste will go a long way in seasoning everything!
How to Make Veggie Rice Salad
The process is so easy, y’all! Here’s how you’ll bring this spring dish together:
- Cook the rice – to start, cook the boxed rice according to package directions. Once it’s cooked, transfer it to a container and store it in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
- Add the chopped veggies to a bowl – next, you’ll want to add the sliced radishes, snap peas, carrots, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber to a large bowl.
- Add the dressing ingredients to the veggies – in an effort to have as few dirty dishes as possible (and to let the veggies really soak up all of the citrusy goodness), go ahead and add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the bowl with the veggies, and toss to combine.
- Chop the herbs – give the herbs a fine chop while the veggies marinate in the dressing.
- Add the rice + herbs to the bowl – add the herbs and the chilled rice to the bowl with the veggies, and toss everything together.
- Garnish with additional herbs + serve!
Can You Eat Cold Rice Salad?
You can and you should! Rice salad is actually best served chilled so that the veggies stay nice and crisp. Serving it chilled also makes for a super refreshing side.
What Variations of Vegetables Can I Use?
Truly, you can use ANY veggie you love here. Here are a few to consider:
- Bell peppers
- Shallots
- Asparagus, blanched
- Spinach or arugula, chopped
- Chickpeas
- Green peas
- Snow peas
- Beets
How Do I Store Veggie Rice Salad?
Store your rice salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. One really great thing about a dish like this is that it actually continues to get better the longer it sits! So don’t be afraid to make it a day ahead of time!
How Long Does Rice Salad Last?
Your chilled rice salad will be at its peak (think: crispy veggies) on days 1 and 2 but will stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days. It will still be really delicious on days 3-5, the veggies may just be slightly softer than they were before.
Chilled Spring Veggie Rice Salad
Ingredients
- 1 box Lundberg Family Farms Organic Wild Porcini Mushroom Whole Grain & Wild Rice
- 1 cup radishes 1 bunch, thinly sliced
- 1 cup snap peas sliced in ½-inch pieces on the diagonal
- 1 cup julienned carrots
- 1 large spring onion bulb and greens, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- ½ seedless cucumber roughly chopped
- 1 cup fresh herbs dill, mint, basil, and curly parsley, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice approximately 2 large lemon’s worth of juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package directions. Once it’s cooked, transfer it to a container and store it in the fridge to chill for 4 hours or overnight.
- Add the radishes, snap peas, carrots, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber to a large bowl.
- Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the bowl with the veggies, and toss to combine.
- Finely chop the herbs while the veggies marinate in the dressing.
- Add the herbs and the chilled rice to the bowl with the veggies, and toss everything together.
- Garnish with additional herbs if desired + serve!
Nutrition
I make this weekly and enjoy a scoop at every stinkin’ meal. I love it! I love mixing up the herbs, but the combo in the recipe is so good. Most of the veggies stay fresh for the next week if I have extras. Go make this now, it’s so good.
I love that, Jennifer! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
Great side dish, thanks for introducing me to these Lundberg rice mixes. I’ll be trying more of them!
I cannot believe how delicious this turned out! All of the flavors work so well together and the addition of the fresh herbs really kicks it up a notch. I’ll definitely keep this on rotation.
So glad you enjoyed this one, Sam! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
This was absolutely amazing! I have been eating it for lunch all week. I made it exactly as written in the recipe but can’t wait to make it going forward using any veggies I have in my frig. This will be a staple in my summer time lunches going forward.
That’s so great to hear, Megan! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
This recipe is fantastic! I am grain-free so I substituted raw kale for the rice. This is definitely becoming a household staple.
Oh good!! Great substitution, Jess, and we’re so glad you’re loving this one!
What kind of protein would you recommend to go with this?
Fish or chicken would be great, Claire!
I usually add a can of tuna to this for a great lunch.