Wild Rice and Kale Salad (Cubby’s Copycat)

This is one of my all-time FAVORITE salads! I’ve had “make a macro-friendly version of the Cubby’s Wild Rice and Kale Salad” on my to-do list for literally two years and guess what? I FINALLY made it! The crunchy kale with all the toppings paired with the absolutely delicious lemon balsamic cilantro dressing is simply to die for. Please make this salad, you’ll be so glad you did!

The Best Wild Rice and Kale Salad

Every time we visit Utah, we HAVE to go to Cubby’s (honestly, sometimes we go multiple times during our trip!) Cubby’s is a Utah-based fast-casual restaurant that serves delicious, fresh, healthy food.

They have the BEST wild rice and kale salad. It has all the good stuff like wild rice, shredded kale, toasted almonds, avocado, crisp apples, dried cranberries, chicken, goat cheese, and the tastiest balsamic lemon cilantro vinaigrette. It’s one of those salads that I can’t get enough of, and I finally make a copycat recipe that is macro-friendly, delicious, and easy to make at home!

Wild Rice and Kale Salad Ingredients

Are you a fan of Cubby’s wild rice and kale salad? If so, then you HAVE to try out this recipe. You might need to snag a few things from the grocery store first, but lots of stuff you should already have at home! Here are all the ingredients you’ll need to make this Cubby’s copycat wild rice and kale salad:

For the salad you need:

• Apple
• Avocado
• Brown or wild rice
• Craisins
• Goat cheese
• Grilled chicken
• Kale
• Toasted almonds

Ingredients for the lemon balsamic cilantro dressing:

• Balsamic vinegar
• Cilantro
• Cumin
• Dijon mustard
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Olive oil
• Water (swap for lemon juice if your balsamic isn’t lemon flavored)
• Salt

How to Make Kale and Wild Rice Salad

Here’s how to make this amazing kale and wild rice salad:

1. Prep the kale. The key to a good kale salad is chopping the kale into very small pieces. Remove the tough stems from the kale, then bundle them tightly together and chop them very finely. You can also give it a quick whirl in your food processor! 
2. Prep the rest of the ingredients. I love to use precooked brown rice and leftover grilled chicken for ease! We love the shelf-stable brown rice from Costco, or the frozen brown rice from Trader Joe’s or Sprouts. Dice up your apples and avocado and gather the rest of the toppings. 
3. Make the dressing. Put all of the dressing ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth! If you’re using a plain balsamic, you could add a little honey for sweetness. (The lemon balsamic vinegar I use by Baker and Olive is sweet, so it doesn’t need any extra sweetness added.)
4. Toss and serve. Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl, and toss with the salad dressing. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Ingredient Swaps

For the lemon balsamic cilantro dressing, I use lemon balsamic vinegar from Baker and Olive, but you can definitely use regular balsamic vinegar in this salad recipe. To get that sweet lemon flavor you’ll just want to use lemon juice instead of water and add some honey to taste.

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Is this Wild Rice and Kale Salad Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free?

Although this Wild Rice and Kale Salad recipe isn’t completely gluten and dairy-free, there are some easy modifications you can make to make it that way! 

To make this salad dairy-free you can use a dairy-free yogurt like So Delicious plain coconut yogurt instead of cottage cheese. The So Delicious yogurt is dairy-free and gluten-free and is great for creamy dressings! For the blue cheese crumbles, I like using the Follow Your Heart brand of dairy-free cheeses. I love the dairy-free feta cheese and I’m sure the blue cheese crumbles are tasty too! 

To make this salad gluten free you can use quinoa instead of rice. Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and will still provide that yummy, hearty grain flavor in the salad. 

Serving Suggestions

This salad is a complete, macro-friendly meal. It’s filling, satisfying, and super tasty! But if you’re looking for something to add on the side, I would highly recommend air-frying some frozen sweet potato fries, and here’s why. 

At Cubby’s they serve delicious sweet potato fries and even though I always get them “just for my husband”… I always eat at least half of them! Those fries with a giant bowl of this salad are perfect!

You could also serve this salad with some simple roasted sweet potatoes in place of the fries if you want to keep things extra light.

Related Salad Recipes

I love it when a salad can double as a full meal! A salad for dinner is a great way to eat lots of veggies and use up some leftover protein. Here are some of my favorite meal-sized salads:

Wild Rice and Kale Recipe

I’m not kidding when I say I’m OBSESSED with this Wild Rice and Kale Cubby’s copycat salad! I literally go out of my way to get it when I’m staying in Utah. And now, with this recipe, we can all make this salad anytime we want! 

Try this salad and let me know on Instagram if you love it as much as I do! For more tasty salads, visit my blog. I have all the delicious recipes to satisfy your salad craving!

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