This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
Cranberry pecan sweet potato wild rice pilaf is a perfect fall side dish infused with incredible flavors and textures. Crunchy pecans, cranberries, sweet potato, wild rice, and herbs come together in this tasty dish!
Rice is the perfect side dish and can take on any flavors you add to it. I love how versatile of an ingredient it is! Next time you’re looking to use rice from your pantry, make this easy fried rice or this delicious Mexican rice to go with your tacos. And if you need something sweet for dessert make rice pudding!
Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Wild Rice Pilaf
This cranberry pecan sweet potato wild rice pilaf will be your new favorite Thanksgiving side dish. It’s bursting with flavors but isn’t too heavy. You’re going to love all the textures in this recipe. The crunchy pecans, chewy dried cranberries, and tender wild rice and sweet potatoes. Combined with herbs and seasonings, this recipe has the best savory fall flavors all in one bowl.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I just love this time of year because there is so much to be grateful for. Growing up we’d always have Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma’s house. My grandma was an excellent cook and nobody could make a turkey better than she could. It was always perfectly juicy and melted in your mouth. But my favorite memory from Thanksgiving dinners was my Grandma’s pumpkin pie and her homemade crust. To this day we still make her famous pumpkin pie.
Ingredients Needed
I included sweet potato, cranberries, and crunchy pecans. Use high-quality dried herbs to bring out the amazing flavor in this dish. Parsley, oregano, and thyme all come together to season the dish. This rice pilaf is a fun and unique dish that can be the star of the table.
- Chicken Broth: Adds flavor while cooking the wild rice.
- Wild Rice Blend: Use a blend or just wild rice, it’s up to you!
- Dried Parsley, Oregano, and Thyme: The best herbs to season this fall side dish.
- Olive Oil: For cooking the sweet potato and onion.
- Sweet Potato: Cook sweet potato is tender and perfect in this dish.
- Onion: Adds great flavor to the pilaf.
- Dried Cranberries: Dried cranberries are also known as craisins.
- Pecans: Toasting the pecans brings out the delicious nutty flavors.
- Fresh Parsley: Garnish with fresh parsley right before serving. It’s also pretty!
Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe
We love having a rice dish at our dinner table, and this includes all of the delicious fall flavors. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it can be made in advance. Having one less thing to make on Thanksgiving day is a game-changer!
- Prepare the Wild Rice: In a medium-sized saucepan bring the broth to a boil and add wild rice, parsley, oregano, and thyme. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Alternatively, you may follow the liquid/rice ratios and cooking directions according to your particular brand of wild rice blend for 1 cup of rice.
- Cook the Sweet Potato and Onion: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Add the sweet potato and saute until tender, about 15 minutes or so. Once the potatoes are nearly cooked through, add the onion to the pan and cook until translucent.
- Add Dried Cranberries and Pecans: Add the dried cranberries and chopped pecans and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Combine the Sweet Potato Mixture with the Wild Rice Mixture: Add the sweet potato mixture to the rice mixture and fluff with a fork.
- Garnish and Serve Warm: Season with salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve warm!
Make Ahead Tips
This cranberry pecan sweet potato wild rice pilaf is the perfect recipe to make ahead of time. Perfect for Thanksgiving day prep because you can make it a couple of days before you serve it. I’m all about cutting corners to make the big day run smoother. Here are my tips for making this side dish in advance.
- Use Premade Wild Rice: Cook the wild rice in advance or use premade wild rice. I love the microwavable packets because it’s fast and easy. Just warm it up and the rice is ready to go!
- Cook the Sweet Potatoes and Onions in Advance: Cook or roast the sweet potatoes and onions ahead of time. This way it’s done and ready when it’s time to assemble the cranberry sweet potato wild rice pilaf. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator then reheat them in the microwave.
- Chop and Measure Ingredients: Chop the pecans and measure out the pecans. I like to have them measured and ready to add to the recipe. It just makes it go fast when you’re ready to assemble the pilaf.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
It’s so easy to store this pilaf recipe for later. Just pop it in an airtight container, stick it in the fridge, then it’s ready for whenever you’re craving some fluffy, savory goodness! This recipe is also great for meal prep.
- In the Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Reheating: Reheating leftovers is a breeze! Simply place it in a microwave-safe dish then microwave on high for 1-2 minutes or until warmed through.
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Looking to switch up your Thanksgiving recipes and try some new ones? These are some of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving recipes because they never let me down! I know they’ll be a hit with your friends and family just like they have with mine. Give these favorites a try because they are the best!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Wild Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup wild rice blend
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup sweet potato, diced small
- 1/4 cup onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
- fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan bring the broth to a boil and add wild rice, parsley, oregano, and thyme. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Alternatively, you may follow the liquid/rice ratios and cooking directions according to your particular brand of wild rice blend for 1 cup of rice.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Add the sweet potato and saute until tender, about 15 minutes or so. Once the potatoes are nearly cooked through, add the onion to the pan and cook until translucent.
- Add the dried cranberries and chopped pecans to the sweet potato mixture then cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato mixture to the rice mixture and fluff with a fork.
- Garnish with fresh parsely and serve warm!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was absolutely delicious! It’s my new favorite dish and I’ll be making it for every thanksgiving moving forward!
Has anyone tried to make this the night before you planned to serve it? Wondering how it turned out.
I have, and it tastes better on the second day! I made two changes, though. I used a couple of slices of bacon cooked to crumble and set aside to add later, then used that bacon grease to saute the onions and sweet tater chunks. I also used only wild rice, not pilaf, because we keep wild rice in stock at the house, being native.
Your recipe changes sound delish! Thanks for posting.
Good lord this was good…..
This is our new favorite rice dish. I made it vegan by using Better than Bullion Chickenless Chicken to make the broth. That adds more flavor and some salt. I used a whole onion because we love carnalized onions. This recipe is so good and easy!! I wonder if it would freeze well?? My husband wants me to make a triple batch to freeze for quick meals.
Oh, I reduced the broth to 2 cups and the rice came out perfectly.
We loved this recipe!!!! Next time I’m adding more sweet potatoes and onions. I’ll also reduce the amount of broth since the rice was very soupy and I had to boil it down after the 45 minutes. The cranberries and pecans were so, so good! My family said I should find more recipes from this site.
Yay! I’m so glad that you loved it!
Loved this recipe. My family also loved it. It will definitely be a new regular on my monthly menu. I added chicken and made it the main dish. So good.
I’m interested in making this. Can I use veggie broth? And are the cranberries fresh or dried?
The cranberries are dried and yes, to the veggie broth!
I didn’t check till it was too late but I can cook the rice in my IP and not worry about it.
Instead of cooking the sweet potatoes on the stovetop I decided to bake them in my Air-Fryer. I tend to like my veggies “roasted” better than other methods. It’s such a beautiful dish and tastes delicious too. Thank you
I made it woth the chicken broth and the orgeno but it was very good!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
This will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 to 6 days long.
This looks so good! What a great way to enjoy fall flavors while getting good nutrition!
I just made this recipe. It tastes very good, except the cranberries are a bit bitter. The sweet potatoes were diced very small and yet they still took a while to get tender. Overall the flavors are very good.
I’m anxious to try this. What kind of cranberries did you use for this? Dried sweetened cranberries?
Did you use fresh cranberries?
The recipe doesn’t clarify – should it be fresh or dried cranberries?
Dried cranberries are best.
We enjoyed this tonight with out Christmas pork dinner. I used carrots in lieu of sweet potato. It will be leftovers tomorrow with a bit of pork cut up in it. I cooked the wild rice with the suggested amount liquid on the slow burner and it cooked up fine.
So easy to make! I used veggie broth because it’s what I had on hand. Next time, making with chicken broth. Easy and delicious! Thank you.
This sounds yummy. I don’t have wild rice but will long grain, jasmine or basmati rice do?
Yes, that will work perfectly!
Thank you for replying, I will try this recipe today!
Is this FRESH cranberries or Dried Cranberries?
They are dried cranberries.