I’ve been making a lot of soups lately and not being very diligent about chopping and freezing my leftover vegetables, so I found myself this week with a refrigerator full of vegetables and wondering what to do with them. I also remembered that I had bought a wild rice mix from Aldi a few weeks back, so I decided to combine the vegetables with the cooked rice medley and some yummy creamy sauce to make a delicious Wild Rice and Vegetable Casserole. And OMG I can’t stop eating it!
What Type of Rice Should I Use?
You can use any type of rice mix for this, just make sure you use 3.5-4 cups cooked rice. The rice mix that I had was a mix of wild rice, brown rice, white rice, and I think another variety. Buying a mix like this instead of straight wild rice will definitely be more cost effective. Stores like Aldi and Trader Joes usually have these rice mixes for a decent price and you may even be able to find something similar in the bulk bins at Whole Foods.
Topping Options
I topped my casserole with the leftover fried onions from my green bean casserole and they really took the dish up a level. If you don’t like fried onions, you could always make a tasty bread crumb topping by mixing seasoned bread crumbs, some grated Parmesan, and a little melted butter.
Love casseroles? Try our Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole!
Wild Rice and Vegetable Casserole
Servings 6 about 1 cup eachIngredients
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.52)
- 1 onion ($0.28)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 carrots ($0.22)
- 2 stalks celery ($0.37)
- 8 oz. button mushrooms ($1.80)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp dried sage ($0.03)
- 4 Tbsp flour ($0.04)
- 1 cup vegetable broth ($0.13)
- 1 cup whole milk ($0.31)
- salt, to taste ($0.02)
- 4 cups COOKED wild rice blend ($1.20)
- 3 oz. fried onions* ($1.75)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the butter, onions, and garlic to a large pot and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
- While the onions and garlic are sautéing, Slice the carrots and dice the celery. Add the carrots and celery to the pot and continue to sauté.
- While the carrots and celery are sautéing, wash and chop the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the pot along with the salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Continue to sauté until the mushrooms have turned brown and completely wilted.
- Add the flour to the pot and continue to stir and cook for about 2-3 minutes more, or until the flour coats the bottom of the pot and begins to turn a light golden color. Whisk in the vegetable broth, making sure all the flour dissolves from the bottom of the pot. The mixture should thicken fairly quickly.
- Once thickened, whisk in the milk and allow it to come up to a simmer again. Once simmering, turn the heat off, taste, and add more salt or pepper if needed. You want the sauce to be slightly on the salty side so that the flavor doesn’t dilute too much once the rice is added.
- Stir the cooked rice into the pot with the sauce and vegetables. Transfer everything to a 2 to 3 quart casserole dish and top with the fried onions. Bake the casserole in the preheated 350ºF oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling up around the edges and the fried onions have turned deep golden brown. Serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Wild Rice Casserole – Step by Step Photos
This is the wild rice mix that I used. You can pretty much use any rice mix, just make sure you have somewhere between 3.5 and 4 cups cooked rice.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Dice an onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and 4 Tbsp butter to a large pot and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
While the onions and garlic are sautéing, Slice two carrots and dice two stalks of celery. Add them to the pot and continue to sauté.
While the carrots and celery are sautéing, wash and chop 8oz. mushrooms. Add them to the pot along with 1/2 tsp salt, some freshly cracked pepper, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, and 1/4 tsp dried sage. Continue to sauté until the mushrooms have completely wilted and turned brown.
Add 4 Tbsp flour to the pot and continue to stir and cook until the flour coats the bottom of the pot and turns golden brown.
Whisk in 1 cup vegetable broth until all of the flour is dissolved off the bottom of the pot. The broth should thicken very quickly in the hot pot. Once thickened, whisk in 1 cup whole milk and then allow the mixture to come up to a simmer again. Once it reaches a simmer, turn the heat off and add more salt and pepper if needed. You want it to be slightly on the salty side so there is enough salt to flavor everything after the rice is added.
Finally, stir in about 4 cups cooked wild rice medley. The amount of rice is a little flexible, so if you have a little less or a little more than 4 cups, you’ll be okay.
Transfer the mixture to a 2-3 quart casserole dish and top with 3oz. fried onions (that’s half of a 6oz. container). Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling up around the edges and the onions are golden brown. This photo is AFTER baking.
😍 Seriously. I’m about to go dish out some more of this Wild Rice and Vegetable Casserole for lunch today! Leftovers reheat very well. 👍
Thoughts on making this ahead of time, popping it in the fridge and heating it up later?
I think that could work. Just don’t put the fried onions on until it’s about to go into the oven, or they’ll get soft. Also keep in mind that it might need to bake longer since the vegetable mixture will be cold going into the oven instead of hot/warm from the stovetop.
Soooooo good! Added in left over turkey! Yummy!
This was absolutely delicious! I added the rest of our leftover turkey meat and I’m truly grateful for the added way to use that up as opposed to yet another sandwich!
Do you think the recipe would turn out alright if the some of the wild rice blend was replaced with cooked lentils (so it would be a mixture of a rice blend and the lentils)? Currently have some leftover lentils in my fridge.
Hmm, I’m not sure the texture or flavor will be quite as good as with rice.
Really enjoyed this! It’s pretty heavy, but that’s more of a personal preference, not a fault with the recipe at all! The french fried onions made the dish.
Truly appreciate your creations ! Thank you for this one ! Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones !
Looks delicious! I think it’d be a good way to use up leftover (cooked) turkey as well – just add it in with the rice, chopped. I might just make that this weekend!
Thinking of adding ground turkey to this, would I need to tweak anything in the recipe to accommodate that?
Nope, that should be a pretty easy addition. I’d just brown it in the pot before starting with the onions and follow the rest of the directions as written from there.
If you wanted to add meat would you just cut it into cubes and quick fry for some color before adding it to the mixture and baking it?
Yes, that would work. I’d cook it all the way through, though. I’m not sure the baking time is long enough to finish cooking the chicken pieces. It really just heats the casserole through.
Oh damn, this looks so good! May have to try it myself soon!
This would be really easy to make Vegan! When I make this, I’ll add about 1/2C Hemp Hearts to easily up the protein profile.
Oooooohhhhhh….. definitely printing this one. I just found a use for a lone chicken breast that I need to use up!
I love wild rice and always have it in my pantry. This looks incredibly delicious and will definitely be on my menu!
Yum–this can easily take a place on the holiday table, but is easy and economical for everyday–and is a great foundation for collecting leftovers and variations. Thanks, Beth, for another great idea.
Yummy! I made it with half quinoa and half brown rice instead of the wild rice mix because that’s what was in my fridge. I didn’t bother with a topping—I think toasted slivered almonds would be good.
Oh man, your comment took the words out of my mind. So glad you tried the quinoa and brown rice mixture. Looks like I found my thanksgiving side dish!
Great modification! I did it that way and made it as my side for thanksgiving dinner at my Brother’s house where it was widely savored and enjoyed. Thanks Budget Bytes community!