This Chicken Kale and Wild Rice Salad is based on one of my very favorite restaurant salads. It is my absolute favorite because I love the contrast of textures and flavors from the rice, kale, chicken, almonds, cranberries, apples and goat cheese. Not to mention it is a totally healthy and satisfying meal.
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I’m always looking for make-ahead lunches as well as ways to use kale. Kale really does live up to it’s reputation for being the king of healthy vegetables. It is a cancer-fighting cruciferous leafy green full of potent antioxidants and beneficial phytochemicals. Plus it is totally delicious and holds up perfectly in this salad.
Once you make this salad it will hold up for 3 days in the fridge. I’ve talked about my love of kale salads in this Chopped Thai Kale Salad as well as this No-Fail Kale Salad.
I like using this tri-color sprouted rice (they also sell a good sprouted rice at Trader Joe’s) in this salad, but any rice will work. I love sprouted rices because they cooked up faster than regular rice and have a better texture. Plus sprouted rice is more digestible for sensitive stomachs and its nutrients are more bio-available. This salad calls for cooked/cooled rice so be sure to plan ahead.
You can use this easy slow-cooker shredded chicken for this salad!
This is the salad I dream about for lunch all the time. I’m happy to have found a way to make it at home!
Buffalo Chicken Salad from Everyday Maven
Kale Salad with Cranberries my favorite side kale salad!
Chicken, Kale & Wild Rice Salad {Cubby’s Copycat}
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or cracked black pepper
For the Salad:
- 1 bunch kale very thinly sliced (I prefer lacinato kale)
- 1/2 lemon
- 1- 1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken about 1 chicken breast
- 1 cup cooked sprouted rice
- 1 apple diced
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds toasted
- 2-3 oz goat cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid. Screw on the lid then shake well to thoroughly mix.
- Place the sliced kale in a bowl. Squeeze over the lemon juice. Massage the kale until it starts to darken and soften. Add the remaining salad ingredients (except the goat cheese) and toss with about 1/2 the dressing. Toss to combine then sprinkle over the goat cheese. Enjoy! Salad will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Notes
(they also sell one at Trader Joe's) but any brown/wild rice will work!Nutrition
This Healthy Broccoli Salad from Bless Her Heart Y’all also looks delicious!
So incredible! We moved away from Utah a couple years ago, and maybe the thing I mist most is this Cubby’s salad. And this is basically the same thing! Really hit the spot. Might make this once a week for the next…forever.
VERY yummy and very healthy and super close to the Cubby’s salad we love. #IHeartCubbysAt Home
This recipe is amazing!! Cubby’s salad also has avocado in it which makes it all come together and need less dressing 🙂
On my list of recipes to try this week!
I hope you like it!!
About how many does this salad feed as a main dish?
This serves 4 as a main dish! 🙂
I had Cubby’s tonight and cn’t quite thinking about it. Does anyone know how many calories are in it? I can’t seem to find ti but it’s my new favorite salad!!
I haven’t done a calorie calculation so sorry about that! This is my favorite Cubby’s salad too! 🙂
Salad looks beautiful, delicious and healthy. Thank you
Thank you!
Thank you for creating an easy lunch that is work-friendly and easy to prep in batches! This makes eating clean during the week attainable for us!
I’m so glad you like it! It’s something I look forward too when I’ve made it ahead of time! 🙂
Yum! This looks like a lovely salad!
The mixture of flavors and textures here is fantastic. Love the wild rice and kale combo especially. Lovely recipe!
This is perfect for lunch and I love that it includes wild rice.
This salad looks wonderful…I am going to try it soon!
Hi, Erin. I must confess that I have never sent a comment to anyone’s blog before. However, I have been enjoying yours for a few years now and thought it was about time to thank you for the encouragement to those of us eating gluten-free as well as your constant experimenting and good recipes. Two of your recipes that are my all-time favorites are the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies and the Overnight Creamy Pumpkin Maple Oatmeal. I can’t even count the number of batches of the oatmeal I have made during the past couple of years! I always look forward to seeing what you are cooking and thank you for sharing!
Best regards,
Sandy
Thanks so much Sandy! I’m so glad you read my blog and enjoy the recipes. It’s great to hear it is helpful for you!